Different flours-abm

[Len23]

This has probably been asked a million times, but if you can make bread by hand with all purpose flour, is there are way to use AP flour in a bread machine as well? I'm wondering what the difference is, and what the effects are if you sub one for the other. Thanks!

[Jim in Washington]

Len23 wrote:
This has probably been asked a million times, but if you can make bread by hand with all purpose flour, is there are way to use AP flour in a bread machine as well? I'm wondering what the difference is, and what the effects are if you sub one for the other. Thanks!

My West Bend Owner's Manual says not to use AP flour in it, b/c AP does not contain enough gluten, so critical to breadmaking. That being said, I understand from the Canadian posters that Canadian AP Flour contains more gluten than the American flour does. Wth, I would try it. If it doesn't work, I am sure the Canadian birds are as hungry as the American ones. They get all my bread mistakes.
jim

[Donna M.]

Len, I have made LOTS of bread machine loaves with all-purpose flour that have turned out super. I will say, however, that all-purpose flours vary widely in their gluten content. I always stick with a name-brand flour. The main difference that you may notice is that AP flour will produce a finer-grained bread with a softer texture. Some people find that to be a good thing. If you prefer chewy, crusty breads then stick with the bread flour. By all means, try it and see for yourself.

I almost always use the dough cycle in my machine now because I prefer the crust that I get with oven baking. It also allows you to be much more creative.

[Len23]

Hmm, thanks for that! I will definitely give it a try with a plain white loaf first. I'll try it in the oven and the bread maker. Might give it a try with some pizza dough as well because it seems strange that bread flour is necessary for something that hardly rises anyway.

[CarrolJ]

You can also buy powdered gluten to add to your flour in most supermarkets. When I lived in Colorado it was one of the items which they recommended when baking at high altitudes. I personally don't care for the taste of the added gluten, and so when I moved to Michigan in 1998 I began to purchase bread flour exclusively and stopped using the gluten.

By the way if you have Sam's Club in Canada they sell 25 pound bags of Bread Flour very cheap. Here it costs me between $3-4 a bag most often. (Sam's Club is a division of Wal-Mart)

[Cooking at the Cottage]

Hope that this helps.

This comes from the Five Roses Site Click on product and then through the flours. Canadian Product.


All Purpose White Flour
… finely ground endosperm of the wheat kernel separated from the bran and germ during the milling process. This flour is also known as bread flour or plain flour. It has a good gluten ( protein ) content which gives the strength needed in making breads. The flour is bleached with benzoyl peroxide which breaks down to benzoic acid and oxygen. It is the oxygen which bleaches the flour. This is a colour change only and has no effect on baking performance or shelf life.

All Purpose Never Bleached
… milling and wheat content are identical to All Purpose White. As the name implies, this flour is “never bleached”. Consequently, it has a creamy white colour.

Unbleached Bread Flour
Five Roses Unbleached Bread Flour is a stronger flour with higher gluten level to provide you with better volume breads. The texture of the crumb is light and delicious bread after bread. Breads made from Five Roses Unbleached Bread Flour rise more rapidly and require less kneading time.

The this comes from King Arthur Flour.


Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Milled to the same strict specifications since 1896, this flour is our best seller. Milled solely from hard red winter wheat grown in Kansas, it has the strength to make high-rising bread dough, yet is mellow enough for tender, flaky piecrusts, moist brownies, and perfect scones. Critics everywhere praise its high protein level, which yields breads that rise higher and baked goods that stay fresh longer.

Unbleached Bread Flour
If the bread machine or heavy-duty mixer is a heavily used tool in your kitchen, then you'll love King Arthur's Unbleached Bread Flour. Our Bread Flour thrives under the rigors of mechanical kneading. Milled from hard red spring wheat grown in the Northern Great Plains, it has 12.7% protein—higher than ordinary bread flours. This enables a vigorous rise for all yeast breads, and gives breads containing whole grains, seeds, or other low-gluten ingredients a welcome boost.

~Inez

[CarrolJ]

Cooking at the Cottage wrote:
Hope that this helps.

This comes from the Five Roses Site Click on product and then through the flours. Canadian Product.


All Purpose White Flour
… finely ground endosperm of the wheat kernel separated from the bran and germ during the milling process. This flour is also known as bread flour or plain flour. It has a good gluten ( protein ) content which gives the strength needed in making breads. The flour is bleached with benzoyl peroxide which breaks down to benzoic acid and oxygen. It is the oxygen which bleaches the flour. This is a colour change only and has no effect on baking performance or shelf life.

All Purpose Never Bleached
… milling and wheat content are identical to All Purpose White. As the name implies, this flour is “never bleached”. Consequently, it has a creamy white colour.

Unbleached Bread Flour
Five Roses Unbleached Bread Flour is a stronger flour with higher gluten level to provide you with better volume breads. The texture of the crumb is light and delicious bread after bread. Breads made from Five Roses Unbleached Bread Flour rise more rapidly and require less kneading time.

The this comes from King Arthur Flour.


Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
Milled to the same strict specifications since 1896, this flour is our best seller. Milled solely from hard red winter wheat grown in Kansas, it has the strength to make high-rising bread dough, yet is mellow enough for tender, flaky piecrusts, moist brownies, and perfect scones. Critics everywhere praise its high protein level, which yields breads that rise higher and baked goods that stay fresh longer.

Unbleached Bread Flour
If the bread machine or heavy-duty mixer is a heavily used tool in your kitchen, then you'll love King Arthur's Unbleached Bread Flour. Our Bread Flour thrives under the rigors of mechanical kneading. Milled from hard red spring wheat grown in the Northern Great Plains, it has 12.7% protein—higher than ordinary bread flours. This enables a vigorous rise for all yeast breads, and gives breads containing whole grains, seeds, or other low-gluten ingredients a welcome boost.

~Inez

Thanks Inez...very interesting. I only use bleached bread flour and use it for everything.