Flour – Adding value to baked goods

Written by rob on January 11, 2022. Posted in Ingredients, News.

Using the correct flour for a particular recipe is crucial to the success of any baked product.

Bakers need to be aware when certain flours should be used or how they can be substituted. While in some cases it is best to stick with traditional recipes, there is a growing range of alternative flours that can raise the nutritional profile of products and enhance their flavour .

When baking with wheat-free flours, it is often necessary to source alternative binding agents. This is because gluten, the protein found in wheat, “strengthens and binds dough in baking”. Recipes using flour substitutes therefore have to be carefully formulated to get the best possible result.

It is also important to note there is “no exact substitute for wheat flour” and “recipes made with wheat free alternative flours will be different from those containing wheat”.

Different types of flour

• Amaranth flour is made from the seed of a leafy vegetable plant. Its seeds are very high in protein. It is wheat and gluten free.

• Arrowroot flour is ground from the root of the plant, and useful for thickening recipes. It is tasteless, and the fine powder becomes clear when it is cooked, which makes it ideal for thickening clear sauces. It is also wheat and gluten free.

• Barley Flour – Barley only contains a small amount of gluten, so is “rarely used to make bread, with the exception of unleavened bread.” It has a slightly nutty flavour, and can be used to thicken or flavour soups or stews. When blended with other alternative flours, it becomes fairly versatile for cakes, biscuits, pastry, and dumplings.

• Brown rice flour is milled from unpolished brown rice. It has a noticeable grainy texture. Its slightly nutty taste “sometimes comes out in recipes depending on the other ingredients, and the texture will also contribute to a heavier product”. This last reasons means it is not usually used on its own.

• Buckwheat flour has a strong nutty taste and is not generally used on its own in a recipe.

• Chia flour is a highly nutritious ingredient containing Omega 3, fibre, calcium, and protein. If used in baking, liquid levels as well as baking time may need to be increased slightly.

• Cornflour, milled from corn into a fine, white powder, is used for thickening recipes and sauces. Its bland taste means it is used in conjunction with other ingredients that will impart flavour to the recipe. It also works well when mixed with other flours, for example “when making fine batters for tempura.” It is also referred to as cornstarch.

• Lupin flour is made from a legume in the same plant family as peanuts. It is high in protein and fibre and low in fat, “but carries the sameprotein that causes allergic reactions/anaphylaxis to peanut or legumes, which makes it unsuitable for people with peanut or legume allergies.”

• Malt Flour is a fragrant flour milled from Malted Barley Grain. This beige flour is the secret ingredient for many bakers because of the natural diastatic activity found within the flour. Malt Flour is commonly used in breads, (Ciabatta, French Loaf and Sourdough), and health crackers.

• Maize flour, ground from corn, is heavier than cornflour “not generally interchangeable in recipes.”

• Millet flour can be used to thicken soups or for flat breads and griddle cakes. Its complete lack of gluten means it is ill-suited for many types of baking.

• Oat flour readily substitutes into many cakes and cookie recipes, but extra care needs to be taken to ensure it is sourced from a non-wheat contaminating process. It also contains a protein similar to gluten called avenin, which is not suitable for those with celiac disease. This type of flour absorbs more liquid than other flours, so the liquid content of any recipe will likely need to be increased.

• Rice Flour is a delicate, light flour milled from White Rice. This flour is used in multi-grain cereals and speciality baked goods, such as rice muffins. Rice Flour’s low fat and high fibre content is popular for a wide variety of foods including coatings.

• Rye flour produces breads denser than those made with wheat. It has a low gluten content and can be used in pancakes and muffin mixes.

• Soya flour, high in protein with a nutty taste, is generally not used on its own in recipes, but “when combined with other flours is very successful as an alternative flour.” It is used to thicken recipes or as a flavour enhancer.

• Wheat flour is the major ingredient used in most baking. It is milled from hard and soft wheat, and must consist of high quantity protein to form an elastic, extensible dough which enables it to withstand mixing, stretching and shaping, and to support the weight from other ingredients.

• White rice flour, milled from polished white rice, does not add taste or much nutritionto recipes, but is ideal for recipes requiring “a light texture”, like dumplings.

Made in South Africa – flour suppliers :

Supreme Flour have for over 100 years been producing outstanding quality products time and time again. It’s what has enabled us to become one of South Africa’s most loved and trusted wheat flour brands.

