FoodNet

Experimental cookery

1932

Page 319

Presented as published in 1932. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
In separating the endosperm from the rest of the wheat berry and re- ducing it to flour, some small bran particles are broken from the bran coats. As these particles are formed they are separated from the flour stock and may be graded according to size and included in the various feeds. As it is impossible to prevent some flour particles' being removed with the bran, these flour particles may also be graded according to size and may become part of the feeds. The other portions into which the wheat berry may be separated, in order as the percentage of bran particles increases, are First Clear, Second Clear, Red Dog, Flour Middlings, Shorts, and Bran. Classes of wheats used for flour. Wheats are classified in five main groups as follows: (1) white, (2) hard red spring, (3) hard red w^inter, (4) soft red winter, and (5) durum. Since the composition of the w^heat varies with climatic and soil conditions to which it has been subjected in growing, it is natural that many variations in composition occur within each class. The sections in which the different classes of wheat are grown overlap to a greater or less degree. The major portion of the hard red spring wheat and durum wheat is grown in the North Central States of the United States and in Canada, whereas hard red winter wheat is grown chiefly in the South Central and Middle Central States. This class of wheat leads all others grown in Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Colorado. At present twice as much acreage is planted in hard red winter wheat as in any other class of wheat. Soft red winter wheat is grown in Missouri and the eastern half of the United States. It is also grown in some Western States, particularly Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. White wheat is grown to a limited extent in the northeastern part of the United States and in Michigan, New York, and on the Pacific Coast. Flour terminology. Flour terminology had become confusing but as a result of the work of the committee on terminology of the Millers' National Federation, in cooperation with the U. S. Department of Agri- culture, definitions for labeling have been worked out and progress has been made in clarifying the terminology. It has been suggested that grade be used to refer to the type of flour as determined by the milling process, whereas the word class be used to designate the kind of wheat from which the flour is milled. According to such a plan, grades of flour would be patent, clear, etc. ; classes would be durum, hard- and soft-wheat flours. Definition of flour. The definition of flour is from the Definitions and Standards for Food Products of the Service and Regulatory Announce- ments of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, issue of 1933. "Whole-wheat flour, entire-wheat flour, graham flour, is the product TYPES OF FLOURS 395 made by grinding wheat, and contains, in their natural proportions, all of the constituents of the cleaned grain." Harrell and Benson state that whole-wheat flour may be of coarse, medium, or fine granulation. "Flour, wheat flour, white flour, is the fine-ground product obtained in the commercial milling of wheat, and consists essentially of the starch and gluten of the endosperm. It contains not more than 15 per cent moisture, not less than 1 per cent nitrogen, not more than 1 per cent ash, and not more than 0.5 per cent fiber."