meatnub wrote:
> OK, growing up I think my Mom used Gold Medal flour. I think that was
> a staple in our home. I think a lot, if not everyone, seems to use it.
>
> Now that I plan to cook from scratch, I need flour. My instinct says
> to just grab Gold Medal flour from the supermarket.
>
> I'm looking to eat healthy, and incorporate more grain into our
> balanced diets.
>
> So I have a couple of questions:
>
> #1. Is Gold Medal flour fine? Or are there better brands? And if so,
> what makes one brand of flour better than another, the way the flour
> is produced I assume?
>
> #2. Wheat flour or All Purpose flour? I thought flour comes from wheat
> anyway, so I'm a little confused. And is Wheat flour better for you
> than all purpose flour? (I'm assuming yes)
>



Wheat flour IS all-purpose flour. The alternative to all-purpose is
cake flour, whole wheat(dark), rye, etc. Don't try to bake bread from a
recipe with a different kind of flour unless you are experimenting.
Whole wheat, rye, etc. have different levels of gluten which affect the
way the bread rises (or doesn't!)

For your purposes, Gold Medal is fine although a while back Cooks
Illustrated or some other cooking mag did a bread taste test and thought
Pillsbury had better flavor.

If you are baking from scratch you don't need waffle flour, just a good
recipe.

This is an expensive time for you to begin baking. I'm used to buying
flour when it goes on sale (usually 99 cents for 5 lb.) The last time I
looked, a few days ago, flour was around $3.50 a bag, but I guess it's
all relative because the price of bread and baked goods is also soaring.

gloria p