Established in 1919, SUPREME has grown steadily to become one of South Africa’s most loved and trusted flour brands for professional and home bakers alike. Known and respected for our consistent quality, expertise and service, SUPREME is enjoyed in delicious food products by hundreds of thousands of South Africans every single day.

SUPREME offers a range of wheat flours, as well as prepared mixes, which are milled at RCL FOODS long-standing milling site in Pretoria. Since it began production on the premises in 1948, the mill has been recognised as the largest single-site mill in South Africa. In fact, it is acknowledged as one of the largest mills in the world.

Supreme Flour supplies the following Wheat flour range – Cake Wheat Flour, White Bread Wheat Flour, Brown Bread Wheat Flour, Whole Wheat Flour, Multi-Pro Cake Wheat Flour, Hi-Ratio Cake Wheat Flour and Bread Concentrate Turbo 5%.

SUPREME also provides a wide and versatile variety of prepared bread and roll mixes to meet the needs of any bakery. Expertly formulated for ease-of-use, our prepared mixes produce batch after batch of consistently outstanding results for everyday baking.

For more information on Supreme Flour click here ……….

Cereal & Malt – Cereal & Malt is the leading manufacturers and suppliers of specialty flours

What is your favorite baking memory when you were growing up? Is it the smell of freshly baked bread in the oven, or the icing and jelly tots on a biscuit? Cereal & Malt has been a key ingredient in your youth.

We have always considered Malt Flour to be the secret ingredient when it comes to baking breads. Its natural enzyme activity assists in dough rising and its sweet fragrance, brings out the mouthwatering flavours of all breads, from bagels to sourdough.

Sweet treats such as crunchies after a mid-morning walk are most rewarding, especially when using the correct ingredients. Oat Meal and Oat Flour are the nutrient dense flours added to your health bars and biscuits. It’s sweet, nutty flavour is versatile and can be added to ice creams, health shakes and oat milk.

Milk and cereal are two ingredients we cannot go without. We discovered that cereal is the most convenient snack for children during the pandemic. With our dedicated Rice Mill, Cereal & Malt has been manufacturing Rice Flour for all types of breakfast cereals, from infant cereals to energy bars.

Why not choose Cereal & Malt for your next project? We are FSSC 22000, Halaal, Kosher and non-GMO approved. We have invested in state-of-the-art mill technology to ensure you receive a high quality, premium product. And who cannot say ‘yes’ to Saturday morning baking?

For more information, please visit our new and improved website at www.cerealandmalt.com

Sunrich is a trusted supplier that focuses on supplying quality baking products at a reasonable price to the South African market place. We supply large plant bakeries to home industries, from retailers to hawkers.

Suppliers of Sunrich Wheat Flour, Premixes and Instant Yeast. We currently have sales branches and warehousing set up around the country.

We provide a dedicated and experienced sales force that can assist customers with all their baking needs. We pride ourselves on personal service and go that extra mile, always taking into consideration our customers needs.

Every batch of milled Sunrich Flour is thoroughly tested in the mill’s fully equipped laboratory for consistent baking quality.

Sunrich Wheat Flour range includes Sunrich Self Raising Flour, Sunrich White Bread Flour, Sunrich Cake Wheat Flour and Sunrich Brown Bread Wheat Flour.

Sunrich range of Pre-Mixes includes Complete White Bread, Complete Brown Bread, Complete Soft Roll, Complete Soft & Sweet, Creispy Roll 4%, Soft Roll 10%, Soft & Sweet 15%, Soft & Sweet 16.5%, Sweet Roll 20%, Milk Bread 10%, Sweet Bread 7%, Standard Bread 4.5%, Delux Bread 5% and Rye Bread Full 50% to name but a few.

Eureka Mills, based near Heidelberg in the Western Cape, produces unbleached stone ground flour. It offers white bread flour, brown bread flour, cake flour, whole meal flour, and crushed rye and rye flour, in 2.5kg and 12.5kg packages.

All products are distributed nationally and are available from leading retailers.

The company’s white bread flour, with 11% protein content, “enables a rise for all yeast breads and gives whole-grain breads a welcome boost.” It is suitable for pizza bases, and bread recipes, particularly “when making rye or other whole-grain breads that need a little help rising.”

The brown bread flour has the same properties, with added bran. The cake flour “bakes a tender, moist cake with a high rise and medium-fine crumb”, while the whole meal flour adds fibre, nutrition and texture to any recipe.

