NutritionFlavorMixingFermentationBoilingFryingBakingFood Safety
When you bake bread, cakes, cookies, and other tasty treats, you use dry heat to cook food. The heat browns the outside, while also trapping
air and changing the form of starch and proteins inside.

As you mix dough or batter, you add leavening agents like baking soda or baking powder to make it light and soft. These chemicals undergo reactions during mixing and baking that release bubbles of carbon dioxide.

Inside your dough, the CO2 is trapped in a network of proteins that harden during the baking process. In wheat products, this network is called gluten – the higher the gluten content of your flour, the chewier your food.

INGREDIENTS

• Different types of flour, such as all-purpose, bread, pastry, or whole wheat
• Water
• Bowls
• Sink

DIRECTIONS

Measure out 1 cup of each flour into a separate bowl.

Add ½ cup of water to each bowl and knead until it forms a soft, rubbery ball.

Let the dough sit for 10 minutes.

In the sink, rinse
each dough under
cold water until the
water runs clear.

Repeat for each
dough and compare
the final texture.

WHAT'S COOKIN'

When you rinse the dough, you wash away all the other components in the flour, leaving only the stretchy gluten. Which type of flour has the most gluten? The gluten content of each flour results in the different textures of various baked goods.