I normally buy high grade, but got a bag of normal budget plain flour. The loaves are a good inch shorter. I figure it must be the flour as its the only thing to change.
They sure aren't hitting the lid of the machine now.
What do you prefer.?
wasgonna,
Feb 17, 3:06pm
High grade only.
camper18,
Feb 17, 3:13pm
Have been using Home brand high grade lately with same results as the dearer brands. Over the years have tried most brands of flour and yeast and have found the best mix for me is Binn Inn yeast and HB flour.
lilyfield,
Feb 17, 3:21pm
high grade for everything only
cgvl,
Feb 17, 4:13pm
Usually high grade flour but it depends on what I have in the pantry at the time. I use either Pams or Homebrand flours but it does depend on price occasionally I will use a branded one like champion but thats rare.
popeye333,
Feb 17, 5:59pm
Im going to go back to the high grade.
I never really thought there was much difference. But bread was a good way to learn.
Have half a 5 kilo bag to use first. I don't have another large container and wont waste it
village.green,
Feb 17, 6:21pm
I use plain flour and then add 1Tbs of gluten flour per cup of flour approx. Strong bread flour is the proper flour to use for breadmaking. For me High Grade just doesn't cut the mustard. However strong flour is quite a bit more expensive and there's only one place near me that sells it in 2.5kg amounts, other than that would have to purchase 25kg bags which is a bit much. In the UK it is easy to purchase alongside other flours in supermarket.
buzzy110,
Feb 17, 6:42pm
Understand flour for bread - When you knead dough for a nice elastic dough you are actually forming long strands of gluten. It is these long strands that trap gas given off by the yeast. The gluten strands therefore makes the dough elastic and stable so it doesn't split during proofing. They also make it possible for dough to rise. A nice, unbroken outer skin on your loaf also helps to keep the gas trapped in the rising dough.
Therefore it is best to use high grade flour or add gluten to flour if it is standard/plain grade.
It is also a good idea to add a little bit of gluten to wholemeal, stoneground and rye flour. The reason is the bran and germ in wholemeal act like glass and 'cut' the gluten strands, preventing formation of a sturdy elastic dough. Rye is negligible in gluten.
The issue is how much to add. You'll get a great loaf if you add a lot but gluten is not the healthiest part of the wheat.
I was lucky enough to go splits with another poster on here who buys proper baker's flour for breadmaking. It is only available in 20kg bags.
Another name for high grade flour is strong flour.
lenart,
Feb 18, 12:47am
Buzzy, did you receive my email with bagel recipe? For some reasons it went to trash instead of sent letters in my programme and I am still unsure if it was sent or not. Let me know if you didn't receive it and I will resend it.
I made a couple of bakes with strong flour, mixed grains bread, pita bread and bagels and quite happy with the results. Good elastic dough this time.
lenart,
Feb 18, 12:53am
Plain flour is milled from soft wheat and it is low in gluten and not very good for bread, but good for cakes and biscuits that are soft baked and don't need to be chewy. Strong flour is milled from hard wheat and it has higher gluten content. When choosing flour, check protein contents, the higher, the better for bread. There are other factors that affect bread quality, but protein contents of the flour (gluten) is one of the main ones.
vashti,
Feb 11, 7:00pm
I use Gilmores flour from Binn Inn.
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