All its rye products are free from wheat flour and contain 10% protein. According to the company, “rye flour contains less gluten than wheat flour, but a higher proportion of soluble fibre, the indigestible portion of plant foods that pushes food through the digestive system”.

Eureka Mills focuses on quality and considers food safety of great importance. They implement FSSC 22000 food safety standards in their production facility and annually submit flour samples for laboratory testing to confirm the absence of pesticide residues; including glyphosate residues.

Just Flour – Just Flour is a milling company based in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. From honest, humble beginnings in 2000, we’ve grown to supply a variety of blue chip “bakers” in the industry. Through our passion for the milling industry, hard work, dedication and commitment to the success of our clients, Just Flour has established a reputable name for itself in the industry, continually striving to exceed expectations from both our smaller bakery clientele as well as our large scale professional bakers.

From our two operations, the more conventional roller-mill, producing industrial bread, cake flours and digestive bran products to a traditional stone mill where we create ‘specialty’ flours, We boast the flexibility to devise customized solutions for bakers on all wheaten products, delivering consistently good flour at the right price with excellent back-up support.

By sourcing quality wheat, both locally and internationally and milling to the highest standards, our core range of flour has become an ingredient trusted by skilled professional bakers countrywide. The range spans from 2.5kg – 50kg bags and includes:

Just Flour Range Includes –

Cake Wheat Flour, White Bread Wheat Flour, Brown Bread Wheat Flour, Premium Cake Wheat Flour, High Ratio Replacement Flour, Semolina, High Protein Cake Wheat Flour, High Protein White Bread Wheat Flour and High Protein Brown Bread Wheat Flour

Full Mix Range –

Brown Bread Full Mix, White Bread Full Mix, Cheese Onion Full Mix, Crispy Full Mix, Hot Cross Bun Full Mix, Maize Bread Full Mix, Soft Brown Roll Full Mix, Soft White Roll Full Mix, Sweet Dough Full Mix, Queen Cake Vanilla Chocolate and Banana Full Mix.

Stoneground & Speciality Flour Range –

We produce a superb range of stoneground flour under the Millstone Artisan Flour name. In fact, stoneground flour is where our business began in 2000! Also part of Millstone Artisan Flour is our growing range of specialty flours.

Visit www.millstoneflour.co.za to find out more about our:

Stoneground & Speciality Flour Range Includes –

Stoneground Cake Wheat Flour, Stoneground White Bread Wheat Flour, Stoneground Brown Bread Wheat Flour, 100% Rye Specialty Flour, Wholewheat Meal Flour, Farina “00” Range and Complete Artisanal Baking Solutions.

Wheaten Products –

To provide a complete baking solution to professional bakers, we have also included the following top quality ingredients to our range.

Wheaten Products range includes –
Whole wheat, Crushed Wheat, Wheaten Bran, Pollard and Semolina

Millstone – Quality You Can Trust – Millstone Flour is the perfect combination of art and science. We produce wholesome and nutritious unbleached flour that is free from processing aids, chemicals and artificial preservatives.

While our strength lies in our attention to detail and precision, our passion for authentic stone-ground artisanal flour is at the core of our business. It is this approach that has seen our range deliver consistent quality in professional bakeries and kitchens across South Africa.

Millstone was established in 2000, following a chance encounter between our three founders and an acquaintance with a passion for milling. Since then, we’ve worked tirelessly to bring bakers a range of products they can rely on to deliver consistent results.

We even went so far as to import authentic Italian machinery.

At the core of our offering is authentic stone-ground artisan flour which is thought to be more nutritionally sound and flavourful.

Due to high demand, though, we have expanded our offering to include conventional flours for professional kitchens.

Part of what makes our range superior is the stringent quality control that goes into everything we do.

Both our Golfetto and Agrex stone mill have been imported specially from Italy with authentic superiority in mind.

We make sure that only the best ingredients go into our flours from reliable, compliant suppliers. Our ranges are all GMO-free, unbleached and free from all processing aids, chemicals or artificial preservatives. So, you can rest assured your baked goods will come out as expected time and again.

The Millstone Stone Ground Flour Range consists of White Bread Wheat Flour, Brown Bread Wheat Flour, Cake Wheat Flour and Wholewheat Meal Flour.

Their Speciality Flour Range includes Farina 00 Range and 100% Rye Flour.

