Is unbleached flour just as bad?
Posted by stride4unity on Sep 10, 2007 · Member since Feb 2005 · 211 posts
I usually buy unbleached flour because the thought of flour being treated with chemicals highly disturbs me. But I was doing a little reading about the differences between bleached and unbleached flour. I was shocked to find out that even unbleached flour has been treated with potassium bromate to catalyze the aging process. Since unbleached flour is treated with chemicals, does that mean it is as worse as bleached flour? :-\
If it's not organic - it's got chemicals on it.
Is unbleached just AS bad as bleached? No. It's a little less bad, but definitely not what I would term as "healthy."
Nutritionally speaking, white is worse that wheat anyway. But, wheat desserts just don't taste as good. ;)
If you eat white flour a lot, I would spring for the unbleached, organic kind.
If it's not organic - it's got chemicals on it.
Is unbleached just AS bad as bleached? No. It's a little less bad, but definitely not what I would term as "healthy."
Nutritionally speaking, white is worse that wheat anyway. But, wheat desserts just don't taste as good. ;)
If you eat white flour a lot, I would spring for the unbleached, organic kind.
Yes.
Now, even better than unbleached organic is whole wheat pastry flour, organic of course. It's very similar in consistency to whit and it's whole grain!
Oh, man... I love whole wheat pastry flour! :D Obviously, I don't think it would work for breading things or savory dishes (though I've never tried), but it is amazing for baked goods!
I always buy unbleached flour. We get alot of it to. Me I don't care what I eat as long as it's vegan and it doesn't cause cancer.
I've only been able to find King @rthur brand, but there's a new product called White Whole Wheat flour, which tastes and behaves like white flour but is actually a whole grain. It's a soft white wheat, which is a different grain. And King @rthur brand has an organic option available!
I purchased Hodgson Mills white flour today and it was labeled as unbleached but the ingredients contained just wheat flour and no other additives, so I am thinking that it may not have been treated with chemicals. AM I right?
I use organic whole wheat flour for my pumpkin muffins and oatmeal cinnamon scones. Delicious! I made the mango strawberry crisp and used half whole wheat and half unbleached white cuz it was getting lonely on the shelf :D
I've only been able to find King @rthur brand, but there's a new product called White Whole Wheat flour, which tastes and behaves like white flour but is actually a whole grain. It's a soft white wheat, which is a different grain. And King @rthur brand has an organic option available!
Pretty sure 'white whole wheat flour' is the same as whole wheat pastry flour.
No it's not. Whole wheat pastry flour has to do with the grinding process, whereas white whole wheat is made from a different grain. Most flours are made from red wheat (including white flour, which is processed, bleached, bromated, whatever), but white whole wheat is made from "soft white wheat." I heard a big report on it on NPR about a year ago-- very interesting stuff!
I hate all-purpose flour. I have bread flour, cake flour, pastry flour, etc., but no all-purpose. Seems counter-intuitive. King Arthur products say 'never bleached, never bromated' on the front of each package.
mdvegan: I have been trying to get away from AP flour! I also have bread flour, cake flour, whole wheat pastry, plain whole wheat... And I think that's it... But which of these (or another) do you use instead of AP?? I usually do 1/2 whole wheat & 1/2 AP if a recipe calls for AP, but what do you do? :)
I hate all-purpose flour. I have bread flour, cake flour, pastry flour, etc., but no all-purpose. Seems counter-intuitive. King Arthur products say 'never bleached, never bromated' on the front of each package.
mdvegan: I have been trying to get away from AP flour! I also have bread flour, cake flour, whole wheat pastry, plain whole wheat... And I think that's it... But which of these (or another) do you use instead of AP?? I usually do 1/2 whole wheat & 1/2 AP if a recipe calls for AP, but what do you do? :)
It all depends on the recipe. The different kinds of flour have different protein contents leading to different levels of chewiness from the gluten. Cake flour has the lowest protein, because you don't want that chewy elasticness in your cake. Hehe, at least I don't! :) then you have pastry flour, all purpose flour, and bread flour. Actually... bread flour specific to bread machines (it has "for bread machines" on the package) is even higher than normal bread flour! You want that gluten to make long strands of elastic goodness for bread... so the higher protein content is good.
Thanks, ladies! I feel like I am pretty good with baked goods & subbing different flours here & there, but what about things like breaded fried tofu? (I guess more like savory dishes that aren't baked...) I think usually whole wheat alone doesn't taste too great in recipes like this, so what should I mix it with instead of AP?