Is starch flour?

When it comes to flour and starch, two powdery substances, many people can't tell them apart. Since flour and starch have the same color, both are white powder, and in the process of cooking, we sometimes use starch to thicken and season, and sometimes use flour, so many people can't help but ask, is starch flour? What is the difference between the two? How to distinguish these two powders?

In fact, flour and starch are two completely different substances. Starch is a kind of glucose powder extracted from foods containing a lot of starch. It is mostly used to make glucose, alcohol, etc. Flour is a powder made from wheat and is mostly used to make dumplings, pastries, etc. Below I will give you a detailed introduction to the detailed answer to the question of whether starch is flour.

Is starch flour?

When we cook, sometimes we use starch to thicken the food, and sometimes we use flour. Therefore, many friends have questions like, is starch flour? What is the difference between starch and flour?

First of all, starch is not flour. Starch is a high polymer of glucose extracted from starchy substances such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, cassava, and corn. In addition to being eaten, it is also used industrially to make dextrin, maltose, glucose, alcohol, etc. It is also used to prepare printing paste, sizing of textiles, gluing on paper, pressing of pharmaceutical tablets, etc. And it is insoluble in water. Flour is a powder made by grinding wheat directly after the wheat husk is peeled.

Difference Between Starch and Flour

1. Ingredients

Starch is a part of flour, and its main components are more than 80% carbohydrates and more than 10% water. Flour is rich in protein, fat, carbohydrates and dietary fiber. It is sweet and cool in nature and has the effects of nourishing the heart and kidney, strengthening the spleen and intestines, removing heat and quenching thirst.

2. Nature

Starch is a polysaccharide obtained by separating protein and other substances from flour. It is insoluble in water and will absorb water and swell in hot water to become a viscous, translucent colloidal solution. Flour is a powder made by grinding wheat directly after the wheat husk is peeled.

3. Appearance

The starch is very white and purer in color. Compared to starch, flour is slightly yellowish.

4. Feel

Starch has a puckery feeling, and the feeling of rubbing starch with your hands is very similar to the feeling of rubbing lotus root starch with your fingers. When rubbing it, it feels like somersaults. Dip your finger in some flour and rub it until it is smooth.

5. Cooking

Starch is generally used to make soups. Soups made with starch, such as seaweed egg drop soup, are clear and sticky, and have a good taste and appearance. Flour is mainly used for making steamed buns and frying (youtiao, pork tenderloin, KFC fried wings, etc.).

6. Application

Flour has a wider range of uses. In addition to thickening, it can also be used to make a variety of foods such as slender noodles, steamed buns, bread, etc. Starch, on the other hand, has relatively limited uses.

7. Function

Starch has a strong gelatinizing effect and hangs on the surface of food during cooking, which can protect the nutrition and taste of the food inside; flour cannot play a protective role because of the protein it contains.

In short, starch and flour are two different concepts. Flour contains starch. The main component of flour (more than 80%) is starch, and the rest is mainly wheat plant protein and very small amounts of polysaccharides. Starch is contained in many agricultural crops. Sweet potatoes, potatoes, corn, wheat, cassava, etc. have high starch content. If you don't have starch on hand, you can use flour instead in a hurry.

After reading the detailed answer to the question of whether starch is flour, I believe that friends who do not know how to distinguish between flour and starch already know the difference between the two. In fact, apart from their similar appearance, starch and flour are different in other aspects, such as ingredients, uses, functions, etc., so don't confuse these two powdery substances.