Wheat: Hard and Soft Wheat

Most American wheats can be divided into four categories: winter and spring, and hard and soft. Winter wheat is planted in the fall and harvested in early summer while spring wheat is planted in the spring and harvested in late summer. Winter wheat ripens earlier in the early summer than wheats planted in the spring, but it suffers in an especially harsh winter.

Soft wheats differ from hard wheats in that their starchy endosperm is less flinty. Hard wheat develops strong gluten, suitable for bread baking, while soft wheat develops weak gluten, making it preferable for delicate baked goods. Since colonial times, most American wheat has been of the soft variety; gristmills did not do a good job of grinding hard wheats, and the flour was discolored by specks of bran. With the advent of roller mills hard wheat could be milled with complete removal of the bran. Virtually all American bread is made from hard wheat while soft wheat is used for making cakes, pastries, crackers, and similar products, which require less gluten.