What's "unbleached white flour" anyway?

[HummusDip]

Is there a white flour and a wheat flour? And why do they bleach some of the white flour? :scratch

[Chris3jam]

Bleaching is a chemical process that makes it white. It serves no purpose but to make it white. Unbleached white flour has not been chemically bleached, but is allowed to oxidize naturally. Note: "oxidize". Not good. All flour can be catagorized as wheat flour, as it technically come from wheat.

[Singingmom]

It's a mystery to me why the food industry feels the need to bleach flour. Unbleached is plenty white! :scratch Refined sugar and table salt are also bleached. :/

[HummusDip]

I know it's weird to me too.

So oxidize is bad? Tell me more, please!

Is the only "good" flour ww flour? :scratch It's just so...dense! I like to do half ww and half unbleached white.

[Chris3jam]

Think rust. When iron oxidizes, it rusts. An apple turning brown is oxidizing. It's the result of exposing things to oxygen. Sometimes that's good. .. a lot of times, it's bad, since it destoys. An oxygen molecule attaching to other molecules can create free radicals.

[ViolaMum]

It's a mystery to me why the food industry feels the need to bleach flour. Unbleached is plenty white! :scratch Refined sugar and table salt are also bleached. :/


I read somewhere a few years ago that bleaching refines the texture as well. I'm not sure if it's accurate. :shrug I think all cake flour bleached. Again, not sure on that one, but it would make sense.


I know it's weird to me too.

So oxidize is bad? Tell me more, please!

Is the only "good" flour ww flour? :scratch It's just so...dense! I like to do half ww and half unbleached white.


I mix white and whole wheat, too for the same reason! I also "cheat" and add wheat germ and/or bran. I know, it's not as healthy, but . . . .

[Singingmom]

Is the only "good" flour ww flour? :scratch It's just so...dense! I like to do half ww and half unbleached white.


I use part unbleached all purpose all the time. It's missing the germ and the bran, so it's not as healthy, but I think using it moderately is fine. If you use half of each now, you might gradually increase the ratio of ww to white and you'll get used to it. When I bake 3 loaves at a time, I use 6 c ww and 2 c all purpose. Even that much all purpose helps to lighten it.

[HummusDip]

Is the only "good" flour ww flour? :scratch It's just so...dense! I like to do half ww and half unbleached white.


I use part unbleached all purpose all the time. It's missing the germ and the bran, so it's not as healthy, but I think using it moderately is fine. If you use half of each now, you might gradually increase the ratio of ww to white and you'll get used to it. When I bake 3 loaves at a time, I use 6 c ww and 2 c all purpose. Even that much all purpose helps to lighten it.


That's a good idea!

Could I do the same when a recipe calls for bread flour? Like if it calls for 6 cups bread flour, can I use 4 ww and 2 bf?

[Singingmom]

Yes, it works, even with cookies. :) Your result may be a little different, but it will be healthier and your tastes will adapt to that.

Adding gluten is a good idea, and if it's yeast bread, proofing the yeast with a little sugar in your warm water helps it do better I think. If it's a quick bread/muffin, a little extra baking powder can also lighten it.