Bread Making: How to Choose the Best Flour for Your Bread?
What do I mean by "Choose the Best Flour"?
Bread is a food with the most straightforward recipe but with a deep emotional value. Think about how many memories and how many emotions and how much history and how many meanings bread brings. Above all, it is a simple food made with only three ingredients: water, yeast, flour and salt.
However, Choose the Best Flour, or it will all become "complicated" food. Choose inferior raw materials, work them badly or add other (useless) ingredients to ruin the taste and pleasure of good bread. We have all gone through an experience after buying a good-looking bread from the store and then later getting disappointed by the flavour or confused by the fast hardening of the crust and crumb. This is also why many people like to make bread at home. , But what is the Best flour to use for bread making?
Whether it is wholemeal or refined, made of wheat or rye, choosing it properly and knowing how to use it correctly is recommended. Let's find out how to search the dozens of flours on the market and pick the best one.
Understanding the Basics of Bread Making
Before discussing specific types of flour, it's vital to grasp the essential components of flour and their role in bread making, ence, choose the best flour is paramount.
Flour is composed of starch and protein. The gluten proteins in the flour, namely glutenin and gliadin, give bread its structure and ability to rise. Creating the ideal balance of gluten development is crucial; too little gluten results in a dense loaf, while too much can make the bread tough and chewy.
How to Choose the Best Flour for Your Bread Making, and why is so Important? The Answer is Gluten!
And if you wish to get lots of it, you need a suitable flour for your bread.
Gluten is the "secret agent" that transforms the mixture of water, flour, and yeast into fragrant loaves of bread. This complex of protein substances in the flour gives strength and elasticity to the dough because it traps the fermentation gases and allows it to obtain a well-leavened bread and a soft crumb. But not all flours contain gluten. And those that do not have it cannot be used to make bread, at least to get authentic bread.
Fortunately, there are many bread making flours. However, not all of them have the same results, and these may not be the Best Flour for what you want to achieve..
The flour no.1 for making bread is soft wheat, rich in starch but low in fibre and protein. Mix these with gluten-rich flour (such as Manitoba flour ) to achieve properly raised bread, which is better. Different types are indicated on the packaging by a number indicating the degree of refining.
The whitest and most refined is the 00 flour, also the most used by bakers recently. But today, less refined flours (such as 1, 2) or wholemeal ones are preferred because they bring more fibre (which modern nutrition lacks) and minerals, give a more fulfilling bread, and don't raise blood sugar. If you don't like the particular taste of wholemeal flour, you can choose flour 2: practically semi-wholemeal. It has an excellent nutritional profile and is easier to work with than wholemeal flour. So it is a good alternative for natural bread making.
Now, let's discuss how to Choose the Best Flour for the Bread your Bread.
Millions have asked about the best flour, and there is only one simple answer: Your flour should be rich in proteins. People call it "strength," the quantity and tenacity of gluten that the flour can develop. The more protein the cereal grain contains, the better the dough will rise.
Of course, strength is not the only parameter that matters. Even the degree of ashes - (what remains after the grain processing) strives to become a respectable deciding factor and eventually gets it.
But What is the Best Flour?
There's something undeniably satisfying about the aroma of freshly baked bread permeating through your home. As a home baker, choosing the best flour for your homemade bread can be a perplexing task. With the plethora of options available - from all-purpose to whole wheat, bread flour to alternative flours - it's essential to understand their characteristics and how they can impact your loaf's texture, flavour, and overall success. This article delves into flour selection, guiding you on a flour-filled journey to help you confidently choose the best flour for your homemade bread.
All-Purpose Flour: The Versatile Choice
Due to its versatility, all-purpose flour is a popular choice for many home bakers. It is a blend of hard and soft wheat flour, offering a medium protein content and a balance between gluten development and tenderness. This makes it suitable for various bread recipes, from sandwich loaves to artisanal bread. If you're starting with bread-making, all-purpose flour is a reliable choice to get comfortable with the process.
Bread Flour: The Gluten Powerhouse
For those seeking a higher protein content and a more structured crumb, bread flour is the go-to option. With a higher protein percentage than all-purpose flour, typically around 12-14%, bread flour encourages optimal gluten development. This results in excellent rise and a chewier texture in the finished loaf. Bread flour is particularly well-suited for recipes that require significant fermentation, such as sourdough or rustic artisan bread.
Whole Wheat Flour: Nutritious and Flavorful
Whole wheat flour is milled from the wheat kernel, including the bran, germ, and endosperm, making it nutrient-dense and imparting a distinct nutty flavour. With a higher fibre content, whole wheat flour adds both nutrition and depth to your homemade bread. However, due to the bran and germ interfering with gluten formation, whole wheat bread tends to be denser and requires extra moisture. Combining whole wheat flour with all-purpose or bread flour helps strike a balance between structure and flavour.
Exploring Bread Making Flour Beyond Tradition
If you're looking to venture into alternative flours, options abound. From nut flours like almond or hazelnut to grain-free options like coconut, buckwheat, or quinoa flour, these alternatives offer unique flavours and cater to specific dietary needs. However, it's important to note that alternative flours often lack gluten or behave differently during baking, potentially resulting in a more delicate or crumbly texture. Experimentation and recipe adaptation may be necessary when substituting with alternative flour.
Soft wheat, the most suitable ingredient for baking
You will likely discover the balance of these two elements in some soft wheat flour, the most suitable ingredient for bread making (not only bread but also pizza and pastry desserts).
