4 BULLETIN 1183, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
IMPORTANCE OF FACTORS DETERMINING THE QUALITY OF 
WHEAT. 3 
MILLING YIELD AND FLOUR AND BREAD COLOR. 
The term " milling quality " has a varied meaning, and in speaking 
of wheat of high milling quality two millers may have very different 
standards in mind. Broadly speaking, any wheat which will yield 
a high percentage of white, sound flour is of good milling quality. 
Flour yield, or the quantity of flour of good color that can be pro- 
duced from wheat, is always the most important consideration in 
judging wheat. Other factors are of importance in deciding the pur- 
pose for which the flour from a certain kind of wheat is best adapted, 
but they usually play a minor part in determining values. 
Flour yield and flour color, or the color of the bread produced 
from the flour, must always be considered together, as they are 
closely related in their commercial significance. Yield is the quanti- 
tative expression of the amount of flour that can be produced from 
wheat, while color is the chief factor in determining the grade of the 
flour and consequently its selling price. 
Flour yields in the following pages are expressed as a percentage 
of straight flour. The term " straight " in this connection has much 
the same significance as it has commercially, and includes all of the 
flour usually included in the " patent " and " clear " grades. 
The color-scoring system used for bread is based upon an arbitrary 
scale on which the highest markings are 100, but only very excep- 
tional breads score 100. The scoring is decided upon by comparison 
Avith loaves from check or standard flours. Bread from flour made 
from ordinary sound wheat will score usually between 90 and 100. 
Bread that will not score more than 50 is from flour of such poor 
quality that it would be classed with the lowest grade of commercial 
flours, such as " red dog." 
FLOURS OF HIGH AND OF LOW STRENGTH. 
The definition given for a wheat or 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. From this definition it will be apparent that 
strength is of great importance in the making of ordinary fermented 
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 of practically all pastry, as they yield products that 
are free from undesirable toughness and, on the other hand, are 
either flaky, brittle, or crumbly, as the character of the product de- 
mands: and this result is attained with a saving in the quantity of 
lard or other shortening required as compared with what is neces- 
sary for stronger flours. 
3 Abstracted from Department Bulletin 537 : A comparison of several classes of Amer- 
ican wheats and a consideration of some factors influencing quality, by L. M. Thomas. 
