Are all-purpose flours, high-gluten and low-gluten flours used? Understanding flour is the key to making delicious pasta

If you want to make pasta and bake, you must first understand flour. Many friends often leave me messages, asking what kind of flour is used for steamed steamed buns? What kind of flour is used to make cakes and bread? Why do you fail in the end by doing it in proportion and in the face, in the same way? Today we're going to start with flour and talk about the basics of flour.

Classification of flour

1. Divided by protein content

The main components of flour are starch and protein. Different flours have different protein content, between 6%~15%. According to the protein content of flour, flour can be divided into low-gluten flour, all-purpose flour, and high-gluten flour.

Cake flour with a protein content of less than 9.5%; Gluten flour with a protein content of more than 11.5%; Other than that, all-purpose flour is all-purpose flour. The protein content can be seen on the nutrition facts list of the flour package.

2. Divide according to the specific use of flour

The more common ones on the market are bread crumbs, cake mixes, toast mixes, etc. From the point of view of protein content, cake flour belongs to low-gluten flour, bread flour and toast flour belong to high-gluten flour, and toast flour has higher requirements for protein content than ordinary bread flour. Make different foods and choose the right flour to achieve the best results.

3. Divided according to processing methods

Depending on whether the wheat is peeled or not when it is processed, flour can be divided into refined flour and whole wheat flour. Whole wheat flour is made by grinding unpeeled wheat directly into a powder form by machine, and the bran will remain in the flour. And what has been stripped of the bran is refined flour. In terms of taste, whole wheat flour is coarser and refined flour has a delicate taste.

Specific applications of medium and high bread flour

1. All-purpose flour: All-purpose flour is the most widely used and can be used to make home-cooked pasta such as buns, steamed buns, dumplings, noodles, and pancakes. Generally, there is no special instruction, and all-purpose flour is used.

2. Low-gluten flour: mainly used to make cakes and biscuits. Cake flour is less gluten-free, so if you need to make food that needs to be fluffier or more crispy, then cake flour is a better choice.

3. High-gluten flour: When you think of high-gluten flour, you will definitely think of bread. In addition to bread, if you want something more chewy and elastic, you can also choose high-bread flour. For example, when making steamed buns and dumplings, you can also choose high-gluten flour, and the finished product is more elastic.

Details that you may often overlook

Why do you need to know these seemingly useless basics? Because this knowledge will become your "invisible wings" in the process of cooking food, helping you to see it at a glance and succeed as soon as you do it. Let's take a look at the details that you may often overlook.

1. There are differences in water absorption of different flours

Many friends will wonder: why did I follow the recipe when making noodles, the proportion is particularly accurate, but in the end it fails? The problem may be in the water absorption of the flour. To take an extreme example, the same 100 grams of flour and 70 grams of water, some flour and come out is dough, while some flour and come out may be batter.

The water absorption of flour is affected by many factors, such as protein content, temperature, humidity, weather, fineness of the flour itself, and so on. Protein content is a major factor, and generally the higher the protein content, the better the water absorption.

2. The effect of water temperature on the water absorption of flour

When mixing noodles, we will use cold water, warm water, and scalding water. How does different water temperature affect flour? In general, the higher the water temperature, the more water the flour absorbs, and the softer the pasta will be. For example, when making pancakes, you often choose to blanch part of the noodles, which can increase the water absorption of the flour and make the pancakes softer.

3. What kind of flour to choose for bread

Many friends make bread like steamed buns, and one of the possible reasons is that the flour is not chosen correctly. Broadly speaking, a protein content higher than 11.5% is classified as a high-gluten flour. But this is not enough to make bread. To make ordinary bread, you can choose flour with a protein content of more than 12%, and it is best to choose a protein content of more than 13% for toast.

Don't underestimate the 1% protein content, it can be very useful for bread. The protein content is guaranteed, so it is easier to make bread out of the film and easier to draw.