Many amateur golfers buy expensive equipment in the hope that it somehow will improve their result. We can laugh and make fun of them, but I think many amateurs, myself included, are the same, no matter what we are doing.
Home bakers tend to buy the more expensive bread flour instead of all purpose flour because we have heard that it has much better baking qualities.
And that’s right. Most of the time. But how much better is it.
Is it worth the extra cost you have to pay?
Here in Sweden, you have to pay almost twice as much for bread flour compared to all-purpose flour.
And we are not talking about anything special.
Below you can see a typical low price bread flour with a protein content of 11.5%.
If you want a stronger flour, It will cost you even more.
The next flour is probably the most well-known flour in Sweden.
It’s all-purpose flour with a protein content of 10%
Everybody uses it.
Well, almost.
It’s not very popular among sourdough bakers. There are probably some who use it, but most real sourdough aficionados would rather die than mix it into their dough. But they would probably sneeze at the bread flour as well.
This all-purpose flour has one advantage though.
It’s cheap.
But cheap flour can’t be any good, can it?
Well, that’s what I wanted to find out. But before I continue, There is one thing I want to clarify.
This is not a test between two different types of flour from Sweden. Since most of you who read this blog do not come from Sweden, it would be quite pointless.
I have read about professional bakers who claims that you can make great bread with ordinary all-purpose flour, and I wanted to give it a try.
So I decided to bake two loaves, one with the above all-purpose flour and one with the bread flour to have something to compare with.
Could it be that I have wasted a lot of money on expensive bread flour when I could have used cheap all-purpose flour instead?
Well, that’s what we are going to find out.
ABOUT FLOUR AND STARTER
As mentioned before, I have used one type of flour with a protein content of 10%, and one with 11.5%.
I have used the same sourdough starter for each bread, a wheat starter with 100% hydration. I took the starter directly from the refrigerator without feeding it before use.
PREPARING THE LEVAIN
I mixed two identical leavens with each type of flour and the wheat starter.
Each levain had a hydration of 100%
They were left to ferment for 7 hours in room temperature, about 73ºF / 23ºC.
MIXIN THE DOUGH
I followed the same procedure when mixing the dough, and made two identical with the same hydration. I settled for 70 % as I didn’t want the all-purpose flour to become too loose.
To my surprise, it felt a bit stiffer than the bread flour. I don’t think it would have caused any problems if I had increased the humidity 2 or 3 percentage points, but I decided to continue as planned.
BULK FERMENTATION
After the initial mixing, I let the dough autolyze for one hour before I added salt and levain. I let the dough rest for another 30 minutes before I performed another stretch and fold session.
In total, I performed four stretches and fold sessions, spaced out by 30 minutes.
The total time for bulk fermentation was 3 hours and 45 minutes.
I couldn’t see any difference in fermenting activity between the two doughs. Both expanded about 1/3 of its size during the bulk fermentation.
SHAPING
I dumped out the dough on a lightly floured surface and formed it into two rounds, and then I let it rest for 15 minutes.
After that, I shaped each round into a batard and placed them in a lined and floured banneton.
FINAL RISE
I decided to let the dough rise overnight in the refrigerator. The total time in the fridge was about 10 hours.
BAKING
Before I placed the loaves in the oven, I tried to compare the sizes. It was very hard to see any difference, but it felt like the loaf with bread flour was slightly bigger.
I baked both loaves at 480ºF / 250ºC for 40 minutes.
RESULTS
If you look at the picture below, you can see that I was right about the size.
The bread on the right is baked with bread flour, and it is noticeably larger in size. As a matter of fact, I think the oven spring could have been even better for the bread with bread flour if I had baked it earlier, as it felt to be on the brink of being over fermented.
The color of the crust was the same. A golden brown pleasing color.
The next picture shows the crumb of each loaf, and again the one baked on bread flour is on the right side.
The loaf with bread flour shows a nice open crumb.
The loaf with all-purpose flour has a more tight crumb with smaller gas pockets. However, it still felt light and airy, not dense at all. But I still prefer the crumb of the other loaf, as it’s more pleasing to the eye.
The taste of both these loaves was good. Nothing extraordinary, but both deliver what you can expect from those kinds of flours.
However, I have to say that I preferred the taste of the loaf with all-purpose flour. It tasted wheat and nothing else. This is how a bread baked with wheat flour is supposed to taste.
