Wheat flour and other cereals 17 ideal for bread making and is also used, in part, for fermented biscuit doughs such as crackers Conversely, wheat varieties sown in the autumn/winter, the most common varieties grown in northern Europe, tend to produce softer ains with lower protein contents. The wheat is known as soft wheat the resulting flour is much more fluffy and soft and the gluten formed from this flour is more extensible and less elastic. The flour is known as medium or weak flour. These are the flours favoured for most biscuit production. They are also less expensive as the price of flour is related to the protein content. The protein content of strong flours is usually in the range 10.5- 14.5%. Flour from winter wheat is mostly in a medium category of 8.5-10.5% but weak flours with less than 8.5% protein are found. The protein content is determined by a laboratory test that measures the amount of nitrogen present and converts this into an estimation of protein present. Assessing the quantity of pro otein ir gluten'is not a reliable method As mentioned above it is the aim of the miller to remove the bran from the endosperm during milling. There is about 82% endosperm in a wheat berry but in typical milling of a white flour only about 72- 74% of the berry can be taken as flour. Even then there are some minute bran particles in the flour. The amount of flour obtained from the wheat is known as the extraction rate. The higher the extraction rate of the flour the more bran there will be in it Bran has a protein content that cannot be hydrated and turned into gluten. This protein has a much lower value for human nutrition. Bran and the outer layers of the berry also have a mineral and fibre content higher than the main mass of the endosperm. The fibre is indigestible by humans but, particularly in recent years, it has been shown to be useful to our digestive health. The amount of bran in flour is estimated either by a test to neasure the ash (mineral) content (the ash test) or by a test to measure the reflectance of light from a water slurry made from the flour (the colour grade). The latter test is much quicker and is based on the fact that flours with more bran appear greyer. Brown flours have bran deliberately left in the flour, or more usually added back to white flour. wholemeal flour is composed of 99% of the wheat grain. In order to provide bran which is well graded it is common practice to make brown flours by adding back bran of a particular size range. Thus very large pieces or powdery particles of bran are omitted. Brown flours contain bran but no germ.Wheat flour and other cereals 17 ideal for bread making and is also used, in part, for fermented biscuit doughs such as crackers. Conversely, wheat varieties sown in the autumn/winter, the most common varieties grown in northern Europe, tend to produce softer grains with lower protein contents. The wheat is known as soft wheat the resulting flour is much more fluffy and soft and the gluten formed from this flour is more extensible and less elastic. The flour is known as medium or weak flour. These are the flours favoured for most biscuit production. They are also less expensive as the price of flour is related to the protein content. The protein content of strong flours is usually in the range 10.5- 14.5%. Flour from winter wheat is mostly in a medium category of 8.5-10.5% but weak flours with less than 8.5% protein are found. The protein content is determined by a laboratory test that measures the amount of nitrogen present and converts this into an estimation of protein present. Assessing the quantity of protein from ‘wet gluten’ is not a reliable method. As mentioned above, it is the aim of the miller to remove the bran from the endosperm during milling. There is about 82% endosperm in a wheat berry but in typical milling of a white flour only about 72- 74% of the berry can be taken as flour. Even then there are some minute bran particles in the flour. The amount of flour obtained from the wheat is known as the extraction rate. The higher the extraction rate of the flour the more bran there will be in it. Bran has a protein content that cannot be hydrated and turned into gluten. This protein has a much lower value for human nutrition. Bran and the outer layers of the berry also have a mineral and fibre content higher than the main mass of the endospenn.The fibre is indigestible by humans but, particularly in recent years, it has been shown to be useful to our digestive health. The amount of bran in flour is estimated either by a test to measure the ash (mineral) content (the ash test) or by a test to measure the reflectance of light from a water slurry made from the flour (the colour grade). The latter test is much quicker and is based on the fact that flours with more bran appear greyer. Brown flours have bran deliberately left in the flour, or more usually added back to white flour. Wholemeal flour is composed of 99% of the wheat grain. In order to provide bran which is well graded it is common practice to make brown flours by adding back bran of a particular size range. Thus very large pieces or powdery particles of bran are omitted. Brown flours contain bran but no germ