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Wheat Milling and Flour Testing

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Technology of Breadmaking

Abstract

The physical structure of the wheat berry is described. The evaluation of wheat quality as it arrives at the flour mill is detailed. The cleaning and preparation of wheat deliveries before the flour milling process are described. The main stages of the flour milling process and the functions of the break, reduction, purifier and sieving operations are detailed for the manufacture of white flour. An example of the individual machine flours which comprise a typical straight run white flour is given. Additions which may be made at the flour mill are considered. Setting flour specifications and evaluating flour properties of end-use suitability are reviewed. Food safety considerations in the milling process are considered.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. BakeTran, Witney, UK

    Stanley Cauvain

  2. International Institute of Agri-Food Security, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia

    Stanley Cauvain

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  1. Stanley Cauvain
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Glossary of Milling Terms Used in This Chapter

Aspiration

A process using air to remove fine impurities from wheat

Break rolls

Fluted rolls designed to open up grains and release the endosperm

Conditioning

The process of bringing wheat to the appropriate moisture content for milling

Extraction rate

The amount of white flour extracted from the wheat, expressed as a percentage of the wheat entering the first break rolls

Flour dressing

Sieving of the various flour stocks

Grist

The blend of wheats to produce a given flour

Hectolitre weight

A measurement of wheat density, expressed kilograms per hectoliter

Low-grade

Flour of poor colour and poor functionality (in breadmaking terms)

Overtails

Name given to materials (stocks) which are too large to pass through a given sieve size

Reduction rolls

Smooth surfaced rolls designed to reduce the size of semolina particles to flour

Semolina

Coarse particles of endosperm

Screens

Sieve meshes of a given size

Screenings

Impurities removed from wheat as received at the mill

Screenroom

Part of the milling process designed to clean grain

Silo

A building for grain or flour storage

Stocks

Mill feeds to the different machines used in the mill

Straight run

Flour with approximately 76–78 % extraction rate obtained by blending individual machine flours

Throughs (thro’s)

Name given to the stocks which pass through a given sieve

Patent flour

A flour produced from just top-quality mill streams with a very good colour (low ash content)

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Cauvain, S. (2015). Wheat Milling and Flour Testing. In: Technology of Breadmaking. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14687-4_12

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