When choosing flour, the information we want to get is the classification of different products such as high-gluten flour, medium-gluten flour and low-gluten flour or the grades that indicate the purity of the flour, as well as the indication of the content of minerals, crude proteins and so on. Many people in the purchase of flour will mistakenly think that "high-gluten flour = high-precision flour", in fact, the meaning of "high-precision" is simply high-level refining, which only indicates the processing technology of wheat, and can not explain the gluten of flour, so the "high-precision" is the same as "high-precision". So, "high refined" may be high gluten flour, or low gluten flour, or special grade flour, or second grade flour. It seems that the term "highly refined" is actually unscientific, or at least not an industry-standard term, so it is recommended that when shopping for flour, you should pay attention to its protein content, i.e., its gluten content, rather than its "advanced refinement".
High-gluten flour: darker in color, more active and smooth in itself, not easy to form a ball in the hand; more suitable for bread, as well as part of the shortcrust pastry class shortening snacks, such as Danish pastry. In pastry, it is mostly used in muffins (lasagna) and cream hollow cake (puff). In cakes, it is limited to high-ingredient fruit cakes.
Medium gluten flour: milky white in color, between high and low flour, semi-loose in texture; generally used in Chinese dim sum, such as buns, steamed bread, noodles, etc. (Note: Commercially available gluten-free flour is not used in the production of bread. (Note: the general market without special instructions of the flour, can be regarded as gluten flour use. And this kind of flour package will generally be marked on the top, suitable for making buns, dumplings, steamed bread, noodles)
Low gluten flour: white in color, easy to form a ball with the hands; low gluten flour protein content of an average of 8.5%, low protein content, gluten is also less, so gluten is also weak, is more suitable for cakes, muffins, cookies, as well as tarts and other needs of fluffy and crispy texture of the Western-style desserts.
The wheat grain is composed of three main parts: the bran, which is wrapped around the outer part of the grain, accounts for about 18-25% of the grain weight; the embryo, on which the grain germinates, accounts for only 1-2%; and the endosperm accounts for about 80%. Between the endosperm and the bran there is also a layer of paste powder adhesion. Wheat grains are processed through the milling process to separate the bran, wheat germ and endosperm, and the endosperm is finely ground to make flour for human consumption. Flour milling is a physical separation process and does not change the original chemical properties of the wheat endosperm and the rheological properties of the dough after hydration.
From the point of view of the factors affecting the edible quality of flour, protein content and quality are the most important factors determining its edible quality, processing quality and market value. For example, the production of bread should use high gluten wheat flour in order to bread volume and taste good; production of noodles, dumplings should be used in the strong gluten wheat flour in order to its "gluten", smooth; and low gluten wheat flour made of fluffy cakes, cookies and crispy. It can be seen that with the development of industrialized food production, the demand for a variety of special flours is getting higher and higher, and the decisive factor is the "protein content and quality" of the flour.