How to choose flour

We often say "flour" refers to wheat flour, which is ground from wheat. Flour can be divided into high gluten flour, medium gluten flour and low gluten flour according to its protein content.

When we choose flour every day, we will get information about high gluten flour, medium gluten flour, low gluten flour, high gluten flour, superfine flour and so on. It will make everyone unable to start.

Let's analyze it below:

(1) All flour can be divided into high gluten flour, medium gluten flour and low gluten flour, which indicates the gluten of flour, that is, whether it is gluten when making or tasting.

High-gluten flour: also known as strong flour, the flour is slightly darker in color, high in protein content and strong in gluten, which is not easy to agglomerate by hand; High-gluten flour is more suitable for making elastic and chewy bread and noodles, muffins in cakes (thousand-layer cakes) and cream hollow cakes (puffs).

Medium gluten flour: our most common flour, milky white in color, medium in protein content and semi-loose in constitution; Suitable for Chinese dim sum, such as steamed buns, steamed bread, jiaozi, noodles, pancakes, etc.

Low-gluten flour: also known as thin flour, the flour is white in color and low in protein content, and it is easy to form dough by hand; Low-gluten flour is more suitable for making western cakes such as cakes, muffins, biscuits and egg tarts.

Tips for identifying the gluten strength of flour: grab a handful of flour with your hand, then knead it into a ball with your fist, then loosen it, and then gently weigh the flour ball with your hand. If the flour ball is scattered quickly, it is high-gluten flour; If the dough can keep its shape in the process of light weighing, it is low-gluten flour.

(2) high-precision flour ≠ high-gluten flour. Accuracy refers to the processing accuracy in the grinding process of wheat flour. Generally, the higher the processing accuracy, the whiter the flour color, but it can't explain the strength of flour. High-precision flour refers to flour with high processing precision, but it is not necessarily high-gluten flour, but it can be medium-gluten flour or low-gluten flour. Therefore, when choosing flour, first choose high and low gluten flour according to the types of products (such as high gluten flour for bread, medium gluten flour for steamed bread and low gluten flour for cakes), and then choose different refined flour according to your preference for product color (such as eating white steamed bread and choosing high-precision or ultra-fine medium gluten flour).

(3) In the process of making food, if you are not sure what kind of gluten flour to use, you can choose to buy special flour, such as bread wheat flour, steamed bread wheat flour, cake wheat flour and so on.

(4) Generally commercially available flour, which is not specially marked (high gluten and low gluten are not marked), can be regarded as medium gluten flour, and is suitable for making Chinese cakes such as steamed buns, jiaozi, steamed buns and noodles.