Progressive Baker offers six
versatile spring wheat flours
for retail baking applications.
Spring wheat is grown primarily
in northern states, including
Montana, North and South Dakota,
and Minnesota. It is planted in
early spring and harvested in
late summer or early fall.
Flours made from spring wheat
have a high protein content that
makes them excellent for hearth
breads - but they are also an
excellent choice for any
yeast-raised bakery items.
This flour shall be milled from
cleaned wheat of sound quality
that is selected to provide
consistent performance
characteristics. This product
shall be of food grade and in
compliance with the Federal
Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of
1938 as amended and all
applicable regulations there
under
Wheat has two distinct growing
seasons. Winter wheat, which
normally accounts for 70 to 80
percent of U.S. production, is
sown in the fall and harvested
in the spring or summer; spring
wheat is planted in the spring
and harvested in late summer or
early fall.
There are several hundred
varieties of wheat produced in
the United States, all of which
fall into one of six recognized
classes. (This is in market
contrast to the one or, at most,
two wheat classes produced in
other nations.) Where each class
of wheat is grown depends
largely upon rainfall,
temperature, soil conditions and
tradition. Generally speaking,
wheat is more often grown in
arid regions where soil quality
is poor.
Wheat classes are determined not
only by the time of year they
are planted and harvested, but
also by their hardness, color
and the shape of their kernels.
Each class of wheat has its own
similar family characteristics,
especially as related to milling
and baking or other food use.
So, what do you use in your
baking?
Soft white
wheat (spring and winter) is
most often used for pastas.
Hard white
(spring and winter) can be used
for breads as well as specialty
noodles
Hard Red is
great for baking
Spelt
(classified as hard red winter
wheat) is great for some people
who experience wheat allergies
or just love the flavor
over other
varieties of wheat.
The Test
I wanted to
see if the slightly higher
protein of spring wheat made a
signficant difference in gluten
development and rising
power. A secondary interest was
whether there was a marked
difference in taste between
white and red wheat.
I
decided to do a two pronged test
of home milled wheat flour: red
vs. white wheat and winter vs.
spring wheat. I used my
tried-'n-true recipe for a fifty
percent whole wheat loaf bread.
I made the bread four times -
twice with home-milled hard red
winter wheat and twice with
home-milled hard white spring
wheat. The baker's percentage
was the same for all trials, as
were the other ingredients and
the procedure followed.
THE AGRICULTURAL AND PROCESSED FOOD PRODUCTS
EXPORT CESS ACT, 1985 NO. 3 OF 1986 PUBLISHED VIDE
NOTIFICATION NO. 3 DT. 8TH JANUARY 1986 HAS BEEN
REPEALED VIDE MINISTRY OF LAW AND JUSTICE NOTIFICATION
NO. 26 DT. 2ND JUNE 2006 UNDER THE CESS LAWS (REPEALING
AND AMENDING) ACT, 2006.
Soft white
wheat (spring and winter) is
most often used for pastas.
