Graham flour

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Not to be confused with Gram flour.

Graham flour is a type of whole wheat flour named after the American Presbyterian minister Rev. Sylvester Graham (1794–1851), an early advocate for dietary reform. Graham despised the discarding of nutrients and bleaching with alum and chlorine involved in making white flour and white bread, and believed that using all of the grain (without adding chemicals) in the milling of flour and baking of bread, was a remedy for the poor health of his fellow Americans during changes in diet brought on by the Industrial Revolution.

Production

Rather than simply grinding the whole grain wheat kernel (bran, germ, and endosperm), in roller-milled graham flour the components are ground separately. The endosperm is ground finely, initially creating a fresh unbleached yellowish-white flour. The bran and germ are ground coarsely. The two parts are then recombined, creating a coarse-textured flour that bakes and keeps well (has a good shelf life). Graham flour is used to make graham crackers and pie crusts, among other things.

An alternate story is told by Helen W. Atwater in her work titled Bread and the Principles of Bread Making. She claimed that Graham simply washed the entire grain, then ground it between large millstones. She contrasts that against the process used for "entire-wheat flour", where the grain was washed, then the three coarse outer layers of bran were removed, after which the grain was ground, supposedly keeping the aleurone layer, but discarding the rough cellulose of the outer bran layers.[1]

According to a 2001 study conducted by Prabhasankar & Rao, stone milling created significantly greater heat of 90 °C (194 °F) than that of roller milling at 35 °C (95 °F).[2] Roller mills incrementally crack the grains, separating the various layers, which must later be recombined,[3] and such milling reportedly tends to result in somewhat larger baked loaf volumes.[4]

Availability and alternatives

Graham flour is available at health food stores, some grocery stores, bakery supply stores, and some specialty and gourmet food shops, or directly from a flour mill that has experience making it.

A substitute for it would be a mix of unbleached white flour, wheat bran, and wheat germ in the ratios found in whole wheat, but according to an alleged ruling of the Department of Agriculture that reportedly occurred sometime prior to November 1919, such remixing or recombining of the grain-fraction streams from roller mills could not legally be called "Graham" flour.[5] Wheat consists of approximately 83% endosperm, 14.5% bran, and 2.5% germ by mass.[6] For sifted, unbleached white flour, wheat bran, and wheat germ having densities of 125, 50, and 80 grams/cup, respectively, one cup of graham flour is approximately equivalent to 84 g (~2/3 cup) white flour, 15 g (slightly less than 1/3 cup) wheat bran, and 2.5 g (1.5 teaspoons) wheat germ.

Plain whole wheat flour could also be used as a substitute in recipes,[5] but the resulting baked goods' textures will differ from that of examples where graham flour was used. In 1913 it was reported that bread made from graham flour had a protein content of 12.1%.[7]

See also

External links

References

  1. ↑ Helen Woodard Atwater (1900). Bread and the principles of bread making. Washington: Government Printing Office. pp. 11–12. 
  2. ↑ Prabhasankar, Pichan; Haridas Rao, Punaroor (11 2001). "Effect of different milling methods on chemical composition of whole wheat flour". European Food Research and Technology (Springer Berlin / Heidelberg) 213 (6): 465–469. doi:10.1007/s002170100407. ISSN 1438-2377. 
  3. ↑ WPEdwards (2007). The science of bakery products. Cambridge, Eng: Royal Society of Chemistry. p. 60. ISBN 0-85404-486-8. Retrieved April 30, 2011. 
  4. ↑ Young, Linda; Cauvain, Stanley P. (2001). Baking problems solved. Cambridge: Woodhead. p. 34. ISBN 1-85573-564-4. Retrieved April 30, 2011. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 H.W. Wiley (November 1919). Good housekeeping [Humpty Dumpty is in your kitchen] 69 (5). Hearst Corp. p. 73. Retrieved 2012-04-27. "Dr. Graham never made Graham flour as it is largely made today. The modern process consists first in separating the wheat into its various constituents; namely, bran, middlings, germ, shorts, and white flour. Different portions of these constituents are mixed together, but not by any means all of them, in the production of the ordinary Graham flour of commerce. Usually one of the low-grade flours is taken as a basis and mixed largely with the flaked bran, and the name, "Graham," is wrongly applied to the product. The officials of the Department of Agriculture, interpreting the Food and Drugs Act, very properly ruled that such a mixture is not entitled to the appellation "Graham." On the other hand, they justly held that the term "Graham" is reserved solely for the product made by grinding the whole grain without adding or subtracting any of its components. In other words, whole wheat flour and Graham flour are synonymous." 
  6. ↑ "The Kernel of Wheat". Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers. Retrieved 2007-11-11. 
  7. ↑ Wihlfahrt, Julius Emil (1913) [1905]. A treatise on flour, yeast, fermentation and baking, together with recipes for bread and cakes. THE FLEISCHMANN CO. p. 25. Retrieved 2012-04-29. "After baking, the white wheat flour not only proved the more digestible, but the protein contents were as follows: White wheat flour 12.5% protein Graham flour 12.1 Entire wheat flour 11.9" 
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