Ingredient Spotlight: How Flour is used in Baking
Welcome to my first ingredient spotlight as part of the Baking Essentials section of this site. I’ll be highlighting common baking ingredients individually in an attempt to learn more about the science of baking and the role each ingredient plays in the bigger picture. Let me just add a quick disclaimer that I am not an expert. I’m just a gal with a library card and a desire to learn. If you have any insights you’d like to share, please leave a comment!
Flour seems simple enough. We use it all the time in baking and in fact, recipes without flour are in the minority, which is why I chose it for my first spotlight. Do you really know what flour is and why we use it? I’ve learned that it’s anything but basic (in fact I think I started with the hardest ingredient). I’ve done the homework for you, done my best to wrap my brain around the science of it and attempted to sum it up in a concise and accessible format. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, so let’s get started!
What is Flour
Standard flour comes from the berry of the wheat grain. The wheat berry, or kernel, is composed of three parts. The outer layer is known as the bran and the interior is made up of the endosperm and germ. The endosperm comprises most of the kernel and holds all of the starches and proteins. The germ is composed mostly of fat.
White flour is made by grinding only the endosperm into a fine powder. Whole wheat flour is made from the entire kernel— the bran, endosperm, and germ.
How and Why Flour is Used in Baking
It is the proteins “glutenin” and “gliadin” (say those words together 5 times fast) found within the flour that perhaps make it so important to baking. When mixed with moisture they create gluten, something we’ve all heard of. Flour itself doesn’t contain any gluten, but dough does. It is a byproduct of flour manipulated with moisture. The gluten bonds in a dough trap gases from yeast fermentation or chemical leaveners and create rise.
Gluten development is determined by mixing time and presence of fat in the dough. The longer a dough is mixed before baking, the more time the gluten bonds have had to form and the more rise they’ll create through trapped gases. Fat actually works to inhibit the strength of gluten because it coats the proteins and weakens the bond it forms within a baked good. Think of a loaf of bread versus a cookie, both have different mixing times and fat content, which among other things, affect the very different end products.
The starches in flour have two roles. They contain enzymes that break down into sugars which provide food for yeast and therefore aid in rise. Starches also work to absorb the moisture during baking and set the finished product through a process called gelatinization, which happens at temperatures above 140 degrees F. The proteins are responsible for volume, texture, and appearance, and the starches hold it in place even after it’s removed from the heat.
Variations
Flour is categorized by its protein content and hence its gluten power. Cake flour has the least amount of protein (6-8%) and will create the least amount of gluten, which is why it’s ideal for tender cakes. All-purpose flour, as its name suggests, is best for general baking and is composed of flours with high and low gluten power and has a median protein content of 10-13%. Bread flour has a high protein content (12-15%) and is best for yeast breads.
Whole wheat flour has the highest ratio of protein (13-14%), but the bran and germ that have been milled into it actually work as little knives to cut through the gluten bonds and inhibit rise. Because of this wheat flour is often used in conjunction with other flours, such as all-purpose, to compensate.
Of course flour can be made from any grain and from many other foods as well. Some examples include rye, potato, corn, spelt, and nut flours. None of these contain gluten-forming proteins and are either blended with a high-protein wheat flour for baking, or other leavening methods are employed.
Self-rising flour is all-purpose flour that has been combined with salt and a chemical leavener, usually baking powder. Since the chemicals lose their leavening ability over time, and recipes call for different ratios of flour to leavener, self-rising flour is not recommended for use. Whenever I see it in recipes I always substitute 1 scant cup all-purpose flour, plus half teaspoon salt, plus 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder for 1 cup self-rising flour.
Flours bleach naturally over time through oxidation and the aging of the flour actually enhances its gluten-forming potential and flour strength. But because it can be a time-consuming process, chemicals are often used instead to simulate the results. Not only can these chemicals affect the flavor of the flour, but they can also destroy some of its nutritional value. Look for “unbleached” on the label to avoid flours aged with chemicals.
How to Measure Flour
I actually already have a post dedicated to this topic. Click to read how I measure flour.
