| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Carolinagirl |
Posted - Jul 21 2006 : 6:48:36 PM
Hi farmgirls! I've been homemaking bread lately, and I have a question about flours. My recipes call for unbleached flour, which is not what I generally keep around. What is the difference between bleached and unbleached and what would it do to sub one for the other in bread recipes?
Also, the inside of my bread is sometimes not as "tight" or dense as I would think it should be, but I can't figure out why. The texture always seems to end up like that of french or italian bread, even if it's country white I'm making. Any suggestions?
Thanks-
Kim in NC |
| 2 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| BStein |
Posted - Jul 22 2006 : 08:19:08 AM
Kim,
If you have a soft dough you will have a lighter bread. Is your dough dense? For a white bread loaf it should be pretty solid. And don't let it rise too much on the second rise. If it gets too high on the second rise it will be pretty airy inside.
Barbara |
| Boxbreaker |
Posted - Jul 22 2006 : 06:43:37 AM
Halllow! I use unbleached flour anytime I use white. It's just that..."unbleached". This won't be the technical answer but basically it's not as white, not treated with a harsh chemical, and from what I understand, ground with just the germ removed rather than bleached, which is ground, germ removed, then treated.
They are interchangeable in most recipes. But for bread I've heard a lot of bakers use "bread flour" sold right next to the other stuff. I'm not sure but I"m betting it has a higher gluten content. Gluten is what makes your bread high and light. You can also buy gluten seperately (our store sells it next to bread machines) to add to your bread but it's most often used in whole wheat recipes. Kneading more will also develop your gluten so maybe the tight bread is a result of that. Are you adding eggs? That will also make a more dense loaf.
There you have it...my exhaustive bread know-how. Now we'll just sit back and let the experts take over ;-).
But the dreamers of the day are dangerous people because they enact their dreams into reality with eyes wide open. |
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