January 15, 2008 - 9:34am
White Whole Wheat Bread -- What is it?
White Whole Wheat -- What is it?
I understand that whole wheat contains the bran, rich in fiber, endosperm, the largest part of a wheat kernel, consisting of protein and water, and the germ, the embryo of the wheat, surrounded by highly nutritious vitamins, minerals and oils. What parts of the wheat kernel consist the white whole wheat flours we see today?
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"White" whole wheat is the result of a selective breeding program to develop a strain of wheat whose hull (and therefore bran) contains less of the bitter compounds than red wheat (note that red wheat itself is the result of 10,000 years of selective breeding). It contains the whole berry but is not as dark or as bitter as whole wheat from red berries.
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I have been using King Arthur's while whole wheat for a couple of years. According to the flour bag, it is made of 100% hard white whole wheat flour, milled from a milder "sweeter" white whole wheat grain. It still has the same levels of fiber, nutrients and minerals as the traditional red whole wheat grain.
When I bake with it as opposed to the hard red winter wheat I grind, it is lighter and the kids seem to like it better. Sometimes they would just prefer "white" bread but, oh well...
You can also buy the white wheat kernels, and try them half and half with the red wheat. My husband really dislikes the taste of 100% whole wheat bread from all red wheat, but likes the white wheat. I've used up to about 1/3 red wheat flour without him objecting to the taste.