Flour: Difference between revisions

====Bleached flour====

Bleached flour is treated with flour bleaching agents to whiten it (freshly milled flour is yellowish) and to improve & maximise its gluten-producing potential.  Oxidising agents are usually employed, most commonly organic peroxides such as acetone peroxide or benzoyl peroxide, nitrogen dioxide, or chlorine.  A similar effect can be achieved by letting the flour slowly oxidise with oxygen in the air ("natural ageing") for approximately 10 days; however, this process is more expensive due to the time required.

Image:Various types of flour.jpg|A wide selection of flours!

Image:Oak smoked flour.jpg|Oak smoked flour

Strong flour (or '''hard flour'''): This is flour milled from wheat with a high [[gluten]] content.  Wheat grown in hot and dry conditions where there is a shorter growing season tends to have a higher gluten content.  This high gluten content enables a vigorous and even rise which results in a lighter loaf.  The following table lists some of the strong flours available in the UK, with their [[protein]] percentage and includes some stockists.  The higher the [[protein]] content, the more gluten will be produced.  However, the percentages are only a guideline as to how much the bread will rise.  Some flours include improvers such as vitamin C (ascorbic acid) which help it to rise more.

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|ASDA Strong White Bread Flour||11.0||Asda

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Image:Gram flour.jpg|Gram flour

Image:Kamut flour.jpg|Kamut flour

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|Waitrose Strong Wholemeal Plain Flour||TBA||Waitrose

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If you cannot find it in your area, or want to make your own at home, a typical formulation/ratio would be as follows:

[[Image:Gluten-free-flour-chart.jpg|thumb|right|300px|thumb|right|Gluten free flour conversion chart<br />[http://gygi.com/blog/2012/07/20/gluten-free-baking-the-conversion-chart/ www.Gygi.com - ''Originators of Gluten-free flour chart'']]]

[http://gygi.com/blog/2012/07/20/gluten-free-baking-the-conversion-chart/ www.Gygi.com] have created a useful equivalent chart.  See their [http://gygi.com/blog/2012/07/20/gluten-free-baking-the-conversion-chart/ blog] for more information.

''Estimated [[Generic_conversion_table#Volume|US cup]] to weight equivalents:''

Every [[ingredient]] has a cups to ounces or grams conversion table. Search for the ingredient, and cup to weight conversions are at the end of each ingredient page.