Spelt Flour Vs. White Flour – What’s The Difference?

Flours are used on a daily basis in baking, cooking, etc. To use the best quality flour, which is nutritious and healthy, is very important. A grain consists of three main parts bran, endosperm and germ: spelt and white flour are two common flours used.

Does the main question arise: What are the differences between spelt flour and white flour? So, the differences include: Spelt flour doesn’t fall in the category of whole grains as it is not made from wheat grain, and white flour is prepared from whole grains of wheat.

Spelt flour is considered more nutritious as it is processed; the kernel is milled as compared to white flour, which has less nutritious calories comparatively. The protein content of spelt flour is more as compared to that of white flour.

In the article below we have mentioned in detail the spelt flour and white flour along with its uses and nutritional facts.

Spelt Flour

Spelt flour is considered an old grain consumed from 3000 to 1700 BC. The origination of spelt grain is known to be from Europe and Asia. At first, spelt grain was not accepted, but later, when people started to focus on health and nutrition, spelt flour was wanted.

Spelt is grown the same as wheat and is very nutritious. When harvesting, it is kept in the hull, and the outer later is removed. After removing the outer layer, the grain is referred to flouring mill, and the rest of the processing takes place there.

The testing and grading processing occurs to ensure that good quality spelt flour is prepared. The debris is removed separately, and the spelt grain is later put for the processing known as stone milling. The stone milling process is repeated several times until the wheat is turned into flout.

The spelt flour is often intermixed with wheat flour because the milling of spelt is done as a whole grain in which bran, endosperm and germ are utilized. This makes the spelt flour enriched and nutritious as it contains all the parts. The color of the spelt flour is darker in tone.

Uses

Spelt flour has a higher protein content than white flour, between 12-15%. This implies that they can be utilized to make pieces of bread as they will actually want to create sufficient gluten. In any case, the gluten found in spelt is not the same as that found in wheat. 

Spelt has higher gliadin to glutenin proportion, which will give the mixture its stretchiness (gluten structure) yet not the versatility and construction to hold its shape. In this way, when making pieces of bread utilizing spelt flour, be mindful so as not to exhaust the batter by working it in more limited periods. Spelt flour is ideally suited for making baked goods items.

Nutritional Facts

Spelt flour is very nutritious flours available. Its protein content is 12-15% and unrefined fiber content of 10-15%. It additionally has significantly more nutrients and minerals than different flours. Spelt Flour, 100g contains:

• Energy 338 kcal
• Protein 14.57g
• Carbohydrates 70.19g
• Fiber 10.7g
• Fat 2.43g

White Flour

White flour is known as all-purpose and plain flour. It is considered one of the best flours out of all the flours. The processing of white flour starts when the grains are picked and sorted to certain requirements such as humidity, temperature and fertilizers.

Later the wheat grains are cleaned, and all the debris is removed until the flour is all prepared for consumption. To prepare white flour, bran and husk are separated from the grain and only endosperm is used to process the white four.

After endosperm is extracted from the rest of the wheat, it is crushed and refined for the making of flour. As the germ and bran part is removed, that’s why the white flour is less nutritious. Later the flour is bleached, giving a smooth and pure texture to white flour.

As the name indicates, it is white in appearance due to bleaching. Bleaching tends to change the nutritious value and taste of the white flour. The chemical known as benzoyl is used for bleaching, and it enhances the aging process of flour.

The aging process increases the aspects of the flour, making it especially suitable for baking. Due to the use of chemicals, the bleaching of flour is banned in several countries. Some of the nutrients present in white flour are vitamin B, calcium and iron. 

Uses

White flour is used for numerous things such as making baked products (cakes, biscuits, pastries, brownies, pies, pancakes etc.). for pieces of bread and dough formation, white flour is not recommended; this is due to the reason that white flour is low in protein content and has low gluten content which makes it unable to develop well.

The high-quality bread is prepared from flour with high gluten structure and more protein content. White flour is known as versatile flour with many functions. While preparing the cake, white flour is mixed with baking powder, giving a rising phenomenon.

The white flour itself has a self-rising phenomenon that helps prepare baked items at home but to enhance the taste and appeal of the baked goods raising agents are added. It is recommended that you use unrefined flour, which contains more calories and nutrients, maintaining good health status.

Nutritional Facts

The serving size of 100 grams of White flour contains:

• Energy 364 kcal
• Protein 10g
• Carbohydrates 76g
• Fiber 2g
• Fat 1g

So, What’s the Difference Between Spelt Flour and White Flour?

Concluding the article mentioned above into key points:

1. Spelt flour doesn’t fall in the category of whole grains as it is not made from wheat grain, and the formation of white flour is whole grains of wheat.
2. Spelt flour is considered more nutritious due to processing which includes milled kernel, as compared to white flour, which has less nutritious calories comparatively.
3. The protein content of spelt flour is more as compared to that of white flour.

Sources:

• Foodsguy
• bonappetit
• whatscookingamerica