Durum Wheat Flour

Durum wheat flour is flour made from Durum wheat, a very hard high-protein wheat.  Durum wheat has four sets of chromosomes and is referred to as a tetraploid wheat (tetra = 4).  It is in a different group from today's common wheats used to make bread flours and pastry flours, which contain six sets of chromosomes.  It is said that because durum wheat contains four sets of chromosomes that is not as elastic as bread flour. 

Because durum wheat is strong but not very elastic it is used to make dried pastas (think strong and sturdy), coucous, and it can be combined in moderation with other flours to make certain styles of bread.