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Kitchen Notes: Wheat Flour
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Blue Pilgrim



Joined: 03 Sep 2007
Posts: 25
Location: Ilinois

PostPosted: Mon Sep 03, 2007 9:01 am    Post subject: Seitan Reply with quote

Seitan is pretty much gluten, gotten from flour (google it -- it's used in the Orient as a meat-like food). I tried making some with all-purpose flour. Not too bad, but the trick is to knead it a while before rinsing it under water, which takes the starch out.

If you can't get bread flour you could use the same process to wash out the starch. leaving you with gluten, which you could then add into your bread dough, kneading it in, giving you a higher gluten bread flour. (Or, you might be able to buy 'vital wheat gluten' at the store). You could also add starch to all-purpose flour for a cake flour. I have read of adding corn starch to flour to sub for cake flour.

I havent' tried this for this purpose, and you would to experiment to get the right proportions, but I don't see why it wouldn't work as a substitute.
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tomfy



Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Sat Oct 20, 2007 4:24 am    Post subject: measuring flour Reply with quote

Very informative article. Thanks.

I did some measurements of my own, and I found a density of 123 grams/cup for white all-purpose flour which had been sifted into a bowl, scooped into the cup and leveled. I got as high as 183 grams/cup by settling the flour by tapping the cup gently on the table and adding more, etc. then leveling.

With the method of shaking in a closed container (a plastic storage canister about half full), however I got 147 grams/cup one time, and 148 grams/cup another - considerably denser than sifted.
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tomfy



Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 4:53 am    Post subject: white flour, whole-wheat and amount of water Reply with quote

I've read that whole-wheat flour absorbs more water than white, and this agrees with my observations. Does anyone know of quantitative rule for adjusting the water/flour ratio when going from white to whole-wheat or vice versa?

I did a crude experiment. I often make bread with half and half white and whole-wheat flour (by weight) and a water/flour ratio (by weight) of 0.8
I attempted to get the same consistency with pure white, and pure whole-wheat flour, and got water/flour ratios of:
0.74 (white)
0.88 (whole-wheat)
Since I didn't have an objective way of comparing the consistency, this is perhaps not very meaningful. But it does suggest that the difference is not neglible, and it would be nice to have some rule for adjusting quantity of flour and/or liquid when going from white to whole-wheat or vice versa. Recipes that I have seen will sometimes say that the white flour
(or part of if) can be replaced by an equal amount (by volume?) of whole-wheat. I have found a few mentions of a need to use slightly more liquid with whole-wheat, but nothing quantitative.
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Guest






PostPosted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 12:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

How to make bread flour out of regular flour? Wheat gluten.

I normally bake a couple of 50% whole grain rye, 50% (boring) white loaves a week.
I like whole grains but hate a slice that falls apart. I add a small palmfull of wheat gluten to my recipes.
It's probably excessive for most people, but I like a slice that's bordering on rubbery.

I buy Hodgson Mill wheat gluten at Wal-Mart, but here's a picture on Hodgson's website

Being an engineer, I threw out the controller on my bread machine and wired it up to my PC.
Now I can fine-tune everything exactly. Moreover, I can get an alarm and pull the scraper out before the final rise. That way, there's no big hole.
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turtlegrace



Joined: 17 Dec 2007
Posts: 1
Location: NYC

PostPosted: Mon Dec 17, 2007 5:33 pm    Post subject: Spelt, oat, and rye flours and amount of water Reply with quote

tomfy wrote:
I've read that whole-wheat flour absorbs more water than white, and this agrees with my observations. Does anyone know of quantitative rule for adjusting the water/flour ratio when going from white to whole-wheat or vice versa?


Since shifting to a lower-glycemic-index diet, I've started substituting spelt, oat, and rye flours into my baking and as gravy or sauce thickeners. Spelt does seem more thirsty than whole-wheat flour; oat not so much. Does anyone know how to adjust a recipe's moisture to these flours, or can anyone recommend a simple way for me to test and quantify it myself?

