Description

Hard red spring flour gets its name from its fruit, which is closely related to hard red winter wheat. This strain is typically grown in the northern United States and Canada. Hard red spring wheat is planted in spring and harvested in autumn and has the highest protein content (13.5%) of all wheat varieties. One of the hardest types of wheat, it is often used to make bread, croissants, and pizza flour. Many bakers add it to flour made from soft wheat to give the bread extra protein content. Like hard red winter wheat, hard red spring wheat has a reddish husk and produces slightly darker flour than white wheat. Spring wheat tends to have a higher gluten content than the more common winter wheat varieties. Red wines are generally thought to be more nutty or more bitter than white wheat wines. This can be an advantage or a disadvantage depending on what flavor you want to create. In Brazil, nitrogen supply, environment and variety determine the yield and texture characteristics of hard red spring wheat. Nitrogen management strategies were studied to improve yield and texture properties in hard red spring wheat. Additional application of nitrogen later in the season improved wheat protein concentration and dough quality. Wheat yield and quality responses to nitrogen management were similar for all cultivars. There is an opportunity in southern Brazil to improve nitrogen management to improve wheat yield and quality.