Their Artisinal Baking Solutions Range includes Ciabatta & Panini Full MIx, Rye Bread Mix, French Baguette Mix, Multiseed Mix and Focaccia Full Mix.

Strict testing and precise processes have been fine-tuned over the last decade to ensure we deliver nothing but the highest quality flour. Every product we produce meets the highest international food safety requirements, from the carefully considered sourcing of local and international GMO-free wheat, to our precise Golfetto and stone milling methods.

Snowflake – Since 1884, it’s been our mission to inspire connections and community by spreading the joy of baking and cooking at every level. We support budding bakeries, empower growing businesses, and stand by national brands.

Snowflake is a modern brand – but with good, old-fashioned family values when it comes to looking after the people who matter most. Today, there are five Snowflake mills across the nation, creating flour that’s milled to perfection. Snowflake remains South Africa’s partner in baking and cooking with a wide range of flour products, baking aids and premixes for any occasion – sweet or savoury.

We’ll help you take your baking and cooking to the next level. With consistency as our topmost concern, you can expect your Snowflake product to perform flawlessly during every cook!

The Snowflake flour range includes White Bread Wheat Flour, Wheat Semolina, Wheat Bran, Self-Raising Wheat Flour, Brown Bread Wheat Flour, Nutty Wheat High Bran Wheat Flour and Cake Wheat Flour. –

South Bakels have refined and developed bakery ingredients for the South African bakery industry since 1948. They manufacture and distribute a wide range of premixes and specialised ingredients, some of which are tailor made for industrial and in-store bakeries while others are specifically developed for the Craft and Foodservice sectors.

Products are formulated to suit each market sector and South Bakels has well established sales and technical teams focusing on serving the particular needs of every customer.

Bread related products include Brown Bread Full Mix, White Bread Full Mix, Super Excel 4%, Daily Bread Mix, Platinum Bread Mix, Standard Bread Mix, Crown Bread Mix, SB 5% Bread Premix and other Speciality Bread Mixes, Full Mixes, Health Bread Mixes and Rye Bread Mixes.

South Bakels explore raw materials and solutions to find new and innovative ways to enhance the flavour, function and quality of bakery products and their experience and knowledge provides their customers with the best conditions to succeed.

Sasko -SASKO bread & flour can be found in millions of South African homes each day – tickling taste buds and filling stomachs since the first loaf was baked and bag of flour milled as far back as the 1930s.

SASKO uses only the finest ingredients, milled, mixed and baked to tasty perfection. Because SASKO has been around for more than 80 years, it understands the importance of giving South Africans the sustenance they need without compromising on taste. Combined with a national network of world-class Bakeries & Mills all across South Africa, we ensure that you can enjoy locally made, superior quality goods every day.

With complimentary Flour & Bread categories and such rich heritage and history SASKO is definitely the baking expert brand to be trusted. We cater to every kind of taste and type and make sure that everyone is inspired to bake only the best cakes, muffins, scones, pancake, and so much more.

At the forefront of baking and innovation, we’re always looking to improve our brand with the best methods. Our dedicated research and development department ensures that only the most advanced baking processes and milling techniques are adhered to – using the latest technology and equipment.

The results shine through in soft, delicious slices of bread and consistently soft and fluffy flour that give every tasty, energy-filled bite a touch of greatness. With SASKO in your basket, life really does taste great!

The SASKO flour range includes Cake Wheat Flour, White Bread Wheat Flour, Brown Bread Wheat Flour, Self-Raising Wheat Flour and Bran Rich Self Raising Wheat Flour.

Western Cape Milling – Over the past two decades, Western Cape Milling has become a major contributor of flour products to the Western Cape market, currently holding a significant market share.

Our clientele has grown due to our reputation for excellent service, consistency and quality you can trust. Honesty lies at the core of the relationships we have with our clients and is underpinned by our after sales service and product support.

Are you looking for consistent quality flour? We manufacture wheat flour from GMO-free wheat, grown locally in the Western & Southern Cape Region.

Over the past 20 years, we have established a diverse customer base in the Western Cape Region and our solid reputation is based on our product quality, excellent service and trust. We comply with food safety management guidelines and offer products and services that you need to make your business a success.

Their product range includes Brown Bread Flour, Cake Wheat Flour, Self-Raising Flour, White Bread Wheat Flour, Whole Wheat Flour and Stone Ground White Bread Flour.

Western Cape Milling also supply Bran, Crushed Wheat, Industrial Flour, Pollard and Semolina.