AST 121

Activity 1

DIFFERENT TYPES OF FLOUR

Submitted by: Camille Rose E.

Agustin
 So what is a Flour ?
It is a  powder made by grinding
raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to
make many different food like bread, cakes, and pastry.
The primary difference between each type of flour is the protein content. Flour
made from high-protein wheat varieties (which have 10 to 14 percent protein
content) is called “hard wheat.” Flour made from low-protein wheat varieties
(which have 5 to 10 percent protein content) is called “soft wheat.”
More protein means more gluten, and more gluten means more strength. When it
comes to baking, the amount of gluten is what determines the structure and texture
of a baked good.
Let’s break it down a little further into the difference
between the ten most popular types of flour.
 Bread flour
It is a milled entirely from hard wheat, bread flour is
the strongest of all flours with a high protein content at 12
to 14 percent. This comes in handy when baking yeasted
breads because of the strong gluten content required to
make the bread rise properly. Bread flour makes for a better
volume and a chewier crumb with your bakes.
Best Used For: Artisan breads, yeast breads, bagels,
pretzels, and pizza dough
Cake flour

Cake flour is a specialty flour that is low in protein and very finely ground. The flour produces
cakes and other baked goods with a finer, softer texture. Cake flour has the lowest protein content
of all flours at 5 to 8 percent. Because of this, it has less gluten, which leads to softer baked goods
—perfect for cakes (obviously!), muffins, and biscuits. Cake flour also absorbs more liquid and
sugar than all-purpose flour, which guarantees a super moist cake.
Best Used For: Sponge cakes, pound cakes, layer cakes, angel food cakes, muffins, and biscuits
 A soft-wheat flour with a fine-texture and a high
Pastry flour starch content. Pastry flour is finely ground, but it
is not as fine as cake flour. It is available in
bleached and unbleached varieties. With an 8 to 9
percent protein content, pastry flour falls in
between all-purpose flour and cake flour. It strikes
the perfect balance between flakiness and
tenderness, making it the go-to choice for pie
crusts, tarts, and cookies. You can even make your
own at home by mixing 1 1/3 cups of all-purpose
flour with 2/3 cup cake flour.
Best Used For: Pie crusts, cookies, muffins,
cakes, pancakes, biscuits, and bread sticks
It is a flour that has a leavening agent Self-Rising
already added. The secret ingredients of
self-rising flour are the baking powder and flour
salt added during the milling process. It’s
generally made from soft wheat with a
protein content around 8 to 9 percent. You
can make your own at home by mixing 1
cup pastry flour with 1 ½ teaspoon baking
powder and ¼ teaspoon salt. Be careful not
to substitute self-rising flour for other flours
while baking! The added ingredients can
throw off the rest of the measurements in
your recipe.
Best Used For: Pancakes, biscuits, and
scones
All-purpose
flour
All-purpose flour should be a staple in your kitchen.
Milled from a mixture of soft and hard wheat varieties, it
has a moderate protein content of about 10 to 12 percent.
As the most versatile flour, it’s capable of creating flaky
pie crusts, chewy cookies, and fluffy pancakes. If a recipe
calls for “flour,” it most likely means all-purpose flour.
Best Used For: Cookies, muffins, bread, pie crusts,
pancakes, biscuits, pizza dough, and pasta
Whole wheat flour

Whole-wheat flour (in the US) or wholemeal flour (in the UK)

is a powdery substance, a basic food ingredient, derived
by grinding or mashin the whole grain of wheat, also known as
the wheatberry. Whole-wheat flour is used in baking of breads
and other baked goods, and also typically mixed with lighter
"white" unbleached or bleached flours (that have been treated
with flour bleaching agent(s)) to restore nutrients
(especially fiber, protein, and vitamins), texture, and body to the
white flours that can be lost in milling and other processing to
the finished baked goods or other food(s).
Best Used For: Cookies, bread, pancakes, pizza dough, and
pasta
 Not to be confused with bleached flour,
White-whole wheat flour white whole wheat flour is made up of
the same components as whole wheat
flour, but from a paler variety of wheat
called hard white wheat. It has the same
protein content as whole wheat flour at
13 to 14 percent, but it tastes slightly
sweeter because of its lower tannin
content. Whole wheat flour and white
whole wheat flour actually have the
same health benefits, so if you prefer
the taste and texture of white bread, but
want the nutritional value from whole
wheat, then this is the flour for you.
Best Used For: Bread, muffins, and
cookies
Almond flour
Almond meal, almond flour or ground almond is made from ground sweet almonds.
Almond flour is usually made with blanched almonds, whereas almond meal can be
made with whole or blanched almonds. The consistency is more like corn meal than
wheat flour. Almond flour is made by blanching almonds in boiling water to remove the skins,
then grinding and sifting them into a fine flour. This gluten-free favorite is low in carbs and high
in healthy fats and fiber. To replace wheat flour with almond flour, start by replacing the flours
1:1 and then add more of a rising agent (like baking powder or baking soda) to accommodate the
heavier weight of the almond flour.
Best Used For: Cookies, muffins, pancakes, biscuits, and bread
 Gluten free flour
Gluten free flour is a term that is applied to flours that are
made of non-gluten containing products. There are many
kinds of gluten free flours available at supermarkets these
days, along with many “all purpose” gluten free
flour blends that are designed to be an easy to use
replacement for wheat flour.Gluten-free flour can be made
from all sorts of ingredient bases, such as rice, corn, potato,
tapioca, buckwheat, quinoa, sorghum, or nuts. Xanthan gum can
sometimes be added to gluten-free flour to help stimulate the
chewiness associated with gluten. Gluten-free flour can’t always
be substituted 1:1 for white flour, so be sure to check your
specific recipe if you’re thinking about swapping the two.
Best Used For: Cakes, cookies, pancakes, bread, and muffins
OO flour
The names 00 and 0 Flour refer to specifically
Italian milled flour that is used for pasta making.
It is similar to unbleached all-purpose/plain flour,
which is a mix of hard and soft wheat, and
though while finer, it creates a dough that is
silkier and maintains a chewiness when the pasta
is cooked. The “00” refers to the super fine texture of
the flour making it easy to roll out to extreme thinness
without breaking, which is perfect for pasta and
crackers.
Best Used For: Pasta, couscous, thin crust pizza
dough, flatbreads, and crackers