Experimental cookery

Straight flour. Straight flour (100% flour) is a milling term indicating that all the bolted wheat meal has been recovered from the wheat after removal of the feeds. It is not generally on the market and all commercial flours are derived from straight flour. Patent flour. Patent flour may be made from any class of wheat and is the more refined portion of the wheat meal from which all or a portion of the clears have been removed. (How "long" or "short" a patent is depends on how much of the total flour is included. In general, most patent flours include about 85 per cent of the total flour obtained from the wheat. But a very "short" patent used in fancy cake flour may include only 25 per cent of the total flour.) Clear flour. Clear flour is the less refined bolted portion of the wheat meal recovered in the manufacture of Patent flour. According to trade practise or demand, clear flour may be divided into First and/or Second Clears. First Clear is the better portion of the Clear when separated into two parts. Second Clear is the remaining portion of the Clears when First Clear is removed. The purpose for which the flour is intended. Hard-wheat flours. Practically all durum wheat is used for the manufacture of semolina, which in turn is used for macaroni products. In general bread flours are made from hard wheats, although suitable soft-wheat flour is used for baking bread in some sections. Bread flour is a term indicating a "strong" flour that has the capacity to make loaves of good volume texture and grain. The term "strong" indicates that the gluten has tenacity, cohesiveness, and elasticity. Bread flour usually contains more gluten and less starch, and the granulation is usually coarser than in either pastry or cake flour. All-purpose, General-purpose, or Family flour are synonymous terms used for a flour which is suitable for most kinds of baking. It may or may not be a blended flour. It may have as a basis either hard- or soft-wheat flour. Hence, there are two types of all-purpose flours, and which is obtain- able in a certain section depends on whether hard or soft wheat predomi- nates in that section. Soft-wheat flours. Since soft wheats usually contain a smaller quantity of 396 FLOUR AND BREAD gluten than hard wheats, the flours from these wheats are generally more desirable, and particularly if the gluten is of fine quality, for cakes and pastry products than hard-wheat flours. Pastry flour is a term indicating a flour usually milled from soft wheat, which is of fine granulation and has a low or moderate amount of gluten. It differs in baking quality from both bread and cake flours. Cake flour is milled from soft wheat. It is a "short" patent. The granula- tion is very fine and uniform, the protein content is low but may be of fine quality. Cake flours are usually better grades of flour than pastry flours.