Types of Wheat and Flours: If you know your ingredients you will have much better baking success. Read on....
All-Purpose Flour- the finely ground endosperm of the wheat kernel minus the bran and the germ which contain the highest concentrations of B-vitamins and Vitamin E. The flour is widely used for all home baked goods but devoid of nutritional content. It is generally enriched with flour B vitamins but not the original concentrations.
Bread Flour - contains greater gluten strength and is generally used for yeast breads produced by commercial bakers. It is now widely available in grocery stores for bread machine enthusiasts.
Hard Winter Wheat -planted in the fall, usually dry-land wheat grown without irrigation. Tends to be lower in protein than hard spring wheat.
Hard Spring Wheat - planted in the spring. It is not irrigated thus yielding a high protein and low moisture content wheat kernel. This wheat tends to be more expensive because of the high protein content and makes the lightest whole wheat bread.
Pastry Flour - Has lower protein/gluten and is milled from Soft wheat. Used for baked goods that contain baking powder.
Soft Spring Wheat - Usually this wheat is irrigated. It has a larger yield than hard wheat but is lower in protein. It is used for making cake,s cookies, muffins, pancakes, pie crust, pastries and baked goods that use baking powder. Be sure to pack this flour into a measuring cup if it is freshly milled to get accurate measurements.
Durum Wheat - used for making pastas. Semolina is a grade of milling for Durum wheat.