Types of Bread

Breads may be divided into a number of categories; the first based on the type of flour used in their preparation.

• White bread: made using white flour, which contains only the endosperm (the central section of the grain), making up about 75% of the whole grain.
• Brown bread: made from wheatmeal flour, from which some bran and wheatgerm have been removed, leaving behind about 85% of the whole grain.
• Wholemeal bread: made from wholemeal (wholewheat) flour - the whole of the wheat grain with nothing removed (100% of the grain).
• Wheatgerm bread: made using white flour that has at least 10% processed wheatgerm added to it.

The second way to classify bread is by their preparation method, ingredients and their purpose. For example:

• simple breads that require only a few ingredients, such as bagels and pumpernickel;
• enriched breads (e.g. muffins and Chelsea buns) that have additional ingredients to enhance their flavour, colour and texture;
• flatbreads such as naan and pittas;
• breads such as ciabatta that are made using a starter dough;
• yeast-free breads (for example, bannock), which are made using a chemical leavening agent instead of yeast; and
• festival breads (for example, hot cross buns) that are traditionally made for special occasions.

You can find out about the breads in this second method of classification by selecting a category below: