INGREDIENTS - European Flour Types

In much of Europe,a grading system based on the ash content is dominant.For example, the grades T45 and T55 are white wheat flours with low ash for breads and pastries.T65 includes high-gluten flours, and T80,T110, and T150 are whole wheat flours of increasing darkness. Other flours are included in this grading system. For example,T170 is dark rye flour.

Bread flours from European wheats are generally lower in protein than North American bread flours.Typically, they have a protein content of around 11.5%. Some North American mills have begun supplying similar flour for artisan bread bakers seeking to imitate classic European breads.

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INGREDIENTS - Wheat Flour

Wheat flour is the most important ingredient in the bakeshop.It provides bulk and structure to most of the baker’s products,including breads,cakes,cookies, and pastries.
While the home cook depends almost entirely on a product called all-purpose flour, the professional baker has available a wide variety of flours with different qualities and characteristics. In order to select the proper flour for each product and to handle each correctly, you should understand each type of flour and how it is milled.

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CONTROLLING GLUTEN

Flour is mostly starch, as you know, but it is the protein or gluten content, not the starch, that concerns the baker most. Gluten proteins are needed to give structure to baked goods. Bakers must be able to control the gluten, however. For example, we want French bread to be firm and chewy, which requires much gluten.On the other hand,we want cakes to be tender,which means we want very little gluten development.

Ingredient proportions and mixing methods are determined, in part, by how they affect the development of gluten.The baker has several methods for adjusting gluten development:

1. Selection of flours Wheat flours are classified as strong or weak, depending on their protein content.
Strong flours come from hard wheat and have a high protein content. Weak flours come from soft wheat and have a low protein content.
Thus, we use strong flours for breads and weak flours for cakes. Only wheat flour develops enough gluten to make bread.To make bread from rye or other grains, the formula must be balanced with some highgluten flour, or the bread will be heavy.

2. Shortening Any fat used in baking is called a shortening because it shortens gluten strands. It does this by surrounding the particles and lubricating them so they do not stick together.Thus, fats are tenderizers.
A cookie or pastry that is very crumbly, which is due to high fat content and little gluten development, is said to be short.
You can see why French bread has little or no fat, while cakes contain a great deal.

3. Liquid Because gluten proteins must absorb water before they can be
developed, the amount of water in a formula can affect toughness or tenderness. Pie crusts and crisp cookies, for instance, are made with very little liquid in order to keep them tender.

4. Mixing methods In general, the more a dough or batter is mixed, the
more the gluten develops.Thus, bread doughs are mixed or kneaded for a long time to develop the gluten. Pie crusts, muffins, and other products that must be tender are mixed for a short time.
It is possible to overmix bread dough,however.Gluten strands will stretch only so far. They will break if the dough is overmixed.

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SELECTION OF INGREDIENTS

In addition to measuring, there is another basic rule of accuracy in the bakeshop: Use the exact ingredients specified.

As you will learn,different flours,shortenings,and other ingredients do not function alike. Bakers’ formulas are balanced for specific ingredients.For example,do not substitute bread flour for pastry flour or regular shortening for emulsified shortening.They won’t work the same way.

Occasionally, a substitution may be made, such as active dry yeast for compressed yeast, but not without adjusting the quantities and rebalancing the formula.

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