Flour is a powder made by grinding cereal grains, seeds, or roots. It is a basic ingredient in many food products, especially baked goods. Wheat flour is most common in Western countries because of its ability to create a spongy structure in baked items. Refined flour production separates the endosperm from the bran and germ. Whole wheat flour uses all parts of the kernel. When flour mixes with water, its protein turns into gluten, giving dough elasticity to retain gas and rise during baking. The strength of the gluten depends on the flour's protein content.

What foods are commonly made with flour?

Flour is a fundamental ingredient in many foods, especially in Western countries. Foods commonly made with flour: * Baked goods Wheat flour is most suitable for baked goods that need a spongy texture. These include cakes, cookies, pie crusts, and crackers. * Breads Hard wheat flours are best for products needing a stronger structure, like breads, buns, hard rolls, and yeast-raised sweet rolls. Flatbreads such as naan and roti are common in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. * Pasta Pasta is made from semolina, which is obtained from durum wheat. * Sauces Flour is used as a thickening agent in sauces. For example, a roux, a mixture of flour and fat, is a base for many sauces. Flour gravy is made of milk, water, or stock and fat and seasoning thickened with flour.

What grains can be used to make flour?

Flour, a finely ground powder derived from cereal grains or starchy plants, serves as a fundamental ingredient in various food products and baked goods. While wheat flour is most common in Western countries, flours can also be made from barley , buckwheat , chickpeas , lima beans , oats , peanuts , potatoes , rice , rye , and soybeans . Corn is wet-milled to make corn flour , or cornstarch. Oat flour is not ideal for bread but works well in cookies and puddings.

How is flour made from grains?

Flour production starts with cleaning cereal grains like wheat to remove impurities. The grains are then dampened to aid grinding. Milling separates the endosperm (the grain's starchy part) from the outer bran layers and germ. The gradual reduction process involves rollers that crack the grains, followed by sieving to separate the break flour and semolina. Air purifiers remove branny impurities from the semolina. The semolina is then ground into fine flour using reduction rolls and scratch rolls. Sieving after each reduction roll extracts more flour. About 72% of the grain becomes flour.

What is the difference between whole wheat flour and white flour?

White flour is made from wheat, but during milling, the bran and germ of the wheat kernel are removed, resulting in a lighter color and softer grain. Whole wheat flour , on the other hand, is ground from the entire wheat kernel, including the bran, germ, and endosperm. The removal of the bran and germ in white flour production results in a flour that is mainly starch, while whole wheat flour retains more of the nutrients, fibre, and oils found in the complete wheat kernel. Whole wheat flour is also called graham flour.

How does the type of flour affect the texture and taste of baked goods?

Flour is key to the texture and taste of baked goods because, when mixed with water, its protein forms gluten , an elastic network that traps gas and expands. Different flours have varying gluten content, which impacts baking. High-protein, hard-wheat flour is best for breads requiring strong structure, while low-protein, soft-wheat flour suits cakes and cookies needing less expansion. The type of flour affects the dough's ability to rise and its final texture, whether spongy or dense.

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Top Questions

What is flour?
Flour is a powder made by grinding cereal grains, seeds, or roots. It is a basic ingredient in many food products, especially baked goods.

Wheat flour is most common in Western countries because of its ability to create a spongy structure in baked items. Refined flour production separates the endosperm from the bran and germ. Whole wheat flour uses all parts of the kernel.

When flour mixes with water, its protein turns into gluten, giving dough elasticity to retain gas and rise during baking. The strength of the gluten depends on the flour's protein content.
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What foods are commonly made with flour?
Flour is a fundamental ingredient in many foods, especially in Western countries.

Foods commonly made with flour:
* Baked goods Wheat flour is most suitable for baked goods that need a spongy texture. These include cakes, cookies, pie crusts, and crackers.
* Breads Hard wheat flours are best for products needing a stronger structure, like breads, buns, hard rolls, and yeast-raised sweet rolls. Flatbreads such as naan and roti are common in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.
* Pasta Pasta is made from semolina, which is obtained from durum wheat.
* Sauces Flour is used as a thickening agent in sauces. For example, a roux, a mixture of flour and fat, is a base for many sauces. Flour gravy is made of milk, water, or stock and fat and seasoning thickened with flour.
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What grains can be used to make flour?
Flour, a finely ground powder derived from cereal grains or starchy plants, serves as a fundamental ingredient in various food products and baked goods. While wheat flour is most common in Western countries, flours can also be made from barley, buckwheat, chickpeas, lima beans, oats, peanuts, potatoes, rice, rye, and soybeans. Corn is wet-milled to make corn flour, or cornstarch.

