Since planting the vegetable garden February 17 there has been much cold weather ( at least cold to us that live in St George, UT). Two months have past since planting and Mr Nut would like to share some pictures of the garden and yard action.
These are beet, carrots and pea pod plants. The germination is quite spotty but there is still time.
More beet and carrots plus a few pole beans.
The cactus has bloomed.
Cyndy's pansies are doing well
Look closely, and you will see the bird nest. This is in our front yard.
The temperature should be in the 80 degree range next week so Mr Nut expects great things from his garden next week. It is time for Mr Nut to bike 7 miles across town to meet Cyndy at the athletic club for a workout. Here is some theory on flours to be used as a reference.
À bientôt,
Mr Nut
Basic Ratio for Bread: by weight: 5 flour, 3 water, plus yeast and salt. Metric measure is easier to use for measuring by weight.
From the technical book titled: Ratio by Michael Ruhlman © 2009 “ a cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 4 to 6 ounces” depending on method of filling the cup and humidity, etc.
From one of the many conversion tables, a dry ounce weighs 28.35 grams. Thus a cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 113.4 grams to 170.1 grams. The average then is 141.75 grams. For cooking purposes it is suggested (from Ratio) that 140 grams per cup be used in recipes.
Why baking bread is an art/science
Many recipes using flour are written with an approximate amount, such as "2 to 3 cups flour" or "6 to 8 cups flour." The amount of flour in a recipe is a “ballpark” figure.
Gluten: the heart of bread
A kernel of Wheat consists of three main parts; the bran, the germ and the endosperm. It’s the endosperm that contains the two proteins glutenin (responsable for elasticity) and gliadin (responsable for softness), that unite along with water to form stretchy sheets of gluten. As you mix the ingredients, a myriad of connections and cross-connections of the two proteins form a labyrinth of gluten to trap the gases formed by the yeast. Only wheat flour contains enough of the two proteins glutenin and gliadin to make good sheets of gluten. A yeast bread made with any grain that does not contain these two proteins will not rise, no matter how much yeast is used. The yeast can produce millions of bubbles of gas, but without gluten to hold them, the bubbles escape into the air.
Wheat Flour:
Flour: the essential ingredient
As already explained, flour can be made from any grain, but only flour from wheat contains enough gluten-forming proteins to make a light loaf of yeast bread. Flours from grains other than wheat can be mixed with wheat flour to make excellent flavorful loaves, but wheat is a necessity.
Other wheat flours include whole wheat, white wheat, vital wheat gluten, gluten flour, and Semolina (durum wheat). Whole wheat contains germ and bran as well as starch and gluten-forming proteins. Per cup, whole wheat from the same grain will have less of the two gluten-forming proteins than Bread flour. This lower amount of gluten results in heavier, denser loaves of bread. Also if the whole wheat is not finely ground, sharp edges on the bran can cut gluten strands during kneading.
Whole wheat flour and high-protein bread flour are frequently combined to produce lighter loaves. Adding vital wheat gluten or gluten flour is another way to increase gluten formation and lighten whole wheat and multigrain loaves. High protein Whole Wheat flour comes from Hard Spring Wheat, sometimes called strong flour, grown in colder climates such as the great northern plains of the United States and Canada during the spring and summer. Soft winter wheats, grown in moderate climates where the ground never freezes to a depth greater than 10 inches, have much less glutenin and gliadin. If you remove the germ and bran from Whole Wheat flour the result is Bread Flour. Cup for cup, whole wheat will have less of the gluten-forming proteins than Bread flour from the same wheat just because it contains these other parts of the kernel. Not only can flour from different strains of wheat be different, but flour from the same strain of wheat can vary. Many things; soil, temperature, rainfall and maturity at harvest influence protein content. Varying ratios will produce subtle differences in bread. Strains of wheat with the same total protein content may have different amounts or different qualities of glutenin. Consequently, one may make a slightly more elastic dough than the other. The total amount of protein is the best indicator of overall bread-baking quality we have for any plain white flour.
White whole wheat is a high-protein strain of hard white wheat grown in Kansas. It contains more gluten-forming proteins than regular whole wheat and as a result rises better than regular whole wheat. You may still want to blend it with some high-protein bread or unbleached flour for a very light loaf. It has fewer tannins than regular whole wheat, a sweeter taste, and a pale color. It makes bread similar to that made with unbleached flour.
Composition of the flour is determined by the miller. During milling, the kernels are cleaned and soaked in water for easier removal of the germ and bran. The kernels are crushed and the germ and bran removed. The endosperm goes through one set of rollers and sifters after another, and these grind, sift, and separate the endosperm into fractions called streams. A kernel of wheat may be separated into eighty or more streams. Some streams are high in glutenin and gliadin, while others are high in starch. Every stream is analyzed so the miller knows exactly what is in it.
Millers blend flour from different streams of wheat to make different flours. For a bread flour, a miller includes much flour from the high-protein streams. This flour will form good sheets of gluten and make light yeast bread.
Whole wheat flour contains germ and bran. Cup for cup, whole wheat will have less of the gluten-forming proteins than plain flour from the same wheat just because it contains the germ and the bran. Whole wheat flour will make a heavier bread and is frequently blended with a high-protein plain white flour for lighter loaves.
Water Absorption: High-protein flour will absorb more water than low-protein flour. This is crucial knowledge as you create recipes. The same amount of flour and water that makes a firm dough with a high-protein flour makes unworkable dough with a low-protein flour. If one person writes a recipe uses one kind of flour, and the person following the recipe uses another. This can be a problem. Furthermore, flours labeled as all-purpose can differ from each other in the same geographical region. National brands can differ from regional brands in protein content, and unbleached all-purpose is usually different from bleached all-purpose. Any substitutions in types of flour (for example, using unbleached in place of bread flour) will result in a different amount of flour or liquid needed for the correct consistency. There is no substitute for experience.
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