My Grandma Lois was a great cook and baker. Every summer on our annual week-long visit she would feed us so much food we wouldn’t need to eat for months. Homemade bread with every meal. Almost everything was made from scratch. She seemed to be in the kitchen all day long.

In an effort to become a better baker myself I have enrolled in an 18 week Bake Shop Skills class. I plan on posting pictures, recipes and techniques I learn in the class here. Class started on the 18th of January.

One of the things we learned in the first class was gluten content of wheat-based flours. I knew that the different varieties of flour had different gluten content, but had no idea how much or what difference it made.

Gluten is a protein that forms when liquid is added to the flour and the mixture is agitated. The more agitation the more gluten that is produced (flours with higher gluten content will produce more gluten when agitated as well). I’m sure there will be much more on this subject as it affects texture and density of bread. Its no wonder some things I have baked have turned out with odd textures and consistencies – I have left things in the Kitchen Aid mixing for way too long, while I watched TV or talked with my partner.

Here is a basic chart of the gluten content in common flours:

Good luck finding Pastry flour or reasonably priced cake flour in your regular super market – most only have AP and Bread flours.