Can an all wheat flour be high in protein, yet low in gluten?
I know that wheat protein isn't all gliadin and glutenin (the proteins that give dough its stickiness and elasticity and together create gluten), but high protein wheat flours are also generally considered "high gluten".
Except when they're not, apparently. I am in possession of a flour that makes the extraordinary claim on the nutrition facts label of 4g of protein in 25g of flour (so 16% protein), yet this particular type of flour is not supposed to produce much gluten. Wheat is the only ingredient.
Is that even possible?
How can I go about testing the gluten strength of a particular flour relative to known quantities? (I have bread flour, AP flour and cake flour to play with)
Best Answer
I can't say that this is the answer with 100% definitiveness, but I do have a theory that seems valid. Usually, flours are milled and ground with the endosperm, which contains most of the starch and protein. The germ contains proteins, fats, and vitamins and the bran is primarily fiber. The fats, vitamins, and fibers at a molecular level would contribute some interference to gluten formation.
In addition, whole wheat flours cannot be ground as finely as endosperm-only flours. Because the size of the flour granules/clusters are larger in whole wheat flours, the proteins within the flour granules are shielded from added water. This means that less flour proteins come into contact with water, which means less gluten formation.
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Does high protein flour mean high gluten?
The higher the percentage of protein in your flour, the more gluten there is in it. The amount of gluten in flour is determined by what type of wheat is used to make the flour.Which type of wheat flour has the highest protein content?
Unlike white flours, whole-wheat flour also includes the germ and bran, making it a whole-grain option that is higher in fiber and other nutrients as compared with other types of flour. Whole-wheat flour also is high in protein (13\u201314%), but the germ and bran impede its gluten-forming ability.Does lower protein content in flour means higher gluten strength?
Flours made from high-protein wheat (10-14% protein content) are \u201chard wheat\u201d, and flours made from low-protein wheat (5-10% protein content) are \u201csoft wheat\u201d. Think of it this way: The higher the protein content, the more gluten it has. And the more gluten it has, the more strength it has!Which wheat flour has the least gluten?
Cake flour is the softest or lowest-gluten of wheat flours. It's made from soft wheat, then subjected to a harsh chemical bleaching process that weakens its gluten further and makes it especially porous and easy to blend.Science: What is Gluten? Here's How to See and Feel Gluten
More answers regarding can an all wheat flour be high in protein, yet low in gluten?
Answer 2
Proteins in flour can be denatured (by heat and slowly by aging) to be no longer capable of combining into gluten strands - this is evident in preparations like hot-water shortcrust or mandarin pancakes, where heat is used to limit gluten formation. Such methods could also be conceivably be used in making a commercially produced flour with such properties.
The gluten structure in a developed dough can be discovered by repeatedly rinsing and rekneading the dough in flowing water or several changes of water. Almost only the gluten strands will be left in the end since the starch is orders of magnitude more water soluble than developed gluten strands; this method is also used to make seitan the old-school way.
Answer 3
This question was asked very long ago, but perhaps visitors now might still find it useful. Indian maida is made from wheat but it is not whole-wheat. We use it like an AP flour in India. I don't know why the buyer thinks its is low-gluten because it is a reasonably gluteny flour, used by home bakers here for making white breads, cakes etc. Hope this helps!
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