As you become a more proficient as a baker, you are able to pay less attention to your recipe and more attention to your ingredients. Understanding the forms and functions of an ingredient gives you the information you need to experiment, and even small swaps can make a huge impact.
For some baking ingredients, like chocolate or vanilla, we are given lots of information about what we're buying. Country or region of origin, flavor profiles, fat content. It's all right there on the label. But for flour--arguably one of the baking ingredient VIPs--we don't know much beyond "all-purpose" or "self-rising."
We've taught you how to choose a flour from the market for baking, but there is so much more to know about that bag you're buying.
There are over 30,000 varieties of wheat, owing in large part to breeding programs and genetic engineering. These efforts were designed to produce wheat plants that are resistant to disease and produce higher yields.
Wheat grown for flour production is classified by three characteristics: the climate of the region where it is grown, the hardness of the kernel, and its color. The classifications are used to describe the wheat itself, as well as the type of flour milled from it.
Hard wheat is used to produce stronger flours most suited for bread baking, while soft wheat is used to produce flours ideal for products with more delicate structures, such as cakes and pastries.
Winter wheat is planted in the fall and is harvested in the summer. The plants lie dormant during the winter and then grow in the spring. This type of wheat has less protein overall, but the protein is of very high quality. When this wheat is milled, it produces a flour that has a better fermentation tolerance and greater dough extensibility.
Spring wheat is planted in the late spring or early summer, and it is harvested in late summer or early fall. The growing season is shorter, so the plants are often treated with nitrogen to encourage growth. This produces a wheat with a very high protein content, but the quality of the protein is much lower than that of winter wheat. These flours produce less gluten and have a lower fermentation process.
The wheat kernel, or wheat berry, is the seed of the wheat plant. The kernel is composed of three parts: the germ, the bran, and the endosperm.
The germ makes up 2 to 3 percent of the kernel. This is the section from which the seed sprouts, and it is often separated from the kernel during the milling process because of its high fat content (around 10%). The higher the content of fat in a finished flour, the more prone it is to spoilage. The germ is high in B‐complex vitamins and minerals.
The bran makes up 13 to 15 percent of the kernel. The bran contains a small amount of protein, large quantities of B‐vitamins, some minerals, and dietary fiber.
The endosperm makes up the bulk of the kernel (about 83%) and is the primary source of white flour. The endosperm is very high in protein, carbohydrates, and iron. It also contains some B‐vitamins and some soluble dietary fiber.
In the production of white flour, the bran and germ are separated during milling. These products are then milled and sold on their own as separate products. In the production of whole wheat flour, the entire kernel is milled to produce a darker flour, with all the nutritional value of each part of the kernel.
Though not labeled on the bag, you may be able to find more information about available flours on the brand's website. Look for flours that are grown or milled locally, and go have a chat with your miller or farmer. They can tell you everything there is to know about their product, helping you to decide how you might use what's fresh from nearby.