BYLUCASHOLLWEG
Ifyou’remakinga
basicloaf,most
recipestellyoutouse
strongbreadflour.
Butdoesit make
muchdifferenceif youuseplainflour
instead? We put it to the test
Let’sstartwiththescience.Different
typesofflourcontainvaryinglevels
ofprotein.Whenflouris mixedwith
water,theproteinsformgluten– and
it’sthisthatmakesdoughelastic.
Kneadingdevelopstheglutenfurther.
Plainflouris usuallyabout 10 per
centprotein,whilestrongflour–
madefrom‘hard’wheat– tendsto
be12.5percentormore.Strongflour
isn’tgoodforcakesandbiscuits
becausethehighglutenlevelmakes
themtough.Butforbread,where
youwanttotrapthegasbubbles
thatgivetheloafitsstructureand
springiness,strongflourisideal–
henceit’softencalledbreadflour.
Butwhathappensif youdon’t
havetherightflourinthecupboard?
Wemadethreeidenticalbasicloaves,
oneusingstrongwhiteflour,one
usingplainwhiteandoneusing
a 50/50 mix of the two.
THEFAIRTESTMETHOD
Eachloafwasmadewith500gflour,
7gfast-actionyeast,7gsaltand
350mllukewarmwater.Theloaves
weremixedbyhand,thenkneaded
for 10 minutes.Theywerethenleft
toriseuntildoubledinsize,knocked
back(hadtheairpushedout)and
shapedintoloaftins.Afterproving
for 30 minutes,theywerefloured,
slashed,thenbakedat220°C/200°C
fan/gas7 for 15 minutes,thenfor
30 minutes at 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.
Do you have to
use bread flour
to make bread?
TheverdictUsingjuststrongflourgavethebestloaf.Butif youonlyhave
plainflourorneedtosupplementstrongflourwithplain,goahead.Theloafwillrise,
witha softcrumbandgoldencrust,andthebreadwilltastebetterthana cheap,shop-
bought loaf – but it won’t have the springy chew of a loaf made entirely with strong flour.Here’swhatwe found...Strongflour(top)
Thedoughwasthefirmestofthe
threebutit wasalsothemostelastic
andgavethebestwindowpanetest
(stretchingintoa see-through
membranewithoutbreaking– this
indicatesproperglutendevelopment).
Thedoughexpandedwellduring
baking,withanattractivedomed
top.Theinsidewassoftandspringy
and the crust firm and chewy.Plainflour(bottom)
Thekneadeddoughdidn’thaveas
muchstructureastheothers.
Althoughsoftandpillowy,it gavethe
weakestwindowpanetest.Theloaf
rosewellduringbaking,thoughnot
asmuchastheonemadewithstrong
flour,andit mushroomeda bitatthe
top.Theinsidewassoft,butdenser
andlessspringythanthestrongflour
loaf. The crust was also a bit harder.A50/50mix(middle)
Predictably,thissharedfeaturesof
boththeotherloaves.Theinsideof
thebakedloafwasa littledenser
thanthestrongflourloaf,butit had
a bitmorespringthantheonemade
withplainflour.Theextragluten
wasevidentinslightlymorestretch
around the slashes in the top.123OUR
WINNER
STRONG
FLOUR