Wheat Flour – Thickening for Pie Filling
Posted by Warren
How to thicken juicy pie fillings.
Can wheat flour be over cooked? Yes, but very unlikely
What temperature does it thicken? 162° F
Does flour have a taste? Yes, pasty
What is wheat flour?
Wheat flour is a powder made from the grinding of wheat. This is the most common flour produced in the world than any other flour.
How about all-purpose wheat flour?
All-purpose flour is the combination of hard and soft wheat. The wheat flour has a medium protein content between 9% and 12%. This gives the right balance to the flour for strength and tenderness in most baking recipes.
Wheat flour is excellent in thickening the pie filling
Flour is a good thickener for pie fillings.
Flour is one of the mildest, slowest and most stable thickeners. It works well with butter and fruit pies.
A flour thickener baked slowly in a pie forms a flavorful, slightly opaque filling with the fruit juices.
Flour is difficult to over cook
Once it reaches the proper temperature, it is stable. If it is cooked longer, the thickener will not degrade.
Flour starts to thicken at 144 to 162 degrees F. It will complete the final thickening process at 205 degrees F. Under cooking does not allow the flour thickener to reach its maximum thickening capability.
Do not under cook wheat flour
If the flour is under cooked, it will give pie fillings, fruit or pudding, a pasty flavor of a grainy texture of chalk. The filling will also be very cloudy. This is not a desirable result. So be sure the filling is thoroughly cook of at least 10 minutes of 205.
Wheat flour shelf life
This thickener can be kept up to a year if stored in a cool, dry place. Longer if kept in a vacuum air tight container and there is no moisture in the flour.
