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Scuka1 t1_iy4k4m7 wrote

That standard white wheat flour you see everywhere is processed flour.

Wheat seed has 3 parts - they're called bran, endosperm, and germ. When processing the flour, bran and germ are removed, leaving only the endosperm. Naturally, removing parts of the seed also removes the nutrients, which makes processed white flour nutritionally poorer.

Whole wheat flour, on the other hand, is exactly what it says - flour made out of whole seed with nothing removed. That means it contains more micronutrients (fiber, vitamins, minerals) than processed white flour, which makes whole wheat flour a better choice health-wise than processed flour.

You just need to be careful when reading the labels because when the front of the packaging says "whole wheat", that may mean it has like 20% whole wheat flour, and the rest is processed white flour. If it says "100% whole wheat", then there's no processed flour in it.

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wtfsafrush t1_iy4l51t wrote

What is the benefit of processing the flour then? Does it not increase the cost of production? Does it have properties that make it better for baking?

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Scuka1 t1_iy4oiji wrote

I've never baked with whole wheat flour, but supposedly whole wheat baked stuff tends to be coarser, dryer, tougher, denser, and has a stronger flavor. All in all, supposedly it's more difficult to get a good bread out of whole-wheat flour. Generally, we want our breads to be light, soft, and fluffy.

Also, whole wheat flour has a a shorter shelf life.

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Dorocche t1_iy4u5zb wrote

The benefit of processing the flour is that it tastes better to most people, and they're more likely to buy it.

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cabalavatar t1_iy50hb0 wrote

Does it really taste better to "most" people? Could be. I've never seen a scientific poll on this (tho I'm gonna go look). But not to me and my family. I've been eating whole wheat foods my whole life (I've eaten mostly home-cooked meals) and strongly prefer the nutty flavour of whole wheat over the blandness of white flour. I usually add just a smidge % more oil/butter to my baking to counteract the slight uptick in perceived dryness, but for tortillas, roti, and naan, I can't tell any difference in dryness, just a nuttier flavour.

Anyway, I think people get used to what they get used to, like how Yanks can't tell that their supermarket white breads are usually basically confectionery.

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LARRY_Xilo t1_iy4xwuj wrote

"Processed" is kind of missleading in this case. Whole weed flour is still processed otherwise you would just have a grain and not flour. You just skip one step in the process that is sieving out the other parts. The milling acctually gets more difficult with whole weed if I remeber correctly. So no production cost does not realy change. And yes it makes properties better to bake, though "better" depends on what you want to make. For most comercial products finer grain is usually better and it also tastes sweeter, which is what most people like.

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