Hi!

I just got a bread machine recently, and i noticed that all recipes call for
bread flour..

what is bread flour and where can i find it? i'm in Ottawa, Canada, and
most people i know have never seen any.

Would all purpose flour yield the same results?

thanks in advance..

"Steph G.B" > wrote in message
...
> Hi!
>
> I just got a bread machine recently, and i noticed that all recipes call
for
> bread flour..
>
> what is bread flour and where can i find it? i'm in Ottawa, Canada, and
> most people i know have never seen any.
>
> Would all purpose flour yield the same results?
>
> thanks in advance..
>
Strange. Your supermarket should carry bread flour which is higher in
gluten than AP. It is often labelled "best for bread". The popularity of
bread machines means that supermarkets usually carry several brands
including their own.
If you get really keen on bread baking, you might try the Loblaw's
"wholesale" outlet (?Great Canadian...) which sells bakers' flour in 20kg
sacks for about $11.

Friends of mine with a bread machine, here in Calgary, use AP flour with
good results. The protein value of this is about 12% compared with 14-15%
for some bread flour. However, in Europe, great bread is made with 10%
levels.

Graham

In Commodity Fact Sheet page (check in fas.usda.gov)
The minimum protein level for bread flour is 11.3%

In theartisan.net, their preferred flour is an unbleached all-purpose
flour, ranging in protein content from 9.8 - 11% for making Italian
bread.

Using AP flour in bread-machine baking is fine. But if you want to mix
with whole wheat flour or rye flour, it's better to use bread flour or
add a little vital wheat gluten into your AP flour.

You can check the label when buying flour in the supermarket.

I wish you enjoy baking.

In article >,
"Steph G.B" > wrote:

> Hi!
>
> I just got a bread machine recently, and i noticed that all recipes call for
> bread flour..
>
> what is bread flour and where can i find it? i'm in Ottawa, Canada, and
> most people i know have never seen any.
>
> Would all purpose flour yield the same results?
>

Bread flour is white flour that has a relatively high percentage of
protein (gluten--or, more specifically, gluten-forming proteins). Bread
flour has the highest levels of the generally available flours, cake the
lowest. All-purpose is a compromise for between the different sorts.
However, there are no standards for gluten content; you might find that
the all purpose flour sold in Canada is as high in gluten as the bread
flour in the southern US. See how it works out for you; supermarkets
also sell vital wheat gluten, which can be used to raise the gluten
content of flour.
I believe that lower gluten flours are generally used in Europe, but I
don't know if a bread machine is more likely to reqiore "bread" flour.

--
to respond, change "spamless.invalid" with "optonline.net"
please mail OT responses only

"Steph G.B" > writes:

>From: "Steph G.B" >
>Newsgroups: rec.food.baking
>Subject: "bread flour"
>Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2003 22:06:59 -0500
>
>I just got a bread machine recently, and i noticed that all recipes call for
>bread flour..
>
>what is bread flour and where can i find it? i'm in Ottawa, Canada, and
>most people i know have never seen any.
>
>Would all purpose flour yield the same results?

Bread flour contains more gluten than all-purpose ("AP") flour. It should
work OK in your bread machine, but gluten adds strength to your bread's
structure and provides the elasticity (stretch) during the kneading process.
This, in turn, better traps the bubbles of gas given off by the yeast
and can improve the rise of your bread.

Machine kneading in bread machines can give dough much more of a beating
than hand kneading. The extra gluten in bread flour helps assure that
the dough maintains sufficient stretch without breaking.

You can buy "Vital Wheat Gluten" which has been extracted from wheat flour
by a washing process. It is a fine white powder which is sold in boxes
or bags of a few ounces. You can add this to your AP flour at a ratio
of about 1 teaspoon per cup of flour.

Arrowhead Mills (box) and Bob's Red Mill (celo bag) are two suppliers of
vital wheat gluten. You can find the stuff in health food stores and
sometimes in supermarkets with the baking supplies. Here is a description
and photo of the Arrowhead Mills product:

http://www.leesmarket.com/Shop/Produ...ID=07433337120

It is also available from King Arthur Flour's Bakers' Catalog.

A 10-ounce box sells for around US$3.00 and you might want to experiment
with it to see if you like the result or if it doesn't seem to make any
difference in your recipes.

Cheers,
The Old Bear

Hi: Bread flower has a higher nitrogen content than all purpose. Bread
flower dough must be kneaded in a bread machine or a mixer (like the kitchen
aid). It is available in the supermarkets and is often labled for bread
making machines.
All purpose flower will work but the bread does not have as good a
consistency (crumb).
You can get bread flower (and many others) from the King Arthur company in
the US. You can locate their address on the web.


Joe

"Steph G.B" > wrote in message
...
> Hi!
>
> I just got a bread machine recently, and i noticed that all recipes call
for
> bread flour..
>
> what is bread flour and where can i find it? i'm in Ottawa, Canada, and
> most people i know have never seen any.
>
> Would all purpose flour yield the same results?
>
> thanks in advance..
>
>
>

I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard that bread flour has
added to it, citric acid (vitamin c) powder to make it bread flour.

