Flour Facts

December 12, 2024

Weekly Market Highlights

• This week, the USDA released their December WASDE report. Overall, there was little excitement with this report. Overall, corn’s ending stocks were a surprise, but the market didn’t react much. U.S. wheat exports were up 25 million bushels resulting in lower ending stocks, but overall world carryouts were largely unchanged.
• Wheat export inspections came in at 8.3 million bushels for last week, which was outside of trade estimates ranging from 9.2-14.7 million bushels.

Malting Flour

    Why are most Hard Wheat Flours treated with malted barley flour? Malted barley flour (MBF) is added to Hard Wheat Flours to assist yeast fermentation. During the dough forming stage, the MBF provides specific enzyme activity that converts the starches in the wheat flour into simple sugars. These sugars then are available as a food source for the yeast to maintain proper fermentation.
   A related effect of MBF is proper crust browning. Yeast activity will continue in the baked good until it reaches 120º to 130º F in the oven. Up to this point, the yeast is still consuming simple sugars. Once the yeast activity ceases, any remaining (residual) sugars in the dough will assist in crust browning. Bakers who desire increased crust color often will supplement their dough with additional sugar sources. The most common is regular sugar or non-fat dry milk solids.

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