How to Store Flour
Flour does not have an indefinite shelf life. It can absorb moisture in the air and odors from its surroundings. Its best to store it in an air-tight container in a cool, dry place such as a pantry for a period of up to 6 months. Since whole wheat flour contains fat, it could go rancid and should be refrigerated if storing for more than a few months.
So now you know more than you could have ever wanted to know about flour. It is fascinating in a way though, isn’t it? Hopefully this insight will help you understand what’s happening when you bake that loaf of bread or pan of brownies. Do you have a question or something to add? I’d love for you leave it in the comments.
References:
“Bakewise: The Hows and Whys of Successful Baking” by Shirley O. Corriher
“I’m Just Here for More Food” by Alton Brown
“On Baking” by Sarah Labensky, Eddy Van Damme, Priscilla Martel, and Klaus Tenbergen
“Baking and Pastry Fundamentals” by Johnson and Wales University
I love that you’re curious and that you chose to share it with us. I find the science behind the baking fascinating. Great post!
Thank you for doing all the research and allowing us to glean the knowledge through your blog.
One question though; what is ‘white’ whole wheat flour and could it be used as an all purpose flour?
I had never even heard of such a thing, but a little research turned up an answer. It looks like white whole wheat flour is a whole wheat flour made from a naturally occurring albino wheat variety. It has a milder flavor than regular whole wheat flour, more similar to all-purpose flour.
White wheat flour is a simple whet flour which is obtained by simple grinding of wheat grains. If you use white wheat flour the texture of your cookies will be more softer and you will not get a perfect shape of your cookies. While most of the people using Whole Wheat flour only
Wow, going straight home to put my whole wheat flour in the fridge. Thanks!!
This is great! I was just planning something like this, doing a few posts of lessons on eggs!
I just sent a link to this post to my sister. She was just asking me the other day why to use unbleached flour instead of bleached – I knew I had learned once upon a time why, but I couldn’t remember!
Love! Thanks for the insight. I had no idea WW flour had fat in it. I should probably toss the stuff I’ve got 😛
WOW!! Fabulous information and I look forward to future posts!!
Where does whole wheat and regular pastry flour fall on the spectrum. I have read on other blogs that whole wheat pastry flour can be substituted in some recipes for all purpose. Have you tried that or what do you recommend using it for?
Do you use a flour sifter or a sieve?
I use a sieve, one less kitchen gadget to buy!
Thanks! Is it something like the Oxo Stainless Steel Strainer (8″)? Would that work?
So interesting. Going to read your sugar posts next… Thanks for the information!
This really helped on my science project 😀
Thanks so much! This is a great post – easy to understand. Keep up the good work!
Thanx for all the information. I my self do a lot of baking pastries,bread, Pitzas, cakes etc, etc but without all this knowledge .Great !! Pls. Let me know the ‘Choux ” Pastry recipe for about 2 dozen mediam sized ‘Eclairs” is there a way to make with out so much eggs , thanks
R. W.
Hey wheat flour is a basic thing it is a basic structural and functional unit of Cookies or bakery products. The texture formation of cookies is due to gluten which is formed when wheat flour is mixed with water. Thanks for providing this information. its really help full
wooooew
This article is so useful for my coursework.I just wan to thank you for putting the effort in sharing.Thank you so much I really appreciated the hardwork you put in this article!
This is super amazing mate! thanks for sharing
I am so gonna try it.
Nice blog!! Thanks for posting it.
This is really healpfull.Thanku so much sharing this grate knowledge
Thanks for pointing out that cake flour is the best one to use for tender cakes, and they also have the least amount of gluten. With that in mind, I will be choosing this for the cakes that I will be making for the 7th birthday of my son. This will be perfect for those who can’t consume that much gluten like me since it will be safe due to the small amount it has.
I froze some flour and it was in the freezer for over a year-maybe 2. When I went to use i it seemed OK. When I mixed it into my creamed ingredients the batter got extremely thick. I could hardly stir it. I tried another recipe and it did the same thing. Any ideas on why? I even sifted the flour to make sure there wee no lumps.
Hmm it could have to with how you’re measuring the flour. Here’s the right way to measure flour.