Wheat Flour

Wheat flour, commonly referred to as baking flour, is the most common source of flour used in making bread. The wheat grain used in producing flour has three basic components – the kernel or endosperm which produces the starch in flour, the germ which produces protein, and the bran which holds the fiber. From these three components, basic flour varities are produced:

1. Whole wheat (grain) flour - Consist of grounded whole wheat kernels, yielding equal parts of the three components.
2. White flour - Made from refined pure kernel or endosperm only.
3. Germ flour - Made from a mixture of only kernel and germ components.
4. Graham Flour – Mixture of finely ground endosperm mixed with coarsely ground bran and germ components. Has high nutritional value (protein and fiber) and sweetish taste. Unlike whole wheat flour, the germ component may be less or not included at all to prolong its shelf life.

All wheat flour have gluten, which is the protein produced when wheat is mixed with water. Depending on the gluten content, wheat flour can be classified as either hard or soft.

1. Hard wheat flour - Also called white wheat flour has a high gluten content ideal for shaped breads, bread sticks and loaf that should hold their shape once baked.
2. Soft wheat flour - Has lower gluten content producing fine-textured bread like pastries and cake. They are subdivided into:
   
   
   • • Cake flour – Silky fine flour which has the lowest gluten content that makes baked products soft. Ideal for cakes and soft rolls.
   • • Pastry flour - Also called cookie flour, has a little more gluten than cake flour but less gluten than all-purpose flour. Used in pastries, tarts and cookies.
3. All-purpose flour – Wheat flour that is blended, producing a balanced level of gluten used as general substitute for most baking requirements like commercial breads.