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I vividly remember my mother baking her own bread as I was growing up. She would dip her measuring cup into the jar of flour, and the next thing I knew I'd be eating a slice of bread with a wonderful, chewy crust. Here are some facts about flour that I've learned since...
- "Flour" is defined as any processed, crushed, or ground grain that contains a large amount of starch (aka complex carbohydrates) and a relatively small amount of gluten (aka proteins that make up between 5 and 15 percent of the flour in most cases). Most flour in the United States is made primarily from wheat, but many other plants can be used to make flour. Rye, corn, and rice, to name a few. Each flour base results in a finished product with a unique texture, flavor and starch-to-gluten ratio.
- All Purpose (AP) Flour: All-purpose flour is mostly made from different wheats (with no specifics about what type of wheat it was made from) and generally has a medium gluten content. Cake flour, also widely available, is soft and contains less protein than other flour. It is finely textured and bleached. A natural product? Hardly. But it does yield moist and light cakes.
- Bread Flour: Bread flour has higher gluten content than most mass-produced flours. The higher gluten content creates stronger molecular bonds in the finished breads, so they have crunchy exterior and chewy interior.
- Organic Flour: Organic flour can be made from any plant, nut or other starchy ingredient that was grown without pesticides, fungicides, or other chemicals. Is organic flour more expensive? Of course it is. The benefits? Cooking with flour made from grains grown without the use of chemicals means healthier eating. On a larger scale, it also means reducing chemical runoff into the water table -- our streams and rivers. Looking for a happy medium? Try researching flours based on locally grown (or relatively local) grains that don't have to be transported long distances. Buying local also helps support local economies.
- What do I recommend? I like to use whole wheat or whole grain flours (flours made of only one kind of grain). I love trying less familiar grains like buckwheat, amaranth and quinoa. I have also been on a millet kick lately. But the flour world doesn't begin and end with wheat. I love nut flours (hazelnut and almond, in particular). They're great for people who are gluten-intolerant and crave flavorful substitutes for flours. And I have always loved cornmeal in all forms, as well as oats.
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