Sunday, March 7, 2010

Understanding Whole Wheat Flour

Some whole wheat recipes are coming, but first a little info on whole wheat flour. It will be written WWF from now on. WWF is called whole because all parts of the wheat seed are used- the bran (husk), the endosperm (carbohydrates and protein, the bulk of the seed), and the germ (nourishment for the seed. In white flour only the endosperm is used. WWF is used because it adds fiber, nutrients, texture, and flavor to breads.

We all know the health benefits of whole grains, but not everyone like the taste. For those people there is white WWF which come from soft white wheat. It lacks the tannins and phenolic acid of regular WWF (which comes from red wheat), and thus has a taste more like processed white flour. It is hard to make light bread from only WWF so often white flour is added to whole wheat recipes to improve the gluten level. Recipes with whole wheat also require more water since the bran and the germ absorb more water. It is also important to note that WWF has oils in it that make it go bad quicker than white flour. I keep my WWF in the freezer for this reason.

No comments:

Post a Comment