Different Kinds Of Flours And How To Use Them

Whether you’re a seasoned baker or are a casual kitchen experimenter, you’ve more than likely used some kind of flour in your endeavors. 

Here are a few of the more popular wheat and grain flours that we use most often in the United States!

What makes flours different from each other?

Flours are made by grinding up grain or nuts into a fine powder that, generally, needs to be cooked before being consumed. These grains or powders can range from corn to wheat to tapioca to rye to almonds and more. While plain old wheat flour is the reigning champion of the baking aisle today, there are plenty of flours that are starting to get the credit they deserve. 

But what’s the difference between all these flours? Aside from taste and texture, of course, the chemical and structural properties of these different flours can really affect the outcome of your recipe. It can change how you have to knead, cook, rise, mix and ratio your ingredients, so it’s important to know how the flours differ and how they should be used.

Those structural differences are due to the proteins in the flour. Proteins are nutrients made from amino acids, which in turn are made from oxygen, carbon, sulfur, nitrogen and hydrogen — all that good life building stuff. Proteins are what builds muscle mass in the human body and is usually found in animal products and, of course, in grains and legumes. 

When proteins bond together — in the context of flour — they create gluten, which are groups of proteins that create a web-like structure in the mixture. The two main types of gluten that impact your recipe are glutenin and gliadin, which affect the elasticity and the rise, respectively, of the dough you’re making. 

Since different grains and legumes have varying percentages of gluten and, within that percentage, different ratios of glutenin to gliadin, each flour will have its own level of elasticity, tensile strength, rise and texture. 

Basically, there’s a bunch of science to it. So let’s just rise to the occasion and knead out this topic as best we can! We’ll start with wheat flours, then do a separate list of gluten-free flours (because there are a lot of them).

Common varieties of wheat flours and their uses

All purpose flour

All purpose flour truly lives up to its name. Flours have a protein content ranging from around 5-14%, and all-purpose flour hovers almost perfectly in the middle at around 9-12%. This means you can use it to make everything from spongy cakes to sweet breads to pastas and most everything in between. It's neither too stretchy nor too airy, and is great for baking goodies and simple recipes that don't require extreme precision.

Bread flour

Bread flour has the highest protein content of all, with around 14% in most bread flours.

Why does this matter? Because bread doughs need to have a decent amount of structure in order to create that spongy interior, a high rise and that crispy crust. That's why bread doughs need to be kneaded so much — to develop the gluten and to create that web-like structure that the yeast can then inflate as it rests.

You want to use this flour for any kinds of breads, especially pretzels, pizzas and bagels.

Cake flour

Cake flour has the lowest of all protein contents, hovering at just around 5-8%. This low gluten content creates light and fluffy cakes that you can gently pull apart with a spoon or fork — not the stretchy, more structured interiors of breads and bagels.

You can use this finely-ground flour for cakes, biscuits, scones and muffins, or anything else that you want to turn out moist, fluffy, tender and crumbly.

Graham flour

Where else do you think Graham crackers come from?

Actually, both the flour and the crackers are named for their inventor, Sylvester Graham, who popularized the coarsely ground whole wheat flour in his rustic bakes.

Graham flour has a slight nuttiness to it, so it can add a nice flavor to any recipes that call for regular whole wheat flour. It's a little heavier and coarser than plain all-purpose flour, though, so don't substitute it for this flour unless you want to drastically change your finished product.

Instant flour

If you haven't heard of instant flour, then you're not alone. This flour isn't popular, but boy is it underrated.

Instant flour is pre-cooked and will dissolve in liquids, which makes it perfect for adding to sauces and gravies as a thickener. Its ability to dissolve in liquids also makes it ideal for deep frying other foods, as quickly dredging anything in instant flour will yield crispy results.

Pastry flour

If you're serious about your baking and patisserie, then pastry flour is a must-have in your kitchen pantry.

Pastry flour is a perfect cross between all-purpose flour and cake flour. It's not too fine, it's not too coarse, it's just stretchy enough to create a dough and it's just tender enough to create a flake.

Use this dough for baking croissants, puff pastry doughs, pie crusts, cookies, crackers and tarts.

Rye flour

Although not made with wheat, rye flour kernels have similar structures as wheat kernels, though with a little less gluten. Because there's less gluten, rye doughs end up being a little denser than most, which is perfect for making breads and crumbly cookies.

Self-rising flour

Self rising flour is, essentially, all-purpose flour with some rising agents like baking powder and salt mixed into it. The extra leavening agents in the flour mean there's a slightly lower protein count in the flour than its all-purpose neighbor, so use it in recipes for soft, crumbly, light creations like pancakes, biscuits, scones and crepes.

Semolina flour

Semolina flour has an extremely high protein content of 13% — almost as high as bread flour!

The high gluten content means that this flour can be stretched much more than most other flours, which is great for making homemade pasta, pizza and focaccia.

Spelt flour

Spelt flour has a similar structure and texture to all-purpose flour, giving its creations a light, fluffy texture that you'd find in many other bakes. This flour just adds a slightly sweet flavor that's taken from the ancient grain of the same name — spelt — so try substituting portions of your AP flour with this flour for a gentle tangy flavoring.

In the end, all we need to know is that not all flours are created equal, and using a certain flour can really make or break your recipe. Try out some of these flours next time you’re in a baking mood, and see how you like them!

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Featured photo courtesy Pixabay/Alexas_Fotos