Soft wheats

Fine grinding and air classification make possible the production of some cake flour from hard wheat and some bread flour or high-protein fractions from soft wheat. AppHcation of the process theoretically frees the miller from dependence on different wheats, either hard or soft, that change each crop year. The problem is how to market the larger volume of low protein or starch fractions at prices adequate to justify the installation and operation of the special equipment (46). 

Soft-wheat flours are sold for general family use, as biscuit or cake flours, and for the commercial production of crackers, pretzels, cakes, cookies, and pastry. The protein in soft wheat flour mns from 7 to 10%. There are differences in appearance, texture, and absorption capacity between hard- and soft-wheat flour subjected to the same milling procedures. Hard-wheat flour falls into separate particles if shaken in the hand whereas, soft-wheat flour tends to clump and hold its shape if pressed together. Hard-wheat flour feels slightly coarse and granular when mbbed between the fingers soft-wheat flour feels soft and smooth. Hard-wheat flour absorbs more Hquid than does soft-wheat flour. Consequently, many recipes recommend a variable measure of either flour or Hquid to achieve a desired consistency. 

W. T. Yama2aki and C. T. Greenwood, eds.. Soft Wheat Production, Milling Uses, American Association of Cereal Chemists, St. Paul, Minn., 1981. 

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. 

Several sorts of flour are normally made from soft wheat. Some are high value products made to tight specification while others are not. 

A common grist would be mainly soft wheat with possibly some hard wheat added at up to 20% to encourage flowability and good mixing. Hard wheat that has failed a quality control for bead making can end up in plain flour. 

Self Raising Flour. This product is a soft wheat flour with a chemical raising agent, also known as leavening agent, added. It can always be substituted by a mixture of plain flour and baking powder. 

Some bread flour mills have difficulty in making a low starch damage soft wheat flour, a job that the mill was not intended for. This is probably why some millers do not make biscuit flours, leaving them as a niche product for the smaller milling companies. 

Wafer Flour. Wafer flour is a type of biscuit flour with the same basic specification of low protein soft wheat flour with a low starch damage. Once again the required dough property is extensibility. The only differences are that if the protein is too low the wafer will be too soft to handle, and if the protein is too high the wafer will be too hard. The other important property is a resistance to gluten separation. Wafer flours are likely to be brown. 

The long thin loaves of French bread are regarded in the rest of the world as an icon of France, alongside the Eiffel Tower. Their origin is said to be that one of the Austrian queens of France demanded the sort of loaf that she was accustomed to in Vienna. Possible candidates for the queen would be Anne of Austria, wife of Louis XIII, or Marie Antoinette, wife of Louis XVI. As central European wheat is hard, resembling North American wheat, this is a formidable problem with only French soft wheat available. A modern bakery technologist would find this difficult. 

All of these loaves will have been made from French soft wheat flour without the use of fat or soy flour. This flour will have been milled with a low starch damage from varieties of French soft wheat grown for bead making. 

Pretzels are made from a very stiff dough that is made from a low protein soft wheat flour, e.g. one made from a soft white winter wheat. The water level would be only 38 42%, with 0.25% yeast and 1% shortening, 1 % salt and 1 % dry malt. The dough would be mixed in a Z blade mixer and then left to prove for up to 4 hours. 

As this is a product where gluten development is not desirable, the flour usually used is a non-bread making flour such as an English soft wheat flour. The other typical ingredients are water, fat and possibly salt. Some pastry is made with self raising flour or by adding baking powder. 

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. 

Wafers are an unusual product. They are often incorrectly included with biscuits, possibly because they are both made from soft wheat flour. Wafers, unlike biscuits, are a low fat, low sugar product. They normally consist almost entirely of flour. There is a very wide difference between the various sorts of wafers. Some wafers are made to serve with ice cream others are made to covered in chocolate and sold as confectionery. 

Wafers are normally made from a low to medium protein soft wheat flour. Too high a protein flour produces too hard a wafer. Conversely, too low a protein content will give very fragile wafers. 

P Resmini. A rapid electrophoretic method for the detection and assay of soft wheat in hard wheat flour (semolina) and pasta (macaroni). Tecnica Molitoria 19 145-150, 1968. 

In hardwood plywood, the glue mix is typically formed by adding water and soft wheat flour at rather high proportions with a minor addition of filler, such as nut shell flour to the urea-formaldehyde resin. Urea-formaldehyde resins are usually shipped in 60 - 65 percent non-volatile solids form. Acid salts such as ammonium sulfate are added to increase the rate of cure of the urea-formaldehyde resin when under pressure and subsequently heated in hot presses. Some acid salts cure the urea-formaldehyde sufficiently well under ambient "cold" press conditions. It is evident this type of plywood would be oriented toward interior use such as furniture. If water-proof type bonds are required of hardwood plywood, then melamine-formaldehyde resins are used in similar mix form but with higher resin solids... 

Crackers are generally subdivided into three basic categories saltines or soda crackers (also known as cream crackers in the United Kingdom), sprayed crackers, and savory crackers (Hoseney, R.C. Wade, P. Findley, J.W. 1988 Soft wheat products in press). They are a class of baked product with a unique flavor and texture. Crackers are usually made of wheat flower, water, fat, yeast and salt by a process that combines fermentation, baking and dehydration to yield a thin low moisture product. Saltines are the simplest cracker with a typical "cracker-like aroma. This paper reviews the basic flavor chemistry of saltine crackers and presents preliminary data on the extraction of volatile compounds from these crackers. 

The hydrocyclone process is applicable for processing hard and soft wheat flours, and perhaps even wholemeal flour.92 In addition to its versatility in processing different wheat classes, other advantages of the hydrocyclone process compared to the Martin process include an increased yield of gluten, lower water and energy requirements, and manageable levels of effluent. To ensure the food safety of wheat starch, quality programs in many companies dictate the implementation of hazard analysis and critical control points in the hydrocyclone process.24... 

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