Wheat flour and cornmeal – variety distinctions and practical culinary and baking applications
Tomasz Jankowski
2026-03-17
3 min. read
38
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On numerous occasions, selecting the wrong type of flour has led to undesirable baking outcomes—ranging from an undercooked center in dough to overly stiff, inflexible pastry for pierogi. When confronted with shelves stocked with assorted packages of ground wheat or corn kernels, it is essential to grasp the criteria that should guide our selection and what the numerical labeling on the packaging truly signifies. Crucially, this number does more than categorize the product; it also indicates the most suitable culinary or baking applications for that particular flour variety.
The distribution of wheat flour is bread, pasta
The lower the type of flour, the more suitable the flour is for baking cakes, and the higher it is, the better it is when baking bread. Breadcake type 450 is used to bake bread as well as bread and sweet yeast buns, cakes and snacks e.g. crackers or waffles.
The distribution of wheat flour
There are also different types of wheat flour, depending on the degree of refinement of the grain. We use it mainly to make baked goods, salt cakes and to enrich sweet cakes with more valuable nutrients. We distinguish flour: light type 580 and 650, wheat type 800 and 950, sitko type 1400, graham type 1850, raisins type 2000. When you decide to buy flour consider what you want to use it for.