I tried adding the teeniest pinch of citric acid to my all-purpose flour for
a pizza crust, instead of using bread flour which seems to make it a little
too bubbly for my tastes. The addition of the citric acid did change my
crust.

Big imagination?
Dee


"Joe Yudelson" > wrote in message
.. .
> Hi: Bread flower has a higher nitrogen content than all purpose. Bread
> flower dough must be kneaded in a bread machine or a mixer (like the
kitchen
> aid). It is available in the supermarkets and is often labled for bread
> making machines.
> All purpose flower will work but the bread does not have as good a
> consistency (crumb).
> You can get bread flower (and many others) from the King Arthur company in
> the US. You can locate their address on the web.
>
>
> Joe
>
> "Steph G.B" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hi!
> >
> > I just got a bread machine recently, and i noticed that all recipes call
> for
> > bread flour..
> >
> > what is bread flour and where can i find it? i'm in Ottawa, Canada, and
> > most people i know have never seen any.
> >
> > Would all purpose flour yield the same results?
> >
> > thanks in advance..
> >
> >
> >
>
>

"Dee Randall" > wrote in message
...
> I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard that bread flour has
> added to it, citric acid (vitamin c) powder to make it bread flour.
>
> I tried adding the teeniest pinch of citric acid to my all-purpose flour
for
> a pizza crust, instead of using bread flour which seems to make it a
little
> too bubbly for my tastes. The addition of the citric acid did change my
> crust.
>
> Big imagination?
> Dee
>
It may change the texture of the dough but you did NOT make bread flour out
of All Purpose flour. The difference between bread flour and all purpose
flour is the protein content. Bread flour has more. However, I don't know of
any 'official' value that allows one to call flour bread flour. Most bread
flour I believe is in the 14-16% protien range while All Purpose flour is in
the 9-11% range. However, I believe some flours are in the 12% and are used
for either flour.

"SCUBApix" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Dee Randall" > wrote in message
> ...
> > I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard that bread flour has
> > added to it, citric acid (vitamin c) powder to make it bread flour.
> >
> > I tried adding the teeniest pinch of citric acid to my all-purpose flour
> for
> > a pizza crust, instead of using bread flour which seems to make it a
> little
> > too bubbly for my tastes. The addition of the citric acid did change
my
> > crust.
> >
> > Big imagination?
> > Dee
> >
> It may change the texture of the dough but you did NOT make bread flour
out
> of All Purpose flour. The difference between bread flour and all purpose
> flour is the protein content. Bread flour has more. However, I don't know
of
> any 'official' value that allows one to call flour bread flour. Most bread
> flour I believe is in the 14-16% protien range while All Purpose flour is
in
> the 9-11% range. However, I believe some flours are in the 12% and are
used
> for either flour.
>

Furthermore, ASCORBIC not citric acid is vitamin C. Minute amounts are
added in the "dough conditioners" to aid the yeasty-beasties to breed but
they don't turn an AP flour into a bread flour.
Graham

On Wed, 03 Dec 2003 19:01:01 GMT, "Graham" > wrote:

>
>"SCUBApix" > wrote in message
...
>>
>> "Dee Randall" > wrote in message
>> ...
>> > I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard that bread flour has
>> > added to it, citric acid (vitamin c) powder to make it bread flour.
>> >
>> > I tried adding the teeniest pinch of citric acid to my all-purpose flour
>> for
>> > a pizza crust, instead of using bread flour which seems to make it a
>> little
>> > too bubbly for my tastes. The addition of the citric acid did change
>my
>> > crust.
>> >
>> > Big imagination?
>> > Dee
>> >
>> It may change the texture of the dough but you did NOT make bread flour
>out
>> of All Purpose flour. The difference between bread flour and all purpose
>> flour is the protein content. Bread flour has more. However, I don't know
>of
>> any 'official' value that allows one to call flour bread flour. Most bread
>> flour I believe is in the 14-16% protien range while All Purpose flour is
>in
>> the 9-11% range. However, I believe some flours are in the 12% and are
>used
>> for either flour.
>>
>
>Furthermore, ASCORBIC not citric acid is vitamin C. Minute amounts are
>added in the "dough conditioners" to aid the yeasty-beasties to breed but
>they don't turn an AP flour into a bread flour.
>Graham
>

Howdy,

I would add a comment to this...

It is often unnecessary (or even undesirable) to use "bread" flour for
making bread. Most of the classic French breads are made with wheat
flours so low in protein that they would not be described as "bread
flour" by the American millers.

HTH,

--
Kenneth

If you email... Please remove the "SPAMLESS."

