340615 Tue Nov 07 06:24:01 -0800 2006 8 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 2002542 I googled this and still don't understand. Whole Foods has 'whole wheat pastry flour' and Red Mills has a prepackaged 'pastry flour'. is all pastry flour the same or is there a white AND a whole wheat pastry flour? the cream cheese pie dough recipe i want to try just calls for 'pastry flour'. thanks for your help. Tue Nov 07 06:24:01 -0800 2006 10110 opinionatedchef 1 2002547 Pastry flour comes in white or whole wheat. There's other low protein flours to add to the confusion, but those two are the most common sold at retail for home baking use. Where I live, the whole wheat seems easier to find unless I hit the wholesale restaurant warehouses. Tue Nov 07 06:30:47 -0800 2006 2002542 10023 Professor Salt 1 2002595 I'm also confused by pastry flour. My co-op carries only whole wheat pastry flour. When I asked for white pastry flour, they said they didn't carry it because "it has bad additives in it." (The person I asked was relaying information from the co-op's baker, so she didn't know the details.) Whole wheat pastry flour is great stuff - I usually replace half the standard white flour with wwpf in a muffin or quick bread recipe with great results. But I suspect that some recipes require the white-only version of pastry flour for true success. I think that when a recipe specifies just "pastry flour", they mean the white-flour version. I can get white pastry flour at a mainstream grocery store, but now I wonder - do I even want to? What are the additives that are found in white pastry flour? Anne Tue Nov 07 07:41:23 -0800 2006 2002542 12541 AnneInMpls 1 2002613 I don't think pastry flour necessarily has additives (for instance, King Arthur sells unbleached pastry flour with no additives). Pastry flour is a lower-protein flour than all purpose (but not so much so as cake flour, I believe), that's finely milled, so it makes tender pastry. If a recipe just calls for pastry flour, it definitely means white pastry flour. It's not something you see in supermarkets that often these days, so you might need to call around. Whole wheat pastry flour is great for substituting in baking because it's much more finely milled than regular whole wheat flour, so it gives less results in less coarse texture. But it's closer to AP flour than regular in protein content and texture, and not appropriate for a recipe specifying regular pastry flour. Tue Nov 07 08:02:11 -0800 2006 2002542 10074 Caitlin McGrath 2 2004502 Thanks for putting it so clearly. It would have taken me a few more paragraphs to explain it. It's the "pastry flour" terminology that's confusing. They should have just named it "fine ground whole wheat flour," no? Tue Nov 07 22:51:58 -0800 2006 2002613 11577 Pei 1 2003212 caitlin, thanks so much for this clarification.now i need to contact red mills and ask what IS their product labeled 'pastry flour'! Tue Nov 07 16:36:52 -0800 2006 2002542 10110 opinionatedchef 2 2006254 Pastry flour(round table) is usually bleached, has a reduced or no yeast food and a lower protein content(9-10%) the whole wheat has some of the germ left it for added bran, but it is also lower protein. Cake flour(Queen G) is ALWAYS bleached, very low(8%+/-) protein(you don't want gluten development), and no yeast food. AP flours have 10.5-12% protein, may or may not be bleached, and yeast food. I have changed to the use of mild whole wheat white flours for most bakery products. I have always used King Arthur flours with great results, and the new organic products are a great addition to their fine traditional products. Wed Nov 08 18:33:17 -0800 2006 2003212 22220 Kelli2006 1 2004740 Cake flour is always(?) bleached/treated with a form of chlorine, but pastry flour should be available unbleached. Wed Nov 08 00:14:07 -0800 2006 2002542 13150 babette feasts 1 2004743 It's great to know about King Arthur's additive-free white pastry flour! I shall ask my co-op if they can start carrying it. Thanks, Anne Wed Nov 08 00:14:50 -0800 2006 2002542 12541 AnneInMpls