Other Grains and Flours
Several other types of grains commonly used in baking such as, corn and oats. These grains are featured predominantly in certain types of baking (quick breads and cookies.) Increasingly, rice flour is used in baked goods, particularly for people with gluten sensitivities or intolerances. The trend to whole grains and the influence of different ethnic cultures has also meant the increase in the use of other grains and pulses for flours used in breads and baking in general.
Corn
Corn is one of the most widely used grains in the world, and not only for baking, it is and ingredient in breads and cereals. As well, it is an ingredient that produce sugars (such as dextrose and corn syrup), starch, plastics, adhesives, fuel (ethanol), and alcohol (bourbon and other whisky). Corn is produced from the maize plant (the preferred scientific and formal name of the plant that we call corn in North America).
- There are different varieties of corn:
- soft and sweet (corn you use for eating fresh or for cooking)
- Starchy and generally dried to use for baking, animal feed, and popcorn.
Cornmeal
- Used in recipes from the American South (e.g., cornbread) and is used to add texture to other types of breads and pastry. Cornmeal has sandy texture and is ground to fine, medium, and coarse consistencies.
- Stone-ground cornmeal has a texture not unlike whole-wheat flour, as it contains some of the husk and germ. Stone ground cornmeal has more nutrients, but it is also more perishable. In baking, it acts more like cake flour due to the lack of gluten.
- Corn flour in North America is very finely ground cornmeal that has had the husk and germ removed. It has a very soft powdery texture. In the U.K. and Australia, corn flour refers to cornstarch.
- Blue cornmeal has a light blue or violet color. Produced from the whole kernels of blue corn. It is most similar to stone-ground cornmeal and has a slightly sweet flavor.
Rice
Rice is another of the world’s most widely used cereal crops and forms the staple for much of the world’s diet.
Varieties Used in Baking
Rice flour is prepared from finely ground rice that has had the husks removed. It has a fine, slightly sandy texture, and provides crispness while remaining tender due to its lack of gluten. For this reason, many gluten-free breads recipes are based on rice flours or blends that contain rice flour.
- Short grain or pearl rice used in the pastry shop to produce rice pudding and other desserts.
Oats
Oats are widely used for animal feed and food production, as well as for making breads, cookies, and dessert toppings. Oats add texture to baked goods and desserts.
Varieties Used in Baking
Bakers will most often encounter rolled oats, which are produced by pressing the de-husked whole kernels through rollers.
- Oat bran and oat flour are produced by grinding the oat kernels and separating out the bran and endosperm.
- Whole grain oat flour is produced by grinding the whole kernel but leaving the ground flour intact. Steel-cut oats commonly used in cooking and making breakfast cereals, and are the chopped oat kernels.