FoodNet

Foods and household management

1914

Page 100

Presented as published in 1914. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
contains gluten, and the rye loaf therefore resembles the wheat loaf. Wheat and flour differ lai^ely on account of the difference in the amount of gluten, and the gluten itself varies in quality with the variety of wheat. Figure 52 shows the result of an experiment with flour made from different kinds of wheat, all the other factors in the bread making being identical. Thia effect of the differ- ence in the composition of the flour is very striking. Again, the same variety of wheat will differ from season to season, YEAST BREAD 193 and the time of planting, also, afifects the quality of the grain. The time of planting and reaping gives us two classes of wheat and flour, the winter and spring. Winter wheat is sown in the fall and obtains its first growth before winter, living through the winter in those latitudes where the climate is sufficiently mild, being harvested in early summer. Spring wheat is sown in the spring and harvested late and it is the wheat of the great flour-producing state, Minnesota. The difference in the composition of the two wheats is shown in this table.^ Watbb Pbotein Fat Gabbo- BTDRATB Abh Wheat Spring varieties . . . Winter varieties . . . 10.4 10.5 12.5 11.8 2.2 2.1 73. 73.8 4 1.9 1.8 Note that the spring wheat contains more protein and there- fore more gluten. The flour from spring wheat is creamy in color, granular to the touch, has more gluten, and is known as a strong flour. Flour from winter wheat is somewhat whiter in color and smoother to the touch, feeling more like corn- starch, and if a portion is squeezed in the hand, it retains the imprint of the fingers. It has less gluten, more starch, and is known as a soft flour. This type of flour is some- times called " pastry flour," the smaller percentage of gluten making it more desirable for pastry or cake than the stronger flour. FlQur manufacturers and bakers are constantly experi- menting to find the best possible varieties and combinations of varieties for bread flour. Some difference of opinion exists, 1 U. S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers' Bulletin 389, p. 16. o 194 FOODS AND HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT but a combination of winter and spring wheat in flour ia considered the best for bread by some authorities. We must learn to like a creamy color in bread, for this means the presence of more gluten. To summarize ; a good bread flour contains a large percentage of gluten, is creamy in color, and granular to the touch. Mantifacture of flour. — Modem machinery has taken the place of the old-time stones in the grinding of flour, although the two main divisions of the process rem^n the same, these being the crushing of the grain and the sifting out of the coarse portion. Milling now includes many stages in the process not possible with the cruder ma- chinery of former times, and the present effects a greater number of separations and permits the miller to make a greater variety of products.