Abstract
The physical structure of the wheat berry is described. The evaluation of wheat quality as it arrives at the flour mill is detailed. The cleaning and preparation of wheat deliveries before the flour milling process are described. The main stages of the flour milling process and the functions of the break, reduction, purifier and sieving operations are detailed for the manufacture of white flour. An example of the individual machine flours which comprise a typical straight run white flour is given. Additions which may be made at the flour mill are considered. Setting flour specifications and evaluating flour properties of end-use suitability are reviewed. Food safety considerations in the milling process are considered.
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Glossary of Milling Terms Used in This Chapter
- Aspiration
-
A process using air to remove fine impurities from wheat
- Break rolls
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Fluted rolls designed to open up grains and release the endosperm
- Conditioning
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The process of bringing wheat to the appropriate moisture content for milling
- Extraction rate
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The amount of white flour extracted from the wheat, expressed as a percentage of the wheat entering the first break rolls
- Flour dressing
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Sieving of the various flour stocks
- Grist
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The blend of wheats to produce a given flour
- Hectolitre weight
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A measurement of wheat density, expressed kilograms per hectoliter
- Low-grade
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Flour of poor colour and poor functionality (in breadmaking terms)
- Overtails
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Name given to materials (stocks) which are too large to pass through a given sieve size
- Reduction rolls
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Smooth surfaced rolls designed to reduce the size of semolina particles to flour
- Semolina
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Coarse particles of endosperm
- Screens
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Sieve meshes of a given size
- Screenings
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Impurities removed from wheat as received at the mill
- Screenroom
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Part of the milling process designed to clean grain
- Silo
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A building for grain or flour storage
- Stocks
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Mill feeds to the different machines used in the mill
- Straight run
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Flour with approximately 76–78 % extraction rate obtained by blending individual machine flours
- Throughs (thro’s)
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Name given to the stocks which pass through a given sieve
- Patent flour
-
A flour produced from just top-quality mill streams with a very good colour (low ash content)
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Cauvain, S. (2015). Wheat Milling and Flour Testing. In: Technology of Breadmaking. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14687-4_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14687-4_12
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