Types of flour
Today the range of flours available is wider than ever before. Here are the main types of flour:
Wholemeal This is made from the whole wheat grain with nothing added or taken away.
Brown This usually contains about 85% of the original grain. Some bran and germ have been removed.
White This usually contains around 75% of the wheat grain. Most of the bran and wheatgerm have been removed during the milling process. Our step by step guide to white bread uses white breadmaking flour.
Wheatgerm This can be white or brown flour with at least 10% added wheatgerm.
Malted wheatgrain This is brown or wholemeal flour with added malted grains.
Stoneground This is wholemeal flour ground in a traditional way between two stones.
Organic This is made from grain that has been grown to organic standards. Growers and millers must be registered and are subject to regular inspections.
If you fancy experimenting, other less common wheat flours include the following:
Einkorn an ancient variety of wheat
Kamut Khorasan - another ancient form of wheat
You can also get flours which are not made from wheat, some of the more unusual types include flour made from coconut, potato, peas and chickpeas. Other grains such as rye, oats and spelt are often used.
With all of this choice available, it can be hard to know which flour to use for which job. We have produced a basic guide which you can find here. We've also put through a guide to the various different types of bread that these flours can be used to make.