Oops - sorry - I meant "ascorbic acid." not "citric" acid.
Dee

"Graham" > wrote in message
news:Npqzb.554849$9l5.231643@pd7tw2no...
>
> "SCUBApix" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Dee Randall" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard that bread flour
has
> > > added to it, citric acid (vitamin c) powder to make it bread flour.
> > >
> > > I tried adding the teeniest pinch of citric acid to my all-purpose
flour
> > for
> > > a pizza crust, instead of using bread flour which seems to make it a
> > little
> > > too bubbly for my tastes. The addition of the citric acid did change
> my
> > > crust.
> > >
> > > Big imagination?
> > > Dee
> > >
> > It may change the texture of the dough but you did NOT make bread flour
> out
> > of All Purpose flour. The difference between bread flour and all purpose
> > flour is the protein content. Bread flour has more. However, I don't
know
> of
> > any 'official' value that allows one to call flour bread flour. Most
bread
> > flour I believe is in the 14-16% protien range while All Purpose flour
is
> in
> > the 9-11% range. However, I believe some flours are in the 12% and are
> used
> > for either flour.
> >
>
> Furthermore, ASCORBIC not citric acid is vitamin C. Minute amounts are
> added in the "dough conditioners" to aid the yeasty-beasties to breed but
> they don't turn an AP flour into a bread flour.
> Graham
>
>

Perhaps this is what I mistakenly thought about bread flour being
all-purpose with the addition of ascorbic acid. It is at
http://www.recipesource.com/misc/hints/00/rec0020.html



"Some bread flour has ascorbic

acid added, some doesn't. I used to be able to choose from four or five

different brands of bread flour, but now I have to take what I can get!

But, adding a little ascorbic acid gives your bread an extra boost, even if

there's already some in the flour. I add some if I want an especially

light loaf, it makes the bread less dense. The acidity is also supposed to

make the bread last longer."



Thanks,

Dee






"Graham" > wrote in message
news:Npqzb.554849$9l5.231643@pd7tw2no...
>
> "SCUBApix" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Dee Randall" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard that bread flour
has
> > > added to it, citric acid (vitamin c) powder to make it bread flour.
> > >
> > > I tried adding the teeniest pinch of citric acid to my all-purpose
flour
> > for
> > > a pizza crust, instead of using bread flour which seems to make it a
> > little
> > > too bubbly for my tastes. The addition of the citric acid did change
> my
> > > crust.
> > >
> > > Big imagination?
> > > Dee
> > >
> > It may change the texture of the dough but you did NOT make bread flour
> out
> > of All Purpose flour. The difference between bread flour and all purpose
> > flour is the protein content. Bread flour has more. However, I don't
know
> of
> > any 'official' value that allows one to call flour bread flour. Most
bread
> > flour I believe is in the 14-16% protien range while All Purpose flour
is
> in
> > the 9-11% range. However, I believe some flours are in the 12% and are
> used
> > for either flour.
> >
>
> Furthermore, ASCORBIC not citric acid is vitamin C. Minute amounts are
> added in the "dough conditioners" to aid the yeasty-beasties to breed but
> they don't turn an AP flour into a bread flour.
> Graham
>
>

Dee Randall wrote:

> I don't know if this is true or not, but I've heard that bread flour has
> added to it, citric acid (vitamin c) powder to make it bread flour.
>
> I tried adding the teeniest pinch of citric acid to my all-purpose flour for
> a pizza crust, instead of using bread flour which seems to make it a little
> too bubbly for my tastes. The addition of the citric acid did change my
> crust.
>
> Big imagination?
> Dee
>

Yeah, big imagination. Try checking out difference in protein/gluten
levels. THAT is the real diff between bread flour and AP.
--
Alan

"If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and
avoid the people, you might better stay home."
--James Michener

> Yeah, big imagination. Try checking out difference in protein/gluten
> levels. THAT is the real diff between bread flour and AP.
> --
> Alan
>
> "If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and
> avoid the people, you might better stay home."
> --James Michener
>

Check out the Artisan site for a good discussion on flour.

Also www.gmiflour.com for a complete description of all General Mills
flours. Attached to each description is a specification sheet showing what
is in each flour. The specifics may be different between GM flours and
other millers, but the relative characteristics between the various flours
will hold -- all purpose vs artisan vs bread flour.

Barry

Big Imagination calling -- ring, ring!

Now, this is not ALL the time, but when I have bought some baked bread at
stores where I've paid $4-6 a loaf, I would describe the bread as
"lifeless." I have attributed that in the past to the quality of their
flour and have tried to buy good flour for my own baking.

Now I am using exclusively King Arthur, because I feel that is the best I
can find. I know that price is not always an indicator, but GM can be found
at half the price of KA in the same store (Well, I can't be precise in the
percentage difference, but I know it is a LOT of difference.) But I always
buy KA because I "buy" into their advertisement for their product, as well.

I have used GM for pizza's in the last couple of years (and, of course, it
can be my own lack of expertise) but I didn't use the whole bag because I
found it had that lifeless taste.

Big Imagination,
Dee




"barry" > wrote in message
et...
> > Yeah, big imagination. Try checking out difference in protein/gluten
> > levels. THAT is the real diff between bread flour and AP.
> > --
> > Alan
> >
> > "If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion, and
> > avoid the people, you might better stay home."
> > --James Michener
> >
>
> Check out the Artisan site for a good discussion on flour.
>
> Also www.gmiflour.com for a complete description of all General Mills
> flours. Attached to each description is a specification sheet showing
what
> is in each flour. The specifics may be different between GM flours and
> other millers, but the relative characteristics between the various flours
> will hold -- all purpose vs artisan vs bread flour.
>
> Barry
>
>