Difference between flours?

[3tomboys]

I am going to try making Rye bread for the first time and was reviewing the recipe I will be using. It calls for Bread Flour. What is the difference between regular flour and bread flour? I apologize if this has been asked previously, I was not able to find when I did a search.

[MomToTwoBoys]

Bread flour contains more gluten, which is used in breads to help give it the elasticity that it needs. Regular flour has no added gluten in it and as such, most people will add either xanthan gum or gluten to their recipes to allow it to rise properly and be stretchy.

[3tomboys]

Thanks MomToTwoBoys, I appreciate the information, I had no idea what the difference was between them.

[Contrary Housewife]

Bread flour has higher protein than All Purpose (AP) flour. Working the proteins with water creates gluten, which makes a loaf light. Rye has almost no protein, which is why you have to mix it with wheat to get a light loaf and not a hockey puck.

Cake flour has a lower protein than AP flour and is suited to making cakes and muffins and things where you want a very tender crumb, unlike bread.

[Grainlady]

What you are calling "regular flour" is probaby all-purpose flour, which is milled from a combination of hard and soft wheat varieties. Enough hard wheat (higher protein/gluten) to make a fine loaf of yeast bread, but also enough soft wheat flour (lower protein/gluten) to make cakes and quick breads. So it serves "All-Purposes" as the name indicates. In truth, it's not optimal for ANY purpose, but does an all-around good job.

All-purpose flour will work as a substitute for bread flour if you don't want to purchase another type of flour. You may need to add a little more AP flour than the amount of bread flour called for in the recipe to get the correct "feel" to the dough. ALL flour measurements in bread recipes are just a "good guess" because there are so many differences from brand-to-brand and bag-to-bag as far as gluten amounts and moisture in the flour from storage, that you must add flour only until it's a soft dough NO MATTER WHAT AMOUNT IS CALLED FOR IN THE RECIPE!!! There's more than enough gluten in all-purpose flour to make rye bread IF there is around 20% (or less) rye flour in the recipe.

All-purpose flour was successfully used for generations for homemade yeast breads until the advent of the bread machine (in the 1980's), when the higher-protein bread flour became available for home use.

There are even differences in the gluten level of all-purpose flours. National brand AP flour (Pillsbury, Gold Medal) is 9-10% protein. There is a little higher protein level in unbleached AP flour over bleached.

Northern AP flour (Robin Hood, Hecker's, and King Arthur) range from 11-12%.

Compared to Bread Flour - 12-14%.

The last type of AP flour is Southern (White Lily, Martha White, Gladiola, Red Band). Southern AP flour is considered low-gluten/protein at 9%, and is milled from low-protein soft wheat varieties. These are best used for pie crust, biscuits, quick breads, muffins, NOT yeast bread.

Helpful hint on making rye bread. Dough with rye flour in it tends to get sticky, and STAY sticky. Because of this, people often continue to add flour during mixing or kneading, which can mean disaster and a "brick" for a loaf if too much flour is added. There are several things you can do to avoid adding too much flour and altering the hydration of the dough.

1. Mix up the dough and place it in a gallon-size FREEZER zip-lock bag, expell as much air as possible before closing the bag. Now you can knead the dough in the bag from the outside of the bag. If you need to adjust the hydration (add flour or liquid) you can open the bag and do so. When the dough is kneaded, turn the bag inside out to remove the dough. (This is ONE bag you won't want to recycle!!!) This bag method is one I use in Bread-in-a-Bag breadmaking classes, but it works well for sticky rye bread, as well. You can find recipes for Bread-in-a-Bag on-line. Many of them come with a variety of choices to make.

2. Instead of adding more flour during kneading to over-come the stickiness, wet your hands in a bowl of warm water to prevent hands sticking to the dough, and knead in the water. If you have to make an error with bread, it's best if it's wet (well-hydrated) rather than dry (under-hydrated). A stiff dry dough will generally bake into a "brick".

3. Towards the end of the kneading time (the last 3-4 minutes), you can oil your hands to keep the dough from sticking.

[Rebookie]

Could I get away with using self rising flour in a bread machine (if it's yeast)?

I'm sorry, I'm new at this!

[Grainlady]

Bread flour contains more gluten, which is used in breads to help give it the elasticity that it needs. Regular flour has no added gluten in it and as such, most people will add either xanthan gum or gluten to their recipes to allow it to rise properly and be stretchy.

MomToTwoBoys -

Are you sure about the information you posted above? I've taken numerous bread classes, have studied the subject of breadmaking for many years (as well as practicle experience making all my breads/baked goods), as well as teach bread classes, and here's what I'd share with you on some things I think you may not have the correct information, or perhaps would like to elaborate on or give references to help me out.

"Regular flour", as in all-purpose flour, is milled with a combination of hard and soft wheat varieties to get a certain protein (gluten) level. As far as "no added gluten", it contains anywhere from 9-12% protein (aka gluten - depending on brand) from the mixture of wheats. Bread flour is usually 13-14% protein, and primarily milled from hard wheat. There is more than enough gluten in "regular flour" (all-purpose flour) to make yeast breads.

Xanthan gum is a thickener/emulsifier/binding agent, and commonly used in gluten-free baking, but not as a substitute for vital wheat gluten in wheat-based breads. Xanthan gum mimics gluten, somewhat, because it gets sticky and it can trap gas bubbles from yeast in gluten-free breads to give them some lift, but I wouldn't add it to gluten-containing yeast breads.

I avoid adding gluten to yeast breads. TOO much gluten makes bread tough. I've worked with flour that had 16% protein in it (experimental use for a local mill), and MORE gluten isn't a good thing. It takes much longer to develop the gluten (kneading) in high-protein flour like that - it requires much more hydration (gluten soaks hydration up like a sponge) and you tend to get a tough loaf of bread. General baker's percentages are "off" the more gluten is present or added. The only time I add vital wheat gluten is if there is an unusually large percentage of non- or low-gluten flour in a bread recipe.

[Grainlady]

Could I get away with using self rising flour in a bread machine (if it's yeast)?

I'm sorry, I'm new at this!

We were ALL "new at this" at one time or another..... I only wish I could have been born with the information about baking I've learned over the years. I could have saved an enormous amount of money on classes and books (LOL).

Self-rising flour doesn't work in the bread machine because it contains a chemical leavening product, baking powder. The ingredients in self-rising flour are: flour, baking powder and salt.

You can avoid purchasing high-priced self-rising flour by making your own:

Yield - 1-cup:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Baking powder is best used in quick breads (banana bread, muffins, pancakes, biscuits, etc.).

Baking powder goes to work as soon as liquid ingredients come in contact with it. It reacts quickly by making carbon dioxide bubbles which contributes air to the batter which gives the batter "lift" and rise. When using double-acting baking powder (which nearly everyone does), it not only reacts during mixing, but also when it hits the heat of the oven - hence "double-acting". Single-acting baking powder reacts only when mixed with a liquid ingredient.

Therefore, recipes that use a chemical leavener (baking powder or baking soda), should be quickly stired together, panned or formed, and then placed immediately in a HOT oven. Always make sure your oven/griddle is pre-heated before mixing a batter together. You never want a batter to wait on a stove/oven to get hot. Much of the "umph" from the chemical leavener will be lost.

"Yeast" is used when you require a long fermentation process to produce lots of gasses and loft to the bread, and chemical leaveners (baking powder and baking soda) are not a substitute for "yeast" (bakers' yeast or natural yeast, such as those found in starters for naturally-leavened breads - aka sourdough).