French wheat bread flour

The demand for authentic French bread is obviously a sign of greater cosmopolitanism fuelled by increased foreign travel. The commonest. British attempts at an authentic French loaf are made from flour milled in Britain using French wheat. The requirement to mill with a very low starch damage is not achievable in some British bread flour mills. 

Uses of partial-waxy and waxy wheat in Asian noodles, bread and tortillas have been reviewed.269,270,298 French bread made from double-null partial waxy wheat flour retained 1-2% more moisture in its crumb in 24 hours compared to bread from a wild type flour. French bread made from the mutant wheat had a softer crumb immediately and up to 48 hours after baking.299 Wheat noodles are made from flour and low levels of salts, so starch plays a major role in noodle quality. Flours from partial waxy wheats with —10% protein and 21-24% apparent amylose (starch basis) are favored for white salted (sodium chloride) noodles because partial waxy starch swells during cooking somewhat more than non-waxy wheat starch. For good appearing noodles, the flour should be from a white wheat low in polyphenol oxidase, and... 

Raw rice, boiled rice, wheat flour, French bread, oat bran, wheat bran AE< 0.0016,0.0027, 0.0052,0.0014, 0.0012,0.0009 Perez-Jimenez and Saura-Calixto (2005)... 

Wheat flour is extensively utilized to produce snacks such as crackers, crispbreads, and pretzels. The preparation of crackers is described in Chapter 10. The industrial manufacturing process to obtain toasted bread is practically identical to production of fresh bread with the additional operation of bread toasting or drying. There are many bread formulations generally produced from refined wheat flour, whole wheat flour, or composite flours produced from mixtures of wheat flour with oat, rye, or various crushed grains. Sesame is frequently used as a topping. Typical formulations to obtain French, white pan, whole wheat oat, pumpernickel, and rye breads are described in Chapter 10. 

It should be appreciated that a high level of starch damage is not essential in bread. French bread is made from soft wheat flour with a low starch damage. Starch damage is generally undesirable in biscuits. In biscuits the product is cooked to a very low moisture content so binding in water is undesirable. 

There are some soft wheats, both French and North American, that have bread making properties. Flour made from these wheats can be used for biscuits. 

Most bread recipes include diastatic barley malt flour. Diastatic malt contains high levels of a- and P-amylases and proteases that mainly hydrolyze damaged starch granules and proteins, respectively. These enzymes gradually and slowly provide substrate for the fermenting of yeast. Diastatic malt is especially important in those formulations where sugar is not used, such as in French breads. Many commercial hard-wheat flours are supplemented with diastatic malt in order to adjust their diastatic activity, usually measured by the falling number assay (Chapter 15). The quantities used vary from 0.1% to 1.25% (Doerry 1995, Kulp and Ponte 2000, Stauffer 1990). 

Baguette A French bread made from wheat flour, yeast, and salt that upon baking yields a thin loaf abont 60 cm long. The baguettes are usually baked in the presence of steam and have a crisp crust. They have a short textural shelf life. 

French bread Yeast-leavened breads produced from hard wheat flour, water, and salt that are baked into crusty loaves. The authentic French breads or baguettes do not contain sugar and shortening. Thus, these breads have a short textural shelf life and are considered dietetic bread. 

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