Tom Ney, director of Prevention Magazine's Online food center, says bleaching is part of the aging process of flour that improves its baking qualities. Some bakers, however, prefer the pureness of unbleached flour, which has not been exposed to bleaching chemicals. A spokesman for the Wheat Foods Council counters this argument with the statement that the nutritional value of flour is not changed during bleaching. The difference in performance between the two can be substantial. Jim Vetter of the American Institute of Baking says bleaching agents help flour hold onto the shortening and sugar better, resulting in better cakes, soft cookies and pie crusts.
Unbleached flour works best for any kind of bread or yeast product.
All-purpose flour is a blend of hard and soft wheats. Hard wheat, which is used in bread flours, is high in protein. Cake flour comes from soft, low-protein flour. We're sending Arlene and Doug cookbooks for submitting their question and tip. Recently, reader Diane DeBok of Riverside requested a recipe for a beef stew that is baked in the oven without first browning the beef.