According to the different content of protein, general flour can be divided into the following categories:
1. Ultra-high gluten flour: moisture 14%, crude protein 13.5% or more, usually used to make gluten and fried dough sticks.
2. High-gluten flour: moisture content 14%, crude protein content 1 1.5% or more, which is mostly used to make bread and noodles. The average protein content of high-gluten flour is 13.5%, and usually the protein content is above 1 1.5%, so it can be called high-gluten flour. Protein content is high and gluten is abundant, so gluten is also strong.
3. Medium gluten powder: moisture content 13.8%, crude protein content above 8.5%. It is used for China pasta and China snacks, such as steamed buns, steamed buns, jiaozi and pancakes. The flour that is not specially marked in the general recipe is this. In addition, the fat cake in West Point is mostly made of medium gluten powder, and the structure of the fat cake itself is looser than that of sponge cake. By using medium gluten flour, the structure of the cake can be further strengthened, so that it becomes more compact and not loose.
4. Low gluten flour: moisture content 13.8%, crude protein content below 8.5%. It is usually used for cakes, biscuits, cakes and cakes. Sponge cake is made of low-gluten flour. Because low-gluten flour has no strength, the cakes made are particularly soft, loose and flat.
5. self-raising flour: In self-raising flour, the leavening agent is added to the flour, which is convenient and easy to use. Generally speaking, a teaspoon of baking powder is added to 100g to 120g flour to make self-raising flour.
6. Hand powder: Strictly speaking, this classification is also unscientific, because hand powder does not refer to any kind of powder. Hand powder is anti-sticking powder sprinkled on hands, dough or containers or tables when making cakes or pies. Generally, high-gluten flour is used as hand flour. In principle, the gluten of handmade flour is not lower than that of flour used for making snacks or similar flour.
Remarks: (excluding low-gluten flour)
Production method of low-gluten flour: common flour and corn starch can be mixed according to the ratio of 4: 1. If you want to reduce gluten, add some corn starch. You can do this when making muffins and snacks. The flour usually made in jiaozi is fermented from ordinary flour, so don't use the cake marked "jiaozi Powder" on the package in the supermarket, because that kind of flour has a lot of gluten.
1. Reasons for using low-gluten flour when making cakes:
Using flour with different gluten will make the cake have different swelling degree and hardness. For example, sponge cake is made of low-gluten flour. The finished product is soft, elastic in texture, tall and straight in appearance and will not collapse. If high-gluten flour is used, it will inhibit the expansion of the cake because of its strong gluten, resulting in small size, solid organization and slightly hard taste of the baked product.
Second, the reasons for using high-gluten flour when making bread:
The biggest difference between bread and cake is the expansion method. Bread is a dough made of high-gluten flour by fully kneading, forming a network gluten structure, which has strong adhesion and elasticity, and can block the carbon dioxide produced by yeast, thus making the dough swell. If low gluten flour is used to make dough, it will not only form less gluten, but also have weak adhesion and elasticity, and the carbon dioxide produced by fermentation will escape outward, which will make the dough swell lower.