My mother in law gave us her fancy bread machine and we have stopped buying store bread. Homemade bread wins every time – no bread bags, cheaper, fresher, and I know exactly what’s in it.
Bread Flour Recipe
Measure 1 cup all-purpose flour (4 1/2 ounces or 129 grams).
Remove 1 1/2 teaspoons (1/8 ounce or 4 grams).
Add 1 1/2 teaspoons vital wheat gluten (1/8 ounce or 5 grams).
Stir or sift to combine.
1 cup of bread flour =
125 grams all purpose flour
+ 5 grams vital wheat gluten
Bread Flour makes a difference!
I noticed that using regular flour made the bread loaves very crumbly and in my research, found that when people say “all purpose flour produces bread with a finer crumb”, I finally understand what they meant. The extra protein in bread flour makes the bread more chewy because the little protein molecules bind everything together better. I’m sure there is a more scientific explanation for this, but trust me on this one. This is why cakes typically use all purpose flour (think coffee cake, pound cake) while breads use bread flour (chewier, holds up better for a sandwich instead of falling apart with the slightest bend).
I had Vital Wheat Gluten from trying seitan recipes (ground seitan was tastier than sliced in my one attempt). It basically looks like a fine powder. Seitan is basically just the protein part of the flour only. And then I learned that bread flour is just All Purpose Flour but with more protein content… so put it together, and voila! Nice and tender, slightly chewy bread.
If you have a scale, use grams!
Using the scale takes the guesswork out of knowing whether you packed your flour too much or too little, and it saves you from having another cup to wash. Tare the scale with the mixing bowl on top and you are ready to measure flour and vital wheat gluten in grams.
