There is a wide variety of baked goods made from wheat flour on the market. The root, wheat flour contains other cereals do not have a unique substance – can form gluten wheat protein and wheat gluten.

Wheat flour protein accounted for 11% to 18%, of which wheat protein, wheat gluten accounted for more than 80% of the total protein. Wheat glue, wheat gluten are insoluble in water, but have a strong affinity for water, water-absorbing expansion of the gel formed by gluten, its texture characteristics are good, with a certain viscosity, elasticity, chewiness and extensibility, processing performance is quite good.

Processing characteristics of different gluten flours

The protein content is the main difference between high gluten, medium gluten and low gluten flour. Even though the difference between high gluten flour and low gluten flour is only a few percentage points of protein, the difference in the content of trace protein is decisive for the formation of dough.

1. Bread
Bread is flour, yeast, salt and water as the basic raw materials, add the right amount of sugar, oil, eggs, milk and other accessories, after mixing and modulation into a dough, fermentation, shaping, baking and baked into a class of convenience foods.

Bread processing technology flow: raw materials processing → part of the ingredients → the first modulation → the first fermentation → the remaining raw materials → the second modulation → the second fermentation → snap powder → rolled round → shaping → rise → finish (egg) → baking → cooling → packaging → finished product.

The main raw material for bread processing is high-gluten wheat flour, which is generally processed from durum wheat, and is processed with high precision and is rice-white with high gluten content. Usually the protein content of 12% to 15%, wet gluten value of more than 35%.

Dough preparation is a very important step in bread processing. Raw material powder mixed with a certain proportion of water, need to be fully stirred, stirring the wheat glue in the flour, wheat gluten through the disulfide bonding, water absorption to form gluten. The dough preparation process using a mixing machine usually requires several minutes of mixing. The gases that cause bread to expand in volume come mainly from the dough fermentation process.

During the fermentation process, the gases produced by the yeast are encapsulated by the more malleable gluten, forming small gas chambers. When baking begins, the gas in the chambers begins to expand, and when the temperature reaches a certain value, the proteins begin to denature, the starch also begins to paste, and the small chambers slowly begin to stabilize. After a period of baking, fresh and delicious bread will be processed and made.

2.Cake
Cake is with eggs, sugar, wheat flour as the main raw material, with milk powder, spices, salad oil, water, shortening, baking powder and other auxiliary materials, by stirring the inflatable baked into a class of soft and fluffy snacks.

Cake processing technology flow: raw materials selection and proportioning → modulation of dough (batter) → molding → cooked → cooling → decoration → finished product.

Cake processing main raw material is low gluten wheat flour, generally choose soft wheat processing, color white. Protein content of 7% to 9%, wet gluten content value of 25% or less. Cake production process, beating process is an important link, because the cake expansion mainly from the beating process of air into the mix.

First of all, whisk the whole egg or egg white mixture with a whisk quickly to mix in enough air. During whisking, the egg whites are partially denatured, the surface tension changes, and they form a tight film that traps the air. The flour added later is mixed into the film structure, which forms a support structure when heated, but the flour structure is not involved in encapsulating the air.

Cake making requires that mixing is kept to a minimum to avoid the formation of gluten, as it will limit the expansion of the cake in baking. In addition, starch is added mainly to lower the proportion of protein content in the flour, so that the finished product is more fluffy.

3. Cookies
Cookies are made of wheat flour, powdered sugar, oil and fat as the main raw materials, adding bulking agent, improver and other auxiliary materials, after stirring, molding, baking and become the crisp taste of the cookies.
Cookie processing technology: raw and auxiliary materials processing → ingredients → dough modulation → molding → baking → cooling → finishing → packaging → finished product.
When cookies are made, the main raw material used is low-gluten wheat flour, and the semi-soft butter is usually whipped. The fundamental reason for the crispiness of cookies is the higher proportion of fat and lower proportion of moisture in the raw material, both of which have a certain interference effect on the formation of gluten. Most of the moisture is lost during the baking process, when the dough lacks a strong gluten structure and is therefore very crispy.

Color characteristics of different gluten flours

High gluten flour is darker in color, suitable for making bread; medium gluten flour is milky white in color, between high and low flour, semi-floose in texture; low gluten flour is whiter in color, easy to form a ball by hand; low protein content, weak gluten, more suitable for making cakes and so on.

Flour is not the whiter the better quality, but should consider the actual needs. The finer the flour particles, the better the reflection of light, the whiter it appears visually. The higher the protein content, the less likely the flour particles are to be finely ground and the flour appears darker. In addition to the effect of granularity, new flour itself contains pigments such as lutein and carotene, which cause the flour to be slightly yellow. However, these substances degrade over time. Wheat endosperm contains polyphenol oxidase, which turns colorless phenolic substances into black “pigments”, which is also an important reason why flour becomes darker and darker.