ALL ABOUT FLOURS

this is one of the basics of baking...one should understand the purpose and types of flour available to ensure a successful baking. i for one (obviously wasn't paying any attention when we had our theory lecture on this topic) but i shall explain as best i could base on my dusty old notes hehehe~

you may or may not know that there are many and i mean many types of flour in the market and all are set for different purposes...

1. high protein flour
2. low protein flour
3. all purpose flour
4. soy flour
5. bleached and un bleached flour (is basically all purpose flour)
   
6. whole wheat flour (high fiber flour, gluten content is not that high and you would usually have to mix with all purpose flour or bread flour when use in recipes)
   
7. organic flour (its organic!)
   
8. durum flour (i call it pasta flour as it is great for expending and stretching)
   
9. tapioca flour
10. rice flour
11. corn flour
12. glutinous flour
13. samolina (also great for pasta...and for kueh heheh)
    

...is there more? however i hardly pay any attention to any other flour except for high, low protein and all purpose flour.

high protein flour :
this type of flour also known as bread flour. as it name suggested its HIGH in PROTEIN which also mean that its has high gluten content. it is milled from hard wheat and is best for yeast products.

low protein flour:
this is the opposite of the above *DUH* its has low gluten and also known as pastry flour. this flour is most suitable for a more delicate cakes and pastries such as pie crusts.since it has a low gluten level and is usually used for angel food cakes and cookies. This flour is used when the desired effect is a texture that is tender or delicate.

all purpose flour:
is one of the most accessible and commonly used types of flour. You can buy bleached (i.e. white flour chemically bleached to reduce spoilage) or unbleached all-purpose flour. Bleached flour is good for most pastries, cookies and pancakes, and unbleached flour is great for strudel, cream puffs and éclairs. to sum it up, if you cant find high or low protein flour all purpose flour would substitute just fine as it DOES sits in between the high and low proteins content...

so with all these information i think you'd probably could make your own conclusion on which flour is good for what and why ...(i supposed) mmmm my notes are still long but i'm basically tired of typing and scanning to extract the gist of it... hope you dun mind...but i promise that i'll add on information gardually as we go along so bare with me....

now...have i ever made an entry about the difference between cupcakes and muffins?????

arghhh~ i'm so lazy to check mmmmmm~*contemplating "to write or not to write..indeed tha question"*