Thanks!
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Guest






PostPosted: Sun Jul 20, 2008 9:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am an engineer, and given the name of this webpage, I was expecting more detail. In particular, I am curious about two types of flour used in Italian cooking. First, my wife makes many things, especially desserts, from a flour that we purchase in an Italian store. This flour is sold as "Tarali Flour." I would like some information on what this flour is, gluten content, etc.

The second flour about which I seek information is "00" (double zero), which is used in many of the best pizzas produced in the US (as well as Italy).

Any further detail that could be supplied on either of these flours would be greatly appreciated.
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Dilbert



Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 1304
Location: central PA

PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 12:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Taralli is a bread snack - many variations - perhaps the flour takes it name from that? made from Italian 00 flour, btw....
http://www.babbonyc.com/dolci-taralli.html

here's some links on double thru quad zero flours - the Italian designations may actually be a different meaning that industry designations for ash.
http://www.pizzamaking.com/pizza_glossary.html
http://www.sagemuller.com/eng/p_flour.html
http://www.ochef.com/830.htm
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Bigbird
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 08, 2008 6:04 pm    Post subject: Ultragrain Reply with quote

There is now a whole-wheat flour made from a white flour (rather than red). It was developed by Conagra and is called Ultragrain. It is available mostly in processed foods, but there is now limited availability of the flour itself at retail. It is lighter in color and flavor than traditional whole wheat, but has the same nutritional profile including fiber and vitamins. The lighter color and flavor is appealing to many people who do not like the flavor of regular whole wheat.

Ultragrain is a hard (high-protein) flour suitable for breads, not cake or biscuits.
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neeki
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 30, 2008 5:34 am    Post subject: measuring cups Reply with quote

i actually use both kinds of measuring cups in my kitchen, the dry measure and the other one where the measuring line drops below the lip of the cup. i find that dry measures are good for solids like flour and sugar, while the other type of cups are good for liquids, since the extra height reduces spilling when i move it around.
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Rosie
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 9:57 pm    Post subject: converting all-purpose flour to cake flour Reply with quote

Try adding a couple of spoonfuls of cornstarch (or whatever the local equivalent is) to your flour.
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Dilbert



Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 1304
Location: central PA

PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:45 pm    Post subject: Re: converting all-purpose flour to cake flour Reply with quote

Rosie wrote:
Try adding a couple of spoonfuls of cornstarch (or whatever the local equivalent is) to your flour.


for the reason of:

"______________________________________________"
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 2:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Adding cornstarch is one technique for making all purpose flour into cake flour. If you need cake flour but only have all purpose, you could substitute a tablespoon or two of corn starch for the flour, and it would theoretically have a lower protein content.
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questioner
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PostPosted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 11:38 pm    Post subject: digest raw flour? Reply with quote

Can you digest raw flour?
If you just mix flour with water and eat it, will you get the same nutrition out of it as if you had mixed it with water, cooked it, and then eaten it?
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Rocky Shoals
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 9:57 pm    Post subject: Flour for deep frying Reply with quote

I love to make and eat apple fritters and I use a Fry Daddy with a temperature range of 350-375. Using all purpose flour recipes I do not get an internal texture that is light and airy but is dense and chewy. Is there a best flour for crisp exteriors and light interiors? Would cake flour do the trick?
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Dilbert



Joined: 19 Oct 2007
Posts: 1304
Location: central PA

PostPosted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

>>dense...

my first suspicion is the fritter batter is too wet.

water absorbs an enormous amount of (heat) energy - a batter that is too wet - be it for pancakes, waffles, crepes, dumplings, <whatever> cooks on the outside faster than suitable for the inside. perhaps better worded, the inside cooks to perfection too slow....

give a shot at reducing the liquid, on the order of 20% by weight - see if that evolves in the desired direction.
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