Properties: Grains
Cereals are possibly the most important food of humans. The variety that arises from these products is enormous. Wheat, barley, rye, corn, oats, millet, spelt can be largely recognized in their unprocessed form, the more they are processed, the less obvious they become as ingredients in foods.
Whether pasta, muesli, bread & rolls - cereals and cereal products are omnipresent in our nutrition. Other cereal products include groats, starch, grits, bulgur, cracked wheat, porridge, and flakes.
The more of the grain is contained in the ground product, the more valuable nutrients can be found in the resulting food. The type number indicates how many milligrams of minerals are contained per 100 g. The higher the type number, the higher the proportion of minerals such as magnesium, calcium, iron, and fluoride. For type 550, it is 550 mg per 100 g. The more of the grain that is processed, the higher the proportion.
Origin: Grains
Corn is native to Latin America, most cereal varieties originate from Mesopotamia and rice was cultivated in China. All cereal varieties have achieved worldwide distribution.
Wheat and wheat flour is one of the oldest foods. Oldest findings are dated around 7,800 years before Christ. These findings mainly come from the area Mesopotamia. The word flour is mele in Old High German, derived from the word family of grinding. It thus denotes the grinding of grain. In modern mills, sieving occurs during grinding to separate different particle sizes. Historically, millstones were used.
The current varieties arose from crossings of Middle Eastern wild plants (wild barley, wild einkorn, wild emmer), which are precursors to today's varieties such as millet, barley, rye, oats, and wheat.
Uses: Grains
Flour is a very versatile food ingredient. The most well-known use is baking bread, cakes and various doughs. Flour is versatile and the base of many dishes, such as bread, pasta, flatbreads etc.
Storage: Grains
Flour is not only suitable for daily use. It can also be stored very well and does not require major demands for this purpose. So, a temperature below 20 °C and humidity that should not exceed 70% is sufficient. Under these conditions, white flour can be stored for more than a year without problems, while the darker types can last approximately half a year. If the conditions are not optimal or if the storage time is exceeded, the flour may become rancid and thus inedible.
A characteristic that is known to few people is the explosiveness of flour. When it enters the air in large quantities and is accidentally ignited, an explosive chain reaction can occur, which does not end without danger. Ultimately, however, only a curious fact about one of the most important foods of modern society, because without flour, feeding the world population would not be possible.
Health: Grains
The more of the grain is ground, the more nutrients and components are present in the flour. Of course, pure whole wheat flour would be the healthiest from a nutritional physiology perspective due to its absolute content of minerals, vitamins, and trace elements, but it is unfortunately not suitable for all baked goods. It lacks binding power, also called "stickiness." This is why Type 405 flour, which has the highest binding power, is most frequently used. What the average consumer may not necessarily know: Type 550 wheat flour does not fall far behind in terms of binding power; many fruit cakes and fine pastries turn out surprisingly well with it, taste better due to the higher bran content, and are also more filling.
Nutrition: Grains
However, the baking property also changes with the grind level.
Season of Grains: The different types of grain from which flour is produced have different sowing and harvest times.
Flour - More Than a Staple Food
The production of flour has been taken over by millers for generations. While wind and water mills were still used to drive the grinding tools before the industrial revolution, the process is now highly technologized. In contrast to historical grinding stones, rollers are used today that crush the grain into fine particles. These particles are then sifted and checked again to achieve a uniform size at the end of the production chain.
Flour represents one of the staple foods of modern society. It is needed to bake wheat products such as bread and rolls, but also sweets like cakes and pies. Moreover, it plays an important role as an additive in other foods, for example in the preparation of batters or sauces. In principle, flour and products made from it belong to the most important building blocks of the food pyramid and should be generously included in every meal plan.
Storage of Flour
However, flour is not only suitable for daily use. It can be stored very well and requires no major care. A temperature below 20 °C, as well as a humidity that should not exceed 70%, is sufficient. Under these conditions, white flour can be stored without problems for more than a year, while the darker types last approximately half a year. If the conditions are not optimal or the storage time is exceeded, however, the flour can go bad and thus become inedible.
A property that is hardly known to most people is the explosiveness of flour. When it gets into large quantities in the air and is accidentally ignited, an explosive chain reaction occurs which does not end without danger. Ultimately only a curious fact about one of the most important foods of modern society, because without flour, one could not feed the world and its inhabitants.
