Christian Chefs International - Charts

Grains, Meals, Flours, & Other Starches


Name	Purchase Form	Major Uses or Dishes
WHEAT:
Whole	Unrefined or minimally processed whole kernels	Side dish
Cracked	Coarsely crushed, minimally processed kernels	Side dish, hot cereal
Bulgur	Hulled, cracked hard or soft wheat; parboiled and dried	Side dish, salad (tabbouleh)
Semolina	Polished wheat kernel (bran and germ removed), whole or ground	Pasta, flour, couscous (below)
Couscous	Semolina pellets, often parcooked	Side dish (often served with stew of same name)
Farina	Polished, medium-grind wheat cereals	Breakfast cereal
Bran	Separated outer covering of wheat kernel; flakes	Added to baked goods; prepared cereals, and other foods to increase dietary fiber
Germ	Separated embryo of wheat kernel; flakes	Added to baked goods and cereals to boost flavor and nutrition
WHEAT FLOUR (Whole or Graham):	Finely ground, whole kernels	Baked goods
All Purpose	Finely ground, polished kernels; usually enriched; may be bleached	Baked goods, thickener, other kitchen uses
Bread	Finely ground, polished hard wheat kernels; usually enriched; may be bleached	Bread dough
Cake	Very finely ground, polished soft wheat kernels; usually enriched and bleached	Cakes and other delicate baked goods
Pastry	Very finely ground, polished soft wheat kernels; usually enriched and bleached	Pastry and other delicate baked goods
Self-Rising	Very finely ground, polished soft wheat kernels to which baking powder and salt have been added; usually enriched and bleached	Cakes and other baked goods not leavened with yeast
RICE:
Brown	Hulled grains, bran intact; short, medium, or long grain; may be enriched	Side dish, other
White	Polished grains, usually enriched, long or short grain	Long grain: side dish, other. Short grain: pudding
Converted	Parcooked, polished grains; may be enriched	Side dish, other
Basmati	Delicate, extra, long grain, polished	Side dish including pilaf
Italian, short grain, arborio	Short grain, polished; types include Piedmontese and arborio	Risotto
Wild	Long, dark-brown grain not related to regular rice	Side dish, stuffings, other
Glutinous	Round, short grain, very starchy; black (unhulled) or white (polished)	Sushi, other Oriental dishes
Rice Flour	Very finely ground polished rice	Thickener
CORN:
Hominy	Whole, hulled kernels; dry or canned	Side dish including succotash, in soup or stew
Grits	Cracked hominy	Side dish, hot cereal, baked goods
Meal	Medium-fine ground, hulled kernels; white or yellow	Baked goods, coating, polenta
Masa harina	Corn processed with lime to remove hull, medium ground; dry, dough, raw or cooked tortillas	Tortillas and other Mexican dishes
Cornstarch	Very finely ground, hulled kernels	Thickener, coating
BARLEY:
Pot or Scotch	Coarse, whole kernels; ground (barley meal)	Side dish, hot cereal, soups; meal: baked goods
Pearl	Polished, whole kernels; ground (barley flour)	Side dish, hot cereal, soups; flour; baked goods
OATS:
Oats, whole	Groats or berries	Cereal, stuffing
Oatmeal	Steel cut, rolled, flakes, quick-cooking, instant	Cereal, cakes, cookies, quickbreads
Oat bran	Separated outer covering of grain, flakes	Added to cereals and baked goods for dietary fiber
OTHERS:
Arrowroot	Fine, starchy powder made from a tropical root	Thickener
Buckwheat	Whole, coarsely cracked groats (kashi), flour	Whole: side dish; flour: pancakes, baked goods
File	Fine, starchy powder made from sassafras leaves	Thickener (especially in Creole dishes such as gumbo)
Millet	Whole, flour	Side dish, flat breads
Rye	Cracked, flour (whole berries available)	Cracked: side dish; flour: baked goods
Sorghum	Whole, flour, syrup	Porridge, flat breads, beer, syrup and molasses

Flour - Descriptions & Uses
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Name	Description & Uses
All-Purpose Flour	A mixture of approximately equal parts hard and soft wheat flours. It's used in the kitchen rather than in the bakeshop.
Bread Flour	A hard wheat flour. It's very easy to dust into a thin film, making it ideal to use when rolling out and working with dough. Bread flour is milled from wheat rich in protein, providing dough with a high gluten content. The wheat must be grown in areas with appropriate amount of rainfall and in soil rich in nitrogen. Bread flour is obviously best used for baking breads.
Cake Flour	A soft wheat flour that has been chlorinated to further break down the strength of the gluten. It feels very smooth and can be pressed into a lump in your hand. Because it contains less of the gluten-producing proteins, cake flour yields a more crumbly, but lighter texture. It is used in making sponge cakes and other baked goods where a weaker gluten structure is preferable.
Pastry Flour	Another soft wheat flour, which is close to all-purpose flour in gluten strength. It can be used for the same uses as cake flour, but with cakes and pastries you'd prefer to have some gluten strength in.
Whole Wheat Flour	Also known as graham flour, whole-wheat flour is milled from the entire wheat kernel, including the germ and the bran, this being the reason why it is very nutritious. This flour doesn't keep as long as white flour because of the fat contained in the wheat germ. Whole wheat flour can be used to make breads, but since bread made solely from this flour is a lot heavier than that made with white flour, most of the time a combination of the two is used.
Nonwheat Flours	Flours other than wheat (that have been milled from other plants) can be used. Each contributes its own distinctive taste, texture, and nutritional benefit; however, since these flours are lower in gluten content, they are always combined with a percentage of wheat flour to assure proper leavening.
Barley Flour	This flour is seldom used in bread baking today, but in the past it was used extensively. To substitute barley flour for wheat flour, use half the amount by volume, continuing to use wheat flour for the other half.
Buckwheat Flour	This flour is made from the roasted seeds of the plant. Buckwheat is used most often in pancakes, especially for the popular buckwheat blini, known from Eastern Europe.
Corn Flour	Corn flour, not to be confused with cornstarch, is milled from either white or yellow corn. It's also produced as a byproduct in the making of cornmeal. This flour contains no gluten, and is sprinkled on top of English muffins, sourdough breads, and breadsticks to give them a crunchy crust.
Potato Flour	Potato flour, also known as potato starch, is made from cooked, dried, ground potatoes. It is most frequently used as a thickening agent, but can also be used in baking to reduce the gluten strength of bread flour since potato flour has no gluten.
Rye Flour	This is one of the best-tasting flours for making bread. It is divided into four categories, those being: light, medium, dark, and pumpernickel. As with wheat flour, these grades are determined by the part of the grain that the flour is milled from, the medium grade being the most popular. Pumpernickel flour is made in much the same way as whole wheat flour: it is milled from the entire rye grain including the bran. Rye flour is almost always mixed with some wheat flour to give it added gluten strength and rising power in bread baking. A small amount of vinegar added to rye bread dough will help to bring out the rye flavor. Caraway seeds are almost always an ingredient in rye bread also.
Soy Flour	Soy flour is made from the soybean rather than from a cereal grain. It isn't commonly used in the pastry shop, but it is very nutritious and can be mixed with other flours in cakes for consumers with special diets.

The New Professional Chef, 6th edition * 1996,
by The Culinary Institute of America,
published by John Wiley & Sons

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