Laboratory Milling Method for Whole Grain Soft Wheat Flour Evaluation

Whole grain wheat products are a growing portion of the foods marketed in North America, yet few standard methods exist to evaluate whole grain wheat flour. This study evaluated two flour milling systems to produce whole grain soft wheat flour for a wire-cut cookie, a standard soft wheat product. A short-flow experimental milling system combined with bran grinding in a Quadro Comil produced a whole grain soft wheat flour that made larger diameter wire-cut cookies than whole grain flour from a long-flow experimental milling system. Average cookie diameter of samples milled on the short-flow mill was greater than samples milled on the long-flow system by 1 cm/two cookies (standard error 0.09 cm). The long-flow milling system resulted in more starch damage in the flour milling than did the short-flow system. The short-flow milling system produced flours that were useful for discriminating among wheat cultivars and is an accessible tool for evaluating whole grain soft wheat quality.