Whatever people say, type 0 flour is not my choice for making bread; it is recommended for desserts and homemade pasta. 00 is fine, too, but be informed that it is a highly refined product. It is obtained directly from the heart of the grain and is, therefore, richer in proteins and sugars. However, type 1 flour is used for high-quality bread making, and type 2 is qualitatively better, especially if ground stoned.
I especially praise wholemeal flour (always soft wheat), which is optimal for leavened and unleavened bread and for enriching a dough with natural fibres. You can mix them if a whole grain is too strong for your taste.
Special bread making flour for soft and alveolate breadcrumbs in your homemade bread... is this the Best Flour?
Although part of the same family, Manitoba Flour is not included in the first list because it is a unique flour produced with unique grains. It contains a remarkable level of gluten and is therefore perfect for supporting long leavening processes, those that give life to doughs with a soft and alveolate crumb, crunchy crust and distinctive fragrance.
Intense flavour and rich taste: the other flours
Alternative Flours for Bread Making:
They emerged in bakeries a few years ago and have become trendy. These are breads made with alternative flours, such as rye or spelt. These cereals have good nutritional value, so you can also use them to make bread at home.
Spelt flour provides more protein and minerals (particularly magnesium, which has an anti-stress effect) than wheat. Mixed with soft wheat flour, it gives delicately aromatic bread and focaccia. A remarkably healthy and nutritious bread can be combined with oat flour, rich in proteins and individual fibres (beta-glucans) and effective in controlling cholesterol.
Rye flour is the primary ingredient for German bread. It is aromatic and sour, lasting long and highly satiating. Rich in fibre and energy but low in calories, it has been associated with reducing cholesterol in the blood because it reduces the absorption of fats. Its limit is that it contains little gluten; therefore, it must be mixed with soft wheat flour to make bread. Rye flour does not contain much gluten and should be added to doughs with wheat flour to obtain crunchy and decidedly rustic bread.
Bread Making with "Gluten-Free" Flours
Bread can also be prepared from gluten-free cereals, such as corn, whose flour, mixed with soft wheat, gives a rustic feeling to your bread, this is the best flour to use for people on a gluten-free diet.
Rice flour is also gluten-free, making it an excellent base because it can "dilute" the taste and character of the ingredients it combines (for example, it mitigates the bitterness of lupine flour or seared sweet soy flour).
These flours can, however, also be used alone, following the specific recipes for gluten-free bread, which include more ingredients than ordinary bread, and applying expert tricks, such as those provided by Cécile Decaux and Florence Solsona in the beautiful book Bread with Seeds and Healthy Flours, published by Red!
In reality, "gluten-free" flour should also be used by those who do not have celiac disease because when combined in small doses with the traditional bread dough, it gives it a new and particular taste.
Buckwheat flour and teff flour can be added to rice flour to obtain bread with a rustic flavour and unbeatable crunchiness.
Legume & Hemp Flour
Another successful combination is that with legume flour (like chickpeas, peas, lupins, or lentils): a fragrant bread with an excellent flavour is created from their dough. Those who love sweet tastes will not be disappointed by the bread made by mixing rice flour with chestnut flour, which is naturally rich in sugar and has an intense aroma.
Surprising is the hemp flour, which has a light nutty flavour and should be used in small quantities together with rice flour. Minimum quantities are also recommended for amaranth flour, whose rustic taste is enhanced by adding sunflower or poppy seeds.
If we talk about mixes, however, daring people can always rely on the intense flavour and rich taste of spelt flour, the bright colour of barley flour, the lightness of the doughs in which rice flour is present (it is rich in starch, it must be added to a small extent in the dough), to the sweet notes of that of chestnuts — also, the multiple nutritional properties of quinoa or the grainy texture and distinct taste of cornflour.
For these Flours That Need Help
There are cereals with which you can make delicious loaves of bread, but you need a little help. Like durum wheat, which is obtained from grinding semolina, a coarse and grainy golden yellow flour with a more compact protein structure makes it perfect for dry pasta production.
By subjecting semolina to a second grinding, the "re-milled flour ", also called "durum wheat flour," produces golden and long-lasting bread typical of central-southern Italy. The "regrind flour" is rich in proteins (and therefore gluten) and absorbs much water, creating an excellent bread. Kamut is also durum wheat, and by using it, you can get delicious bread with a distinctive nutty aroma.
I love mixing and matching them, depending on the desired final results. Different percentages of flowers and seeds elevate the final product's taste as if you cannot create a symphony with one note.
As you embark on your homemade bread-making journey, remember that choosing the suitable flour ultimately comes down to personal preference and the desired outcome of your loaf. Start with the basics, such as all-purpose or bread flour, to establish a foundation of knowledge and gain confidence in your bread-making skills. From there, you can explore the world of flours, unearthing the unique flavours and characteristics they bring.
Consider factors such as protein content, gluten development, and the overall texture and flavour you wish to achieve. Don't hesitate to mix different flours to create your custom blend and tailor your bread to your liking. Baking is an ever-evolving art, and experimenting with different flours allows you to craft bread that speaks to your taste buds and dietary choices.
So, don your apron, gather your ingredients, and let the flour guide you as you embark on the satisfying journey of homemade bread-making. Now that you understand how flour choices can impact your loaves with each batch you knead and shape, embrace the joy of watching your dough rise, savour the aromas wafting from your oven, and revel in the pride of slicing into a freshly baked loaf that nourishes and delights.