Needing the Dough on Dough!

April 3, 2007 2:12 PM

Calling all food scientists and breadophiles!!!! Clear flour contains which proteins and at what percentages?

I am asking this question for a breadmaker friend of mine. Clear flour is the first endosperm flour high in protein. He has found that he cannot make good bread from just clear flour alone. He is curious as to the proteins that it does have and at what amounts. He thinks that the percentages of albumin and globulin are high. That is why the bread doesn't rise as much and lacks prolamin and glutalin. Regular bread has .5% albumin. .5% globulin, 6% prolamin and 6% glutalin. (all together 13%)

posted by goalyeehah to food & drink (4 comments total)

This depends so entirely on the type of wheat from which the flour is made (not just the species, but where it was grown) that it's not possible to answer it.

If he lives in the US, he should contact his local Extension Office and ask if they are affiliated with a food testing lab which could answer this question for the specific flour he uses.
posted by OmieWise at 4:28 PM on April 3, 2007

It's possible the flour is too fresh.

Harold McGee says, "Bakers have known for a long time that freshly milled flour makes a weak gluten, a slack dough, and a dense loaf. As the flour ages for a few weeks in contact with the air, its gluten and baking properties improve. We understand now that oxygen in the air gradually frees the glutenin proteins' end sulfur groups to react with each other and form ever longer gluten chains that give the dough greater elasticity." He goes on to say that a little Vitamin C, fava bean flour or soy flour will speed up the process of developing the gluten.

Apart from that, what OmieWise said. What part of the country is your friend in? The higher gluten flours are usually grown in colder climates. Warmer climates typically produce lower gluten flours.
posted by cali at 8:47 PM on April 3, 2007

He is based in Los Angeles. The clear flour he gets is from Kansas.
posted by goalyeehah at 9:06 PM on April 3, 2007

Hmmm...I found this description of clear flour from this pdf. It doesn't sound like what your friend thinks he's getting:

"Clear flour is the lowest quality of all commercial grades of flour. It is milled from the outer part of the endosperm, made from flour streams that remain after patent flour is produced. While different grades are available, all clear flours are relatively high in bran, high in protein and ash, and slightly gray in color. A high grade of clear flour, called first clear, remains after the production of hard wheat first patent flour. Clear flour is less expensive than patent flour. While it is higher in total protein than patent flour, the gluten formed from clear flour is typically of lesser quality than that from patent flour. First clear is commonly added to rye and whole grain breads. Its protein provides needed strength to low-gluten grains."

Not the kind of detail you were hoping for, but at least it confirms that it's the type of protein and not the quantity that's at issue.
posted by cali at 10:04 PM on April 3, 2007