Instructions: To Every Season There Is a Flour

Spring wheat and winter wheat make different types of flours.

Spring wheat is sowed in the Northern United States and Canada in spring and harvested in late summer, said Joe Caron, a spokesman for King Arthur Flour. It is generally the faster-growing ``hard variety.

When ground, hard spring wheat yields a high-protein, high-gluten flour well suited for baking bread, bagels and some pastas.

Winter wheat is a slow-growing type that is sowed in the fall, goes dormant over the winter and is harvested in mid- to late spring.

In the United States, winter wheat is grown from Texas to Kansas and may be either ``hard or ``soft.

In general, winter wheat flour has less protein than spring wheat flour. It is best for pastries, cakes and cookies. Many bakers say that it is more flavorful than spring wheat because of its longer growing season.

Although most brands of flour do not indicate the type of wheat, bread flours are almost always made from hard spring wheat and pastry flours from soft winter wheat.

All-purpose flour is usually a mix of several types.

NOTES : I have gotten some questions privately over the last couple of weeks about flours. This appeared in todays paper and so I felt that it would be a good thing to post.

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