Oat flour is not ideal for bread but works well in cookies and puddings.
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How is flour made from grains?
Flour production starts with cleaning cereal grains like wheat to remove impurities. The grains are then dampened to aid grinding. Milling separates the endosperm (the grain's starchy part) from the outer bran layers and germ. The gradual reduction process involves rollers that crack the grains, followed by sieving to separate the break flour and semolina. Air purifiers remove branny impurities from the semolina. The semolina is then ground into fine flour using reduction rolls and scratch rolls. Sieving after each reduction roll extracts more flour. About 72% of the grain becomes flour.
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What is the difference between whole wheat flour and white flour?
White flour is made from wheat, but during milling, the bran and germ of the wheat kernel are removed, resulting in a lighter color and softer grain. Whole wheat flour, on the other hand, is ground from the entire wheat kernel, including the bran, germ, and endosperm.

The removal of the bran and germ in white flour production results in a flour that is mainly starch, while whole wheat flour retains more of the nutrients, fibre, and oils found in the complete wheat kernel. Whole wheat flour is also called graham flour.
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How does the type of flour affect the texture and taste of baked goods?
Flour is key to the texture and taste of baked goods because, when mixed with water, its protein forms gluten, an elastic network that traps gas and expands. Different flours have varying gluten content, which impacts baking. High-protein, hard-wheat flour is best for breads requiring strong structure, while low-protein, soft-wheat flour suits cakes and cookies needing less expansion.

The type of flour affects the dough's ability to rise and its final texture, whether spongy or dense.
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flour, finely ground cereal grains or other starchy portions of plants, used in various food products and as a basic ingredient of baked goods. Flour made from wheat grains is the most satisfactory type for baked products that require spongy structure. In modern usage, the word flour alone usually refers to wheat flour, the major type in Western countries.

A brief treatment of flour and flour milling follows. For full treatment, see cereal processing: Wheat flour; baking: Flour.

Wheat grains, or kernels, are composed of the starchy endosperm, or food-storage portion, constituting about 85 percent; several outer layers that make up the bran, constituting about 13 percent; and the oily germ, or embryo plant, approximately 2 percent. In the production of refined flour, the purpose of the milling process is to separate the endosperm from the other kernel portions. In the production of whole wheat flour, all parts of the kernel are used.

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In modern milling of refined flours the wheat kernels are cleaned and tempered by the addition or removal of moisture and then split open by a pair of rolls. The finest particles, called break flour, are sieved out and bagged. Coarser particles of endosperm (called semolina) and pieces of bran with endosperm attached are then subjected to a series of rolls in which semolina of steadily reducing size is gradually ground to flour and the bran separated out. The flour is usually bleached and treated to obtain the improved bread-making qualities formerly achieved by natural aging. Flour grades are based on the residual amount of branny particles.

When flour is mixed with water to make dough, its protein content is converted to gluten, an elastic substance that forms a continuous network throughout the dough and is capable of retaining gas, thus causing the baked product to expand, or rise. The strength of the gluten depends upon the protein content of the flour. Soft wheats, containing approximately 8–12 percent protein, produce flours that are suitable for products requiring minimal structure, such as cakes, cookies (sweet biscuits), piecrusts, and crackers. Hard wheats, which are high in protein (approximately 12–15 percent), produce flours that are suitable for products requiring stronger structure, such as breads, buns, hard rolls, and yeast-raised sweet rolls.

The wide variety of wheat flours generally available includes whole wheat, or graham, flour, made from the entire wheat kernel and often unbleached; gluten flour, a starch-free, high-protein, whole wheat flour; all-purpose flour, refined (separated from bran and germ), bleached or unbleached, and suitable for any recipe not requiring a special flour; cake flour, refined and bleached, with very fine texture; self-rising flour, refined and bleached, with added leavening and salt; and enriched flour, refined and bleached, with added nutrients.

Flours are also made from other starchy plant materials including barley, buckwheat, chickpeas, lima beans, oats, peanuts, potatoes, soybeans, rice, and rye. Gluten-free flour and related products became popular in the 21st century, as consumers and restaurants became increasingly sensitive to digestive disorders and food allergies.