Bleached Flour is Evil

Bleached Flour is evil. Bleached flour is used in the baking industry to make cakes, cookies, biscuits, muffins, etc. This type of flour improves the structure of recipes that require large measurements of sugar. The “bleaching” process results in a whiter and finer grain, which in turn makes the final baking results softer and desirable for cakes and even some breads. The chemicals typically used in the bleaching process however are Benzoyl peroxide, Calcium peroxide, Chlorine, Chlorine dioxide, Azodicarbonamide, and Nitrogen dioxide.

Bleached flour might be very good at making things soft and fluffy but that process saps all of the nutrients out of the flour and is the worst possible flour you can buy for starting a sourdough starter. I am starting here because if your starter is the “soul” of your bread, as many sourdough bakers like to say then choosing the right flour to start your starter is vital. Bleached flour in baking is extraordinarily common. In fact if you go to a supermarket the majority of the flours you will find will be bleached and or bromated. When a flour is bromated, that doesn’t mean two bros gave each other a high five over the flour. It means potassium bromate was added. Potassium bromate will give doughs more elasticity and rise.

Bromated flour is for lazy bakers and what is worse, potassium bromate is terrible for your sourdough starter. So when you go to the supermarket to buy flour to begin your sourdough journey, avoid bleached and or bromated flours. Check the bag because all purpose flour isn’t the only flour that will get the bleached and bromated treatments. I have seen flour masquerading as whole wheat that is bleached and bromated. Typically the bag will say “unbleached and unbromated” but if the bag doesn’t say that, then just assume that it is as well. You need to find flour that specifically says unbleached and unbromated.