Definition for light, medium and heavy flour?
In this answer:
What can I use in place of Quinoa flour?
regarding substituting for quinoa flour, the answered alleges that another so-called "medium" flour can be substituted.
When I googled, I found that so-called "light flours" were alleged to be high in starch; rice flour or glutinous rice flour was the usual example. I found far less consistency—and no definition based on an objective criteria—for medium and heavy flours, although nut flours usually seemed to be grouped as a heavy flour. Almost all references to these terms were from the gluten free community.
Is there an actual objective criterion for these categories of light, medium, and heavy flours? If so, what is it, and what does it mean for their baking characteristics? Is it just a cultural thing in the gluten free community to group together empirical experiences?
Best Answer
The blog sourd'oh referenced is the best I've seen up to this point: http://www.myrealfoodlife.com/understanding-gluten-free-flours/
Basically, My Real Food Life breaks it down into the following categories:
- Heavy: Give structure and binding, have lower rising capacity.
- Medium: Lighten heavy flours, even out stronger tastes, soften the crumb and texture.
- Light: Needed for binding, adding lightness, and sometimes crispiness. Neutralize the taste of stronger flours.
If you're looking to use a wheat-based flour, this seems to correlate to the flour's milling and the type of wheat used (hard seems to correlate with heavy and soft seems to correlate with light).
- Heavy: Whole wheat flour, bread flour
- Medium: All purpose flour
- Light: Cake flour
For additional information on the composition of wheat-based flours, see the following Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_flour
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Quick Answer about "Definition for light, medium and heavy flour?"
Heavy: Give structure and binding, have lower rising capacity. Medium: Lighten heavy flours, even out stronger tastes, soften the crumb and texture. Light: Needed for binding, adding lightness, and sometimes crispiness.What are the 3 main types of flour?
In the domestic field, you have 3 main choices when it comes to flours: All-purpose, bread, and pastry.What is a light flour?
Cake Flour and Pastry Flour. For a light, fluffy dessert, turn to tender and delicate cake flour or pastry flour. These flours are finely milled and have a low protein content\u2014around eight percent in cake flour and slightly lower for pastry flour\u2014which is perfect for making light, tender cakes.What is heavy flour?
Strong flour tastes similar to other flours, but it's slightly off-white and feels more coarse and dense. Strong flour is made from hard wheat kernels. It's high in protein and used for baked goods that require structure. It's coarser and denser than other varieties of flour.What are the 4 types of flour?
The Different Types of Flour and Their Uses- All-Purpose Flour. Best used for: anything! ...
- Hard Flour. Best used for: loaves, buns, donuts. ...
- Cake Flour. Best used for: tender cakes and pastries. ...
- Whole Wheat Flour. Best used for: bread, cookies, dense cakes. ...
- Cooking Flour. ...
- Noodle Flour. ...
- Rice Flour.
Heavy Light Medium Programming EXPLAINED
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