Baking Chapter 1: Flour and Gluten

Flours

• Flours are produced by grinding grain kernels into a powder.
• Grains are grasses that bear edible seeds and provide bulk and structure to baked goods.
• Wheat flour is the most important ingredient in the bakeshop.

Types of Grains

• Examples of grains include wheat, rice, corn, barley, oats, sorghum, and millet.
• Wheat flour is essential in bread making and bakery products.

Producing Wheat Flour

• Wheat flour is produced by milling wheat kernels.
• The wheat kernel consists of three main parts: bran, endosperm, and germ.
• The primary purpose of milling is to separate the endosperm from the germ and bran.

Milling Process

• Historically, stones were used for milling, producing stone-ground flour.
• Modern milling uses steel rollers to separate the bran and germ from the endosperm, which is then ground into wheat flour.
• Bran and germ are removed to produce white flour, while retaining them produces whole wheat flour.

Composition of Wheat Flour

• Wheat flour consists of five nutrients: carbohydrates, protein, fat, water, and ash (minerals).
• Fat content in wheat flour is approximately 1%.