On Nov 13, 8:31 am, Matt Fitz > wrote:

> I'm curious what you think my adjustment might be if I switch to AP
> flour.

Probably very little if you continue with AP from King Arthur or you
shift to Gold Medal or Pillsbury unbleached AP. Good AP still runs at
4% protein. My guess is that Bread Flour and AP flour mostly differ in
the starch layer (of the grain seed) that is used. The layer's
characteristics vary moving from husk to germ.

If you choose the cheapest AP flour in the grocery, you move to 3%
protein and the flour is typically bleached. I think it is the
bleaching that makes things difficult. I read in Beranbaum's pastry
book that bleached flour is more extensible but less elastic... which
is helpful for things like puff pastry (and pizza), but not so much
for bread.

Anyway... to get to the point... what I found was that I needed to be
particularly careful in final proofing. I'd been using a proof box w/
hot pad... and low-life flour, or gluten-deficient flour (if you
prefer) is very sensitive to heat. The dough would rise nicely but
tear badly when baked. Scoring/docking were not effective. This
suggested that the dough was over-proofed where it encountered the
most heat, i.e.: the bottom of the brotforms, which, when inverted,
for baking, put the weak area on top. I resolved this issue by
reducing the hot pad temperature by 50%. So a longer, but less forced,
finish proof.

The other issue is handling. Really weak flour does not develop gluten
easily so you must leverage whatever you get. This means stretching
and folding to laminate the gluten sheets. Kneading won't do it. So...
a long cool bulk proof (overnight) to hydrolize the flour, and gently
develop the available gluten, and then a series of stretch and
folds... at least 3, well spaced. More is better... The dough handles
the S&F's really well (it is extensible, not elastic). And you can SEE
the sheeting. This is neat and really instructive.

My take-away was three fold... One, I definitely improved my dough
handling and shaping skill. Folding techniques are not simply the
stuff of boutique cook-books. They are real-life, tangible, functional
skills. You really affect structure with good dough handling. And you
really learn this lesson using crummy flour.

Two... I gained an immense appreciation for the miller's art. I used
to give lip service to good flour, not fully appreciating the
tremendous cushion that high quality milling provides. KA based dough
rises well even when technique is slip-shod. A little kneading, a hot
oven... shazam. Beautiful bread.

Three... the finished flavor of good flour and cheap flour is same-
same. I did not expect this. I assumed good flour would taste better.
Not so. Good flour is much easier to use from a bread building
persepctive but flavor is most definitely a fermenting and ripening
issue.