Type of Flour

One way to control gluten development is through proper flour selection. For example, the type of grain is an extremely important consideration because wheat flour is the only common grain with the potential for forming a good amount of gluten. Rye flour has about the same amount of protein as wheat, but recall that very little rye protein forms gluten. Any gluten that forms from rye flour is of such poor quality that, except for certain specialty rustic loaves, most formulas for rye bread in North America contain added wheat flour. Other flours, such as oat, corn, buckwheat, and soy, do not form gluten at all. Baked goods made from these flours do not have good gas-retaining or structure-building properties and are dense and compact if no wheat flour is added.