Silly question about bread making,,

[Chef shapeweaver ©]

i've never tried to make bread before and
i just purchased a bread maker.and, i was
looking through the recipes that came with it.
could i use all-purpose with some or should i
just use the bread flour that is called for in the
recipes? tyia.

[Heather Sullivan]

You'll have better results following the recipe and using bread flour. The bread flour has more gluten/protein in it which helps make the dough stretchy and holds the little bubbles (which the yeast make) better than the lower gluten all-purpose flour.

[Donna M.]

If you don't have any bread flour on hand, don't let that stop you from baking a loaf. I have made many a loaf with all purpose flour that turned out fantastic. The bread will turn out a little softer and finer-grained. All-purpose flour is actually better for dinner rolls.

Make a loaf of each, using the same recipe, and see the difference first hand. French bread and other 'crusty' breads definitely are better with bread flour.

[MEAN CHEF]

One thing good about bread making is that experiments are inexpensive. try it and see.

[PCrocker]

MEAN CHEF wrote:
One thing good about bread making is that experiments are inexpensive. try it and see.

and almost always edible!