Types of Flour

Generally we have a notion that we have only few types of flours, but my friends you were wrong, we have over 16 types of flours used for different types of products and food items. I'm today going to list down most of the flours. Flours are used based on what kind of product is required. Suppose for a bread we require a blend of hard and soft wheats in right proportions.

1. All purpose flour:- White flour a blend of soft and hard wheats. suitable for most home baked products, including bread cakes and quick breads.

2. Arrowroot flour:- this is not a strictly flour but has very similar properties to corn flour. it can be used as thickening of desserts and fruits sauses.

3. Buckwheat flour:- Available in health food stores. Adds a full bodied, earthy flavour, so it is used mixed with wheat flour for bread. Also used to make Russian blinis.

4. Barley flour:- This is made from pearl barley. Barley flour has a mild, slightly sweet, earthy flavour, and gives breads soft, almost cake like texture due to its very low gluten content. to make bread, barley flour must be combined with refined flour.

5. Chickenpea flour:- This is very fine Indian flour is also called the gram flour or besan. It is used to make bread and for making onion and vegetable fritters.

6. Cornflour/cornstarch:- The fine white powder is made by grinding the white heart of the corn kernel. it is most commonly used as a thickening agent for sauces soups and gravies.

7. Jowar flour:-jowar grains over most parts of southern India. This flour ground from the petty pale yellow grains is a creamy white coloured flour. It is mainly used for making indian breads.

8. Maize meal:- this is made from the cooked whole grain which is ground into flour and commonly used to make classic mexican flat bread, tortilla.

9. Millet flour:- This flour has a sweet flavour and a slightly guity texture. It tends to give breads a dry, crumby texture. so you may need to add extra fat. If using it to make bread boast the gluten content by using at least 75% wheat flour.


10) Pasta Flour:- Flour made from durum wheat, the hardest wheat grown, make sturdy dough, and is thus the choice for commercially produced dried pasta.

11) Rice Flour:- Available in most supermarkets. It gives a lightly sweet flavour to bread. low in gluten( it is a protien found in the bread), so we use no mare than one part rice flour to four parts wheat flour in a bread recipie.

12) Rye Flour:- Available in supermarkets health food stores in medium and dark varieties. Both flours produce breads with full bogy slightly sour flavour. rye Flour is fragile so knead gently. For best results use one part wheat flour to 2 parts medium rye flour and one part wheat flour to 2 parts dark rye flour.

13) Self rising:- An all purpose flour with leavning and salt flour added. It is used for recipies where baking powder would be added, but not for yeastrecipies such as bread.

14) Semolina:- This high gluten flour is made from the endosperm of durum wheat before it is fully milled into a coarse granular texture or fine flour.

15) Soya flour:- This is finely ground, high protien flour made from soyabean. it is used as a thickener in a wide range of sauses and soups. As it has a strong flavour, it is often mixed with other flours such as wheat flour to make bread and pastries

16) Whole Wheat Flour:- Whole wheat flour or 100% extraction flour is made using the whole wheqat grain including the bran and wheat germ. Most flour today bis milled between steel rollers. Stone ground flour is made in traditional way, ground between 2 stones, which is a slower process and consiquently the flour is considered to have a better flavour. used alone, the flour produces a heavy compact dry bread. Whole wheat flour can be used for whole meal pastry, either by itself or mixed with a proportion of white flour for a lighter result.

From:http://foodbeverage-blog.blogspot.com/