Durum Flour

Durum flour is durum endosperm ground finer than semolina. It reaches the mill floor by two routes: as the fine material that falls through the sifters during normal semolina production, and, in some mills, by deliberately regrinding semolina to a finer specification for buyers who want it — the Italian trade name semolina rimacinata means exactly that, remilled semolina. Both routes give the same kind of product, and the second makes plain that this is a deliberate output.

• Food — traditional durum breads of the Mediterranean and Middle East
• Food — couscous, where the fine fraction is agglomerated with semolina
• Food — fresh pasta and noodle products where a smoother dough is wanted
• Blending — combined with common wheat flour for particular bakery products

The distinction between durum flour and semolina is regulated in some markets, because pasta composition laws specify which durum fraction may be used in a product sold under a protected name. A mill therefore sells the two streams under defined descriptions rather than interchangeably.

Durum flour is assessed on the same attributes as semolina — particle size, ash, protein, colour, and moisture — with the size specification simply set finer. Its ash tends to run a little higher than the semolina from the same mill stream, because fine material picks up proportionally more of the bran fragments that grinding produces, and that shows in colour and speck appearance.

It handles like other cereal flours: hygroscopic, prone to compaction and bridging in bulk, and a substrate for storage insects. Because it carries the same pigment as semolina, exposure to heat and prolonged storage dull the colour that its buyers are paying for.