The applications of rheology to the main processes encountered during bread making (mixing, fermentation and baking) are reviewed. Factors affecting dough rheology and influences of various additives on the rheological properties of flour doughs are illustrated and the component interactions are emphasized. The most commonly used rheological test methods and their relationships to product functionality are reviewed. Rheological testing has become a powerful and preferred approach for examining the structure and the fundamental properties of wheat flour doughs because of its characteristic and sensitive response to the structure variation of wheat flour doughs. It is shown that the most commonly used method for rheological testing of doughs, shear oscillation dynamic rheology, is generally used under deformation conditions inappropriate for bread making and shows little relationship with end-use performance. The frequency range used in conventional shear oscillation tests is limited to the plateau region, which is insensitive to changes in the HMW glutenin polymers thought to be responsible for variations in baking quality. Molecular size and structure of the gluten polymers that make up the major structural components of wheat are related to their rheological properties via modern polymer rheology concepts. Interactions between polymer chain entanglements and branching are seen to be the key mechanisms determining the rheology of HMW polymers.