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Bleached versus Unbleached Flour

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TasunkaWitko View Drop Down
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    Posted: 10 September 2012 at 16:39
From WheatMontana Farms and Bakery:
 
Quote What is Bleached Flour? 
 
The term “bleaching” is a traditional baking industry term that refers to both the whitening and maturing (aging) of flour. Bleaching best describes the process of whitening. Technically speaking, the carotenoid (yellow) pigments in the flour are oxidized to produce whiter flour. Oxidization will occur naturally, over time, with the exposure of flour to air. Historically, millers would age flour for several weeks to achieve white flour. This natural oxidation, however, was an irregular process requiring considerable time and space.

Today the bleaching process is accomplished by the use of bleaching agents. The two most common bleaching agents are benzoyl peroxide and chlorine gas. Flours treated with bleaching agents must be labeled as bleached flour.

Doesn’t sound that great for you does it? 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AK1 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 September 2012 at 19:10
Originally posted by TasunkaWitko TasunkaWitko wrote:

 

Today the bleaching process is accomplished by the use of bleaching agents. The two most common bleaching agents are benzoyl peroxide and chlorine gas. Flours treated with bleaching agents must be labeled as bleached flour.
Doesn’t sound that great for you does it? 
Not necessarily bad just because it sounds weird.

Benzoyl Peroxide is considered an essential medicine by the World Health Organization.

As far as chlorine is concerned, you do realize that it is used in water purification among it's many uses. Also, you could not live without ingesting chlorine.


Here's a question for you;

What do you think of using ascorbic acid or dihydrogen monoxide?


Do one thing. Answer the question before doing a internet search, if you are not familiar with the terms.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 10 September 2012 at 21:04
A further hint: dihydrogen monoxide is the most dangerous chemical in the world.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Hoser Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 September 2012 at 02:01
Originally posted by HistoricFoodie HistoricFoodie wrote:

A further hint: dihydrogen monoxide is the most dangerous chemical in the world.

Dangerous? LOL...only if you don't know how to swim.LOL
Go ahead...play with your food!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 September 2012 at 05:23
Good Timely Topic For Thread.
 
There are numerous websites, pages and forums discussing the positives and negatives of unbleached verses bleached flour and its products on www.google.com
 
Here are some websites which go into great detail:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Hope this assists.
Marge.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 September 2012 at 06:35
only if you don't know how to swim
 
Precisely----such as the 200 thousand Indonesians who were wiped out in a matter of moments due to this dangerous chemical.
 
And the......well, you get the point, I hope.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 September 2012 at 06:39
As with all things culinary, you make your own choices as to ingredients.
 
In bread baking, however, bleached vs unbleached can have an effect on the final product. With lean breads, for instance, beta-carotene contributes to both color and flavor. So you should use unbleached flour for them. With enriched breads the beta-catotene content is less important, so bleached flour---if that's your choice---can work just as well.
 
Personally, I always use unbleached flour.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Margi Cintrano Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 September 2012 at 07:19
One can immediately note; the overall effect of females bleaching their hair ( removal of pigment) for example and natural or unbleached hair or even just tinted verses bleached or pigment removal.
 
There is quite a difference in: Texture, condition, shine, PH Balance, Moisture Factor etcetra.  
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TasunkaWitko Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 September 2012 at 09:05
you guys are quick! good job ~ naturally, there's nothing that is outright DANGEROUS about bleached flour, but i was pretty impressed with how wheat montana made their case.
 
for myself, i prefer unbleached flour, but will use whatever is at hand. to me, the properties of the wheat used is much more important (hard wheat for bread flour etc.).
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pitrow Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 September 2012 at 09:42
Just goes to show you what we put in our bodies that we don't know about, and conversely not everything that has a nasty, scientific/chemical name is bad for you.

Example: would you ever eat something with ammonia in it? We know ammonia as a cleaning agent and fertilizer, something you wouldn't think to eat. Yet it is quite common in some foods.

Baking Ammonia was a quite common leavening agent before baking powder came along. When heated it breaks down into Ammonia, water and carbon dioxide. My family has a tradition, each year at Christmas time we get together and bake big batches of my great-grandfather's cookies, which use Baking Ammonia in it. You can definitely smell it when it's baking. None of us have died.

Another instance I'm familiar with, and probably ChrisBelgium too, is a form of dutch candy called Drop. It's basically black licorice with salt. There are thousands of varieties, from soft and chewy to hard; sweet to triple-salt. One variety is called Salmiac.  The name comes from "Sal ammoniac" the name for natural deposits of Ammonium Chloride. The ammonium chloride is used to flavor the licorice and gives it a very unique taste. Eat too much of it and you can definitely taste the ammonia and feel the burn each time you exhale, I know this from personal experience Wink


Anyway, just goes to show you that we eat a lot of things that on the surface you would think "I'm not putting that in my body!"

As for unbleached vs bleached flour, I'm not super concerned about it. Given the choice I would probably gravitate towards the unbleached as I prefer things as unprocessed as I can, but if I needed the bleached for a certain recipe I wouldn't hesitate to use it.

Mike
Life in PitRow - My often neglected, somewhat eccentric, occasionally outstanding blog
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote HistoricFoodie Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 11 September 2012 at 13:42
but if I needed the bleached for a certain recipe I wouldn't hesitate to use it.

I'd suggest it works in the opposite direction, Mike. If "need" ever entered into it, sometimes you need unbleached. You never need bleached. But it likely doesn't do any harm; at least not in the short term.
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