Frying pancakes, preparing sauce, or baking whole wheat bread – different dishes require their specific type of flour for preparation. If you choose the wrong variety of the product, you might end up with a different outcome. To avoid confusion with popular types and varieties of flour and create an incredibly delicious dish, how can you navigate through this?
Frying pancakes, preparing sauce, or baking whole wheat bread – different dishes require their specific type of flour for preparation. If you choose the wrong variety of the product, you might end up with a different outcome. To avoid confusion with popular types and varieties of flour and create an incredibly delicious dish, how can you navigate through this?
Types of flour
The type of flour depends on the agricultural crop from which it is derived. Most commonly, these are grains: wheat, rye, buckwheat, oats, corn, and barley. Recipes occasionally call for flour from leguminous crops: soy or pea flour. It is used less frequently, for instance, in the preparation of traditional dishes
The majority of flour is produced from wheat. It is perfectly suited for baking bakery goods. Starch and particles of gluten give the dough the necessary viscosity, making it suitable for making pancakes, fritters, dumplings, and pasta as well. Natural wheat flour combines excellently with various ingredients, which is why chefs cherish it
Rye flour is the second most popular after wheat flour. It is darker and contains less gluten, which aids in making the dough elastic. Bakery products retain freshness for a longer period but might not maintain their volume well. To counter this, wheat flour is added
Varieties of flour
The term “grade” refers to the amount of flour obtained from 100 kilograms of grain. If the yield percentage is high, the grade is low, and vice versa. However, the grade is not linked to quality. It reflects the degree of milling and helps determine the appropriate type of flour for a specific dish. Several grades of flour are produced from wheat:
Grit
The grain is meticulously cleaned, and the particles after milling are large and light. This grade is suitable for yeast dough products. Semolina swells significantly due to its high gluten content. A downside is that baked goods made from semolina tend to become stale quickly
Top-grade Flour
White, finely milled flour from the inner part of the grains, rich in starch. It’s great for sponge cakes. For non-yeast baking, it’s better to use a different grade to prevent excessive crumbliness
First-grade Flour
White, sometimes with a yellowish tint. It contains more nutrients than top-grade flour. Thanks to gluten, the dough retains its fluffiness and volume, and the products stay fresh for a long time. First-grade flour is ideal for non-yeast baking and breading
Second-grade Flour
Darker than the previous grades. Baked goods made from this flour are not as fluffy, so it’s recommended for making cookies, gingerbread, dumplings, and pancakes. You can add rye flour to it and bake low-calorie bread
Wholemeal flour
Brownish with larger particles. The grain is ground whole, which preserves a lot of vitamins and minerals. This grade is used for baking bread or mixed with first-grade flour for making pancakes and savory pies
The most nutritious type of wheat flour is bran-enriched flour. If you care about your health, opt for whole grain flour for baking or mix finely milled flour with bran
Rye flour is also divided into several grades:
Seed flour
Light, almost white, finely milled. It is obtained from the inner part of the grain. The benefits of this grade include good rising properties and low calorie content. A drawback is that a significant portion of nutrients is removed along with the bran
Peeled flour
Grayish-cream. It mainly consists of grain husks. Classic bread is baked from scraped flour, and sourdough is prepared from it
Wholemeal flour
Darker than the other grades. It is considered the most nutritious due to its coarse milling and high bran content. It’s used for making bread, pasta, and dietary products
If a recipe recommends using a specific type or grade of flour, try to use exactly that. This way, you will not only end up with something edible but also truly delicious dishes