Janet Bostwick wrote:
>
> "Julia Altshuler" > wrote in message
> news:eUPsb.138441$mZ5.953093@attbi_s54...
> >
> > Could you post a quick, off the top of your head, list of which breads
> > are best made with bread flour and which are better with all purpose?
> > I'm guessing that bagels and pizza dough like the high gluten and
> > croissants and muffins, being more cake-like, prefer the all-purpose.
> >
> > --Lia
> >
> Muffins and croissants are broadly called 'bread' . They do not however fit
> into the context of the original posting which was about 'yeasted breads.'
> Muffins and croissants are unlike each other in their preparation and what
> makes them rise and are completely different in those aspects from yeasted
> breads.
>
> I can't recall seeing a bread recipe where the recipe writer did not
> indicate what flour--all purpose or bread flour--should be used in the
> recipe preparation. This is an important point as bread flour will absorb
> far more liquid than all purpose flour. . .a lot more water, not just a
> tablespoon, it could be ounces. Several of us have performed this
> experiment at home mixing a given weight of water and a given weight of
> flour and tried out many different flours. The resulting mixtures varied
> from a soup-like consistency to something resembling cement mix. It isn't
> that the exchange of flour can't be done, you need to be aware of what you
> are doing. Not only will the exchange change the fluidity of the dough, it
> will alter the resulting bread.

Odd when I first discovered "bread flour" and started using
it I did not notice any difference in the relative ratios
of flour to liquid in my bread baking. Although I must say
that it has always been my practice, with a few special case
exceptions to add only part of the flour in a recipe leaving
back at least one cup and then working in as much of that
one last cup as the dough will take. (I learned early on that
if you slavishly follow a recipe and put all the flour called
for into the liquid it almost always makes the dough too stiff
and it's then really difficult to try to work in more liquid
to get the right consistency.) But the relative amounts are
still pretty much the same as far as I can tell, just judging
by eye. Never done any scientific experiments.

Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?