NEW FLOUR IN USE

Greymouth Evening Star, 31 May 1946, Page 2

NEW FLOUR IN USE

BAKERS SAY NO COMPLAINT FROM PUBLIC VARIATION IN BRANDS Inquiries among Greymouth bakers this morning revealed the fact that a number of local residents have been eating bread made from the new 80 per cent, extraction flour for some time. No complaints about the quality of the bread have so far been received, and bakers consider that the new loaf is not likely to arouse much criticism.

One baker first used the new flour about a month ago, blending it with supplies already in hand and gradually increasing the quantity used. The first baking of bread made .entirely with the new flour was turned out a few days ago and there has been little perceptible difference in the loaves produced. Early baking efforts were not wholly successful in all bakehouses but it was generally agreed that no major difficulty hadtbeen encountered.

It was pointed out that normal flour sometimes shows • a variation and, likewise, it has been noticeable that all millers have not yet perfected the technique of reaching 80 per cent extraction. Some millers have managed without turning pollard into the flour, but others have had to resort to that method which is less favoured. The introduction of pollard means that a noticeably darker loaf is produced.

Local bakers’ comments on the darker colouring of the loaf varied. One baker said that there had been no difference whatsoever, another found that his loaves occasionally Showed streaks of a darker colour, while yet another said that there was no doubt at all that the new bread was slightly darker. The variation of these comments tallies with statements about the difference between brands of flour.

The chief chemist of the Wheat Research Institute, Mr. E. AV. Hullett, stated at Christchurch, that the new flour would not involve much change in the baking process. The institute, however is still in the position of being unable to issue general advice for the bakers as the flours differ, and advice applicable for one type of flour is not suited for another. Housewives are also warned against keeping the new flour overlong. It will keep for several months, but is more readily attacked by insects, chiefly the Mediterranean flour moth, which is noticeable at the caterpillar stage when it makes a web to which flour adheres. However many complaints of flour not keeping, Mr. Hullett states, have in the past been traceable to persons failing to clean bins out thoroughly before putting in new supplies.