Could it become an obsession?

I have an issue lately with flour. No, I don't have a hard time eating it and I have nothing against it being an ingredient in many delicious foods, but I find myself so perplexed by the varieties. Why so many? How did all of these different types of flours come to be? Whole-wheat, all-purpose, gluten-free, pastry, cake, white whole-wheat, semolina, durum, and the list just keeps going.

Right now I have five different types of flour in my pantry and I'm not even an avid baker. And as much as it hurts, I'll admit that even after my three weeks of pastry and baking with Chef Krieg and friends, I still have not absorbed what type of flour I should use for what or what types can be equally substituted in baking.

So on my journey (which I'm still unsure if I totally want to sign up for) of exploring the endless world of flour, I ran across an article posted on Culinate today that was a good start to breaking it all down: http://www.culinate.com/articles/culinate8/flour_power.

For any of you interested in this chameleon of an ingredient, it may be an interesting read for you. Thanks to the author for the overview. It's a starting point for delving into the subject.

Cheers,
~JF