Baking Flour and Yeast

Flour:  A store cupboard essential

Flour is one of the main ingredients for a wide range of foods throughout the world, including pasta, bread, noodles, biscuits and cakes. There are a variety of flours available, including:

Plain flour: The most commonly used type of flour. It contains about 70% of the wheat grain and when it is milled the bran and wheat germ from the grain is removed and all that remains is the white starchy part of the grain. Some of the ways it is used is to make pastry, as a coating for raw meat and fish before frying, and in sauces such as white sauce.

Self raising flour: This is plain flour with raising agents added. The raising agent in the flour reacts during cooking to produce carbon dioxide and the mixture expands to give a light and airy texture. Self raising flour is used in recipes where the mixture needs to expand on cooking to give a light result, such as cakes and puddings. 

Strong white plain flour: Strong white flour is processed to remove all the bran and wheat germ from the wheat grain and all that remains is the white starchy part of the grain. It has a higher proportion of a type of protein than white plain four, which forms gluten when mixed with water. It gives bread its distinctive flavour and texture.

Wholemeal plain flour: Contains 100% of the wheat grain, including the bran and germ. It has a higher fibre content than plain flour. It can be used as plain flour but it does have a denser texture. It is often mixed with plain flour and can be used in pastry, cakes, as a coating for raw meat or fish before cooking and in sauces.