BREAD FLOUR

YOU MENTION BREAD FLOUR IN ALOT OF YOUR RECIPES, COULD YOU PLEASE ADVISE ME IF THIS IS SELF RISING FLOUR BECAUSE IN CANADA WE DO NOT HAVE JUST BREAD FLOUR.
PLUS I DONT DO ALOT OF BREAD MAKING, BUT IM STARTING TO NOW IM RETIRED
NEED ANOTHER NAME.
THANKS PAUL

Posted by: paul
August 23, 2015

6424 views
16 Comments

16 Comments

Pam P. August 29, 2015

Bread flour has higher protein content (14-16%) compared to all-purpose (10-12%) and cake flour (7-8%). It makes a difference if you were trying to make rustic breads because the higher protein content will result in a wonderful structure in the bread. You can buy "vital wheat gluten" and add it to your all-purpose to boost the gluten content.

Droplet August 28, 2015

Manitoba Flour has a very high gluten percentage (essential to bread making) and it should be readily available in Canada.

Windischgirl August 28, 2015

I add gluten to all purpose flour to increase the protein levels. I add 1 tsp per cup of white flour, 1 1/2 tsp per cup of whole wheat flour, per package directions. Maybe the amounts vary by brand.

TheFritschKitchen August 26, 2015

Another solution is Vital Wheat Gluten - I always have a bag (Bob's Redmill) in my freezer. Replacing a tablespoon of all-purpose flour with the vital wheat gluten makes it comparable to bread flour. That way, you don't have to keep 2 different flours on hand!

Susan W. August 26, 2015

That's an awesome solution. I rarely bake bread, but when I have the urge, this is perfect.

Nancy August 26, 2015

Nice hack.
A tablespoon replacement of Vital Wheat Gluten per how much regular flour? one cup? other measure?

TheFritschKitchen August 26, 2015

Opps! Sorry about that Nancy - you are right, 1 tablespoon of the wheat gluten for every cup of flour. I usually put a tablespoon in the bottom of my cup, then finish it off with my AP flour. Just need to make sure that it gets mixed well and evenly distributed in the dough. The bag does a nice job of explaining it too.

It is fantastic to have on hand, I find that my pizza dough is worlds better with my make-shift bread flour, vs just using AP flour!

Smaug August 23, 2015

Bread flours, at least those in the US, are not only hard wheat, they almost all contain malted barley flour. This is primarily intended to enhance the effect of the gluten; older flours were made with bromate, for the same purpose, but it was found to have some serious health issues. I think the malt adds a nice little bready finish to the flavor, too. You certainly don't want self rising flour.

Stephanie B. August 23, 2015

Bread flour is readily available in Canada. Not sure where you are but most brands (Robin Hood, etc.) make bread flour. It is just a higher protein flour. If you can't find bread flour, you can substitute with all-purpose flour.

Nancy August 23, 2015

Yes it's available. Maybe not in your current grocery store, so try another.
Robin Hood makes 3 varieties of bread flour (white, whole wheat & multigrain) distributed cross country (west, Ontario, Quebec, Maritimes & Newfoundland).
Five Roses does not, apparently make bread flour.
Monarch makes one called Special Whole Wheat & Stone Ground with 13.6-15% protein, which is in the 14-16% protein needed for bread flour. Maybe under its own name or other.

Susan W. August 23, 2015

Forgot to add..self rising is describing flour that has baking soda and salt already added. You wouldn't want to use it for yeast breads.

Susan W. August 23, 2015

Paul, it looks like bread flour is only used in commercial settings in Canada. You would use what you call hard wheat or all purpose. Here is a good link to some info on flours in different countries and their use. Scroll down a bit and you'll see a rave about Canada's all purpose flour. :)
http://www.cooksinfo.com/flour

Nancy August 24, 2015

Susan W - I had a look at the cooksinfo page you cited, and the information is mostly interesting.
But on bread flour in Canada it is either incomplete or out of date.
Not only can I find it on websites for 2 brands sold in Canada (Robin Hood & Monarch/Archer Daniels), but I saw it mid August 2015 on the shelf.

Susan W. August 25, 2015

Nancy, it's probably out of date. Since Paul said he couldn't find it, I assumed it was accurate.

Nancy August 25, 2015

Susan - noted. Now let's hope Paul can actually find the bread flour in his market(s).

Stephanie G. August 23, 2015

Bread flour is different from self-rising flour. It is mainly used for yeast breads. Some feel bread flour makes yeasted breads rise more.

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