Raphael Ryan <raphaelr@ix.netcom.com> wrote on 02 Feb 1998:
>I've tried quite a number of additions to my bread dough throughout the
>years. It seems to me that additional gluten is a waste if you're buying
>'bread flour' because that is one of the ingredients the mill has
>already increased to make it a good 'bread flour.' If you buy whole
>wheat or fresh grind your flour, then it can really help.
Just a point of correction regarding "bread flour." Good mills do NOT
add extra gluten to make their bread flours. The gluten potential of a
flour is related to the natural protein content of the specific strain
of wheat berry the flour comes from. Bread flours are generally made
from hard red winter & spring wheats which are grown primarily west of
the Mississippi in the midwest and norther tier of states.This flour
will have a naturally occurring protein content of 12% or 13%. The
highest protein content flour is duram wheat which can be 14% or so, and
is what pasta is made from.
Soft red and white wheats require more rainfall and are generally grown
east of the Mississippi and are lower protein content, which can be as
low as 8% or so. This is what pastry and cake flours are made from.
"All-purpose" flours are generally blended from various flours to make a
flour which is in the 10% to 11% protein range. This percentage will
vary among brands of flour which each have their own "style" - for
example, White Lily flour is lower protein content than say Pillsbury's
all-purpose.
The protein content is important since the higher the percentage of
protein, the more water or liquid the flour can absorb, which translates
into a higher gluten =3Dpotential.=3D It is important to remember that
flour itself does not contain gluten, only proteins which, when mixed
with water or a liquid, are capable of forming hydrates which then
=3Donly=3D become gluten when properly kneaded. That is why a poorly
mixed & kneaded dough turns out a poor loaf of bread even when bread
flour is used. Similarly, that is why a cake or biscuits turn out tough
& chewy if they are overkneaded even when a soft flour is used.
- Mitch