How does wheat turn into flour for bread?
A slice of bread feels soft, but wheat in a field looks tall and rustly. Flour looks different from both: pale and powdery. How does wheat turn into flour for bread?
The farmer starts by planting wheat seeds in the soil. The farmer uses a planting machine to tuck the seeds into rows, where they can begin to grow.
With water, sunlight, and food from the soil, the wheat plants grow and make new seeds. These seeds are called kernels, the small grains at the top of each wheat stem. Those kernels hold the food for our flour.
When the wheat turns golden and dry, the farmer gathers it with a combine harvester. The farmer drives this large machine through the field to cut and collect the seed-filled tops.
Using moving parts inside the combine, the farmer shakes the kernels loose from their dry coverings. This separates the grains we need from the stems and other plant pieces.
A driver carries the collected grain to a flour mill in a truck. At the mill, workers have tools that can turn lots of hard grain into flour.
First, the mill workers clean the wheat using screens and moving air. They remove dust, bits of stalk, and tiny stones so those things stay out of the flour. What could the workers do next to turn the hard grains into powder?
The workers grind the grain, a process called milling. They guide the wheat between strong rollers that crush it into smaller pieces. Milling opens the hard grains so the workers can reach the softer insides.
To make white flour, the workers sift the crushed wheat, which means shaking it through screens with tiny holes. The screens let fine flour through and hold back larger pieces of the outer covering. Workers sift to separate the parts they want.
Finally, the mill workers fill clean bags with the finished flour. The bags keep the flour together for its journey to shops and bakeries. Now a baker can use it to make bread.
Kernels, milling, sift. Wheat becomes flour when farmers grow and gather its grains, and mill workers clean, grind, and, for white flour, sift them.
Next time you enjoy a soft slice of bread, you can remember its beginning in a field of golden wheat.
