Do we still have flour power?

Could we have a flour shortage? After the issues at the start of the pandemic, it’s not surprising we bakers are getting nervous. Supplies from Russia and Ukraine, which between them account for 29 per cent of the world’s wheat exports, have been seriously disrupted by the war. Countries like Egypt, which sources 80 per cent of its imported wheat from those countries, have reason to be seriously concerned.

Here in the UK we have less reason to worry, as we produce nearly 85 per cent of our wheat. But we have to expect prices to go up. Good news for farmers, you might think, except that conventional farming uses large amounts of chemical fertiliser, the prices of which have also soared. Some farmers are considering using far less on their fields, which may have a knock-on effect on yield.

All of which is good news for organic farmers. One said to me, ‘It’s a bit of a win for us – we aren’t doing anything different and the prices go up.’

Don’t blame the farmers for the hit on your weekly shopping bill: prices are controlled by international commodity prices. But we should be thinking about wasting less. Dr Andrew Wilkinson, who farms and mills Gilchesters Organics’ flours, points out that the bran he has to sieve out of his wholemeal flour represents about 15 per cent of the weight – and he’s currently spreading it on the fields as a soil improver. ‘I’d much rather we were eating it,’ he says.

I blame the vogue for sourdough. White sourdough is easier to make and beguilingly light: wholewheat ones will be less full of air pockets. For this reason, many of the ‘brown’ loaves on sale (and the recipes in trendy baking books) use only a small proportion of wholemeal flour.

Time to go back to the grain. The flavour is the payback: the subtle nuances of the trendy heritage grains, indistinguishable in white flour, really come into their own with wholegrains, as different as a walnut from an almond. But there are many myths about flour: here we sort the wheat from the chaff…

More gluten in bread flour makes for stretchier dough

The protein in bread called gluten is made up of two kinds: glutenin and gliadin. Gliadin is what makes the dough stretchy, while glutenin makes it elastic. Modern wheat has more glutenin than ancient grains, which means that modern flour makes a dough that responds better to kneading and makes a lighter loaf.

You need strong flour for bread

Strong flour has more gluten (glutenin) than plain flour, so it makes for a springier loaf. But it’s more expensive too, and food writer and antipoverty campaigner Jack Monroe regularly uses economy-label plain flour to make delicious bread – you can find the recipes at cookingonabootstrap.com. If adapting other recipes, unless you are an experienced sourdough-maker, it’s best to stick to yeast-based bread or soda bread, and reduce the amount of liquid as strong flour absorbs more.

00 flour is stronger than plain

It’s about grind, not gluten. The Italians grade their flour as 2, 1, 0 or 00, with 2 the coarsest-ground and 00 the finest – almost talcumpowder fine. How strong it is will depend on the wheat used, so check the packet: most 00 flour is made with durum wheat (see below).

Durum flour is the best

It depends what you want it for. Durum flour is made using the durum wheat variety. It is high in gluten so technically strong – but the gluten is weak, so not the best kind for bread-making, as the dough won’t rise well. That said, in southern Italy it’s sometimes mixed with ordinary wheat flour, to produce a bread with a yellowish crumb. Durum flour is fantastic for making pasta that holds its shape, and that has a yellow colour even without added eggs. Coarse-ground durum wheat is also known as semolina.

You can’t make a white sauce with self-raising flour

Run out of plain flour? Just use selfraising in that white sauce, no one will know. Don’t try substituting it in anything that relies on being flat, such as a chapati, though.