Can I make my own bread-machine flour?
The flour that we used to use in our bread making machine is called Strong White Flour - and has recently doubled in price. I'm not happy paying double what I used to for it, but don't want to completely give up on making our own bread (and other things - e.g. pizza dough) in the machine.
Does anyone know how I can replicate strong white flour at home - maybe using plain or self-raising flour as a base?
Best Answer
The BBC lists strong white flour as simply flour made from hard white wheat, which tends to have a higher gluten content.
By mixing all purpose flour (German: 550, French: 55) with the package recommended amount of vital wheat gluten or by using bread flour you should be able to make bread in your machine just fine. I usually use either AP flour or a mixture of AP and whole wheat (German: 1600, French: 150), or even all whole wheat (although with all wheat I find adding gluten is extremely helpful for getting a well-risen loaf).
You can also buy other types of high gluten flour, either with that label or listed as bread flour.
If you live in a part of the world with "0" and "00" flour, the protein content of "00" flour is similar to that of all purpose flour, but the grind of all purpose flour will be more coarse. "Panifiable" 00 flour has the gluten content of bread flour (source).
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How do I convert all-purpose flour to bread flour?
Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of vital wheat gluten per cup of all-purpose flour to re-create the texture of standard bread flour. You can evenly swap all-purpose flour for bread flour recipes, but, the texture of your bread may be less chewy.Will regular flour work in a bread machine?
Even if your all-purpose flour doesn't have enough gluten, it's okay to use it in the bread machine. Again, the worst that will happen is that your bread won't rise as much as it would have with bread flour.What can I substitute for bread machine flour?
If you're working on a recipe that calls for bread flour and you don't have any on hand, save yourself a trip to the store and a few bucks, by using an equal amount of all-purpose flour as a substitute.What is the difference between bread machine flour and all purpose flour?
Bread maker flour has between 12 \u2013 14% of protein while all-purpose flour has between 8 \u2013 11%. So what is the point of protein? Well, it adds strength to the dough as well as allowing the bread to rise well. In addition, bread flour has more gluten than all-purpose flour.Bread Machine Bread (All Purpose Flour)
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Answer 2
I don't think you need bread-machine flour, but I haven't use bread machines. Have you tried all purpose flour?
In my experience, bread flour is overrated. When I started learning how to bake bread, I bought one the cheapest flour I found (all purpose, from Costco) because it was cheap and I didn't know about the different types of flour. What I learn is that the difference is not big. My breads and pizza were very similar. After several tries, I ended buying all purpose or whole wheat, but not bread flour.
Also, for pizzas, all purpose is closer to what they use in Italy (00 - if I remember American Pie from Peter Reinhart correctly) so if you use stronger flours, you should add some olive oil to the dough to compensate.
By the way, Jim Lahey, from Sullivan Street Bakery, also thinks that the flour you use is not that important: Great bread is not about the wheat that goes into it.
Answer 3
Use a simple "0" or "00" flour, personally I mix them on a 1:1 ratio ...
Put the flour in a bowl, add a bit of salt and a modest quantity of brewer's yeast dissolved in warm water and a teaspoon of sugar to help the process.
Leave in a warm place, covering with a damp cloth ... when the volume will be doubled just impaste again
Stay away from self rising mixtures, they are the evil !
Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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