All purpose vs white flour

amother

Sun, Jan 29 2023, 1:24 pm

is it the same thing?

I read that all purpose has only the bran removed but it has the germ and endosperm and white
has everything removed besides endosperm

but in some places where I looked it says its the same as white just a diff name?

Amarante

Sun, Jan 29 2023, 1:34 pm

All purpose flour means that it is good for all purposes unless a specific type of flour is specified in a recipe. Generally it has to do with gluten content as bread flour has more gluten and cake flour and pastry flour have less gluten and yield a softer crumb.

You are confusing white flour which has all of those elements removed as it is processed with whole wheat flour which is less processed and is considered healthier. There is actually whole wheat pastry flour but in general whole wheat flour will yield a more substantial crumb so it isn’t interchangeable with white flour in most baking recipes