Product name: Flour

Flour is a powder made from wheat. According to the protein content in flour, it can be divided into high-gluten flour, medium-gluten flour, low-gluten flour and gluten-free flour.

When choosing flour, the information we need is the classification of different products such as high-gluten flour, medium-gluten flour and low-gluten flour, or the level of flour purity, as well as the content of minerals, crude protein, etc. Many people mistakenly think that "high-gluten flour = high-refined flour" when buying flour. In fact, "high-refined" simply means high-level refining. It only indicates the processing technology of wheat, and cannot explain the gluten content of flour. Therefore, "high-level refining" may be high-gluten flour, or low-gluten flour, or special-grade flour, or second-grade flour. From this point of view, the term "high-refined" is actually unscientific, at least not an industry standard term. Therefore, it is recommended that when purchasing flour, you should pay attention to its protein content, that is, gluten content, rather than "high-level refining".

High-gluten flour: darker in color, more active and smooth, not easy to form a ball when grabbed by hand; more suitable for making bread and some pastry pastries, such as Danish pastry. In Western cakes, it is mostly used in muffins (thousand-layer pastry) and cream hollow biscuits (puffs). In cakes, it is limited to fruit cakes with high ingredients.

Medium-gluten flour: milky white in color, between high-gluten and low-gluten flour, semi-loose in texture; generally used in Chinese pastries, such as buns, steamed buns, noodles, etc. (Note: Generally, flour sold in the market without special instructions can be regarded as medium-gluten flour. And this type of flour packaging is generally marked as suitable for making buns, dumplings, steamed buns, noodles)

Low-gluten flour: white in color, easy to form a ball when grabbed by hand; the protein content of low-gluten flour is about 8.5% on average, with low protein content and less gluten, so the gluten is also weak, which is more suitable for making cakes, sponge cakes, biscuits, tart crusts and other Western pastries that require a fluffy and crispy taste.

To put it simply, you grab a handful of flour with your hand, then squeeze it into a ball with your fist, then release it, and gently weigh the dough with your hand. If the dough quickly falls apart, it is high-gluten flour; if the dough can still maintain its shape during the gentle weighing process, it is low-gluten flour.

Wheat grains are mainly composed of three parts: the bran wrapped outside accounts for about 18%-25% of the grain weight; the germ on which the wheat grains rely for germination accounts for only 1%-2%; and the endosperm accounts for about 80%. There is also a starch layer between the endosperm and the bran. The wheat grains are processed through the flour milling process to separate the bran, germ and endosperm, and the endosperm is ground into flour for people to eat. Flour processing is a physical separation process that does not change the original chemical properties of the wheat endosperm and the rheological properties of the dough after water.