Cookbook:Wheat Flour

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Wheat varieties are typically known as hard or soft, depending on gluten content. Hard wheats are high in gluten, and soft wheats are low. Hard flour, or "bread" flour, is high in gluten and so forms a certain toughness which holds its shape well once baked. Soft flour is low in gluten and so results in a finer texture. Soft flour is usually divided into "cake" flour, which is the lowest in gluten, and "pastry" flour, which has slightly more gluten than cake flour.

In terms of the parts of the grain (the grass seed) used in flour -- the endosperm or starchy part, the oil-containing germ or protein part, and the bran or fiber part -- there are three general types of flour. "White" flour is made from the endosperm only. "Whole wheat" flour is made from the entire grain. A "germ" flour may also be made from the endosperm and germ, excluding the bran. The germ is sometimes sold by itself, as "wheatgerm".

• Whole wheat flour (or wholemeal flour) is ground from the entire wheat kernel, including the germ and the bran.

• Graham flour is a white flour with coarsely ground bran and wheatgerm mixed back in. It thus contains all three parts of the wheat kernel as whole wheat flour does, but it has a different texture.

• Cake flour, is a milled, bleached flour containing a low amount of gluten (around 7%), and therefore bakes with a fine texture.

• Pastry flour is slightly stronger (higher in gluten) than cake flour.

• All-purpose flour, (known as plain flour in Europe) is a blended white flour containing a medium amount of gluten (around 10%).

• Maida is a super-refined white flour used in Indian cuisine.

• Self-rising flour (also called "Self-raising flour") is an all-purpose flour that has a leavening agent blended into it for convenience. One cup of self-rising flour can be replaced by one cup of all-purpose flour plus one teaspoon of baking powder and a pinch of salt.

Wheat flour is the main ingredient in most types of breads and pastries. Wheat is so widely used because of an important property: when wheat flour is mixed with water, a complex protein called gluten develops. The gluten development is what gives wheat dough an elastic structure that allows it to be worked in a variety of ways, and which allows the retention of gas bubbles in an intact structure, resulting in a sponge-like texture to the final product.