COMPARISON OF AMERICAN WHEATS. 3 



FLOURS OF HIGH AND OF LOW STRENGTH. 



The definition given for a wheat of high quality holds good only 

 when no consideration is given to the remarkable variation in the 

 working qualities of different flours in the hands of the baker. 

 Strength may be defined as that quality in flour which enables the 

 baker to produce a loaf of bread of large volume and of good texture 

 by use of the proper ingredients, together with proper mixing, fer- 

 mentation, and baking. 1 From this definition it will be apparent 

 that strength is of great importance in the making of ordinary fer- 

 mented bread. For other food products, however, high strength is 

 not required and is not even desirable. This is especially true in the 

 manufacture of products in which chemical leavening agents are used 

 in place of yeast. Low-strength flours are preferable in the making 

 of crackers and practically all pastry, as they yield products which 

 are free from undesirable toughness and, on the other hand, are either 

 flaky, brittle, or crumbly, as the character of the product demands; 

 and this result is attained with a saving in the quantity of lard or 

 other shortening required as compared with what is necessary for 

 stronger flours. 



In the manufacture of macaroni and similar products, although 

 strong flours are not necessary, ordinary low-strength flours are not 

 at all suitable. The essential requirements of wheat for making flour 

 for these purposes are that it shall be hard in texture and of such 

 character that it will pulverize into a coarse granular flour, or, as it 

 is more often called, " semolina," and that this be glutenous, or high 

 in gluten proteids. The first of these requirements seems to facilitate 

 the mechanical part of the manufacture, while the second improves 

 the quality of the product by preventing disintegration during 

 cooking. 



LOAF VOLUME AND TEXTURE. 



This leads to a consideration of the measure of strength in flour. 

 The definition of strength already given mentions two factors as 

 of importance, namely, size and texture of loaf. A measure of the 

 volume of the loaf gives the desired information as to size, and in 

 the following pages this is expressed in cubic centimeters. The 

 figures are comparative, as in every case 340 grams of flour were 

 used for a loaf. It is more difficult to express texture in absolute 

 terms, as it is dependent upon several related considerations. The 

 uniformity, number, and evenness of distribution of cavities are 



1 The term " strength " is sometimes considered as meaning the water-absorbing power 

 of the flour, but the definition given above is the one far more widely used at the present 

 time. Some writers use the term " pile " in referring to the shape and texture of the 

 loaf. William Jago and W. C. Jago, in the 1911 edition of their Technology of Bread- 

 Making, define strength as the measure of the capacity of the flour for producing a 

 bold, large-volumed, well-risen loaf. In this definition the term " bold " refers to the 

 external appearance of the loaf and " well-risen " to the texture, but the terms seem, to 

 be lacking in definiteness. 