The bread flour also had a good taste, but there was a hint of a flavor that I didn’t appreciate. Nothing dramatic, but it was there in the background.
CONCLUSION
If I had to choose between these two types of flour I would probably choose the all-purpose flour. A nice and open crumb is important, but the taste is crucial.
You can always improve the crumb with different techniques.
Does this mean that I have wasted my money on expensive bread flour?
No, of course not.
A bread flour from another brand would probably give another result.
A package from another batch of the bread flour I tested could also give another result. You never know what kind of off-flavors flour can pick up from the surroundings if it’s not stored in a proper way.
Besides, this was not a test between two types of flour. It was a test to see how well an inexpensive flour could perform.
And this flour performed well enough for me to want to use it more in the future. It reminded me to be open-minded when it comes to dynamic and living things like flour.
16 Comments
Glad to see this! A decent all purpose flour is my daily “go-to” flour. It’s less expensive and makes fine bread. I do get a more expensive, “premium” bread flour on occasion, but taste-wise the All Purpose, as you found, seems to win overall… Even in recipes that specify Bread flour, I use the All Purpose with good results.
Yeah, I will also use all-purpose flour more in the future. Another benefit is the absence of that sometimes unpleasant gummy taste that you can get with some bread flour. Especially those with very high protein content.
this is fascinating! Is there any difference in the lists of additives with each kind of flour?
It’s also really interesting to learn that Swedish all-purpose flour has a protein content of 10%. The all-purpose flour we get in Canada is around 11%. And bread flour is around 13% (or at least that’s what is was when we were still easily able to find unbleached bread flour. Now, if I want to use bread flour – say for making bagels – I use the unbleached all-purpose we buy and add a small amount of vital wheat gluten).
Not long ago, I read the following:
“[P]rotein quality is more important than protein quantity. A grain that has been properly grown, harvested, and milled may yield a 10.5 percent protein flour that’s better for bread baking than one with 11.5 percent protein that came from grain harvested too late in the season or improperly milled.” – Richard Miscovich, From the Wood-Fired Oven, p116
This is not to imply that the Manitoba flour has been improperly milled. But, one never knows, does one.
Great experiment!
No, there is no difference regarding additives. That’s why I choose these two types of flour. They contain wheat flour and a small amount of ascorbic acid.
In general, I think the flour you have in Canada and the US is stronger than what we are used to here in Europe. You can find all-purpose flour here in Sweden that is even weaker.
I think you are right about the quality of the protein. Take spelt for example. It can contain a very high amount of protein, but the baking qualities are not the best.
But the taste is outstanding, so I can live with it.
Very interesting indeed! I’m relieved to hear that I’m not the only one who has had difficulties working with spelt. I confess that in my experiments with it, the taste wasn’t overwhelmingly better than bread made with wheat flour. And spelt is considerably more expensive (or at least it is here where I live in Canada).
I have had the same experience about spelt flour. Sometimes there is no difference in taste, but sometimes the difference is remarkable. Most of the times a spelt flour of higher quality (more expensive, like so man things) tends to have more taste, but not always. My advice is to try many different brands.
Nice article I enjoyed reading it
thank you
I’m glad you liked it, Steve.
For many years I have almost exclusively used strong bread flour in baking sourdough bread, but reading this comparison test decided to try AP flour of 10%. AP flour is used widely in Japan, where I reside although I am Dutch, e.g. in making noodles, but is also used in baking things like cake. Thank you, Tomas, for this interesting article!
Glad you liked it, Jen.
I still use a lot of strong flour, but I have revalued the AP flour. It’s not as hopeless as you may think when reading recipes on internet.
Currently baking with King Arthur all-purpose (11.7 which seems great, and pretty high protein for all-purpose). You mentioned, “You can always improve the crumb with different techniques.” I am interested in this. The flavor of my sourdough is wonderful and the crumb has some holes but not as open as yours. Any suggestions?
Hi Sarah,
If you want a more open crumb, I think you should focus on the fermentation. Is your starter strong enough? If you refresh it with a ratio of 1:2:2, it should at least double in size in 5-6 hours. If it triples in size or more it’s even better.
Give the dough enough time to ferment/proof. At the end of the bulk fermentation, the dough should have increased at least 50% in volume. It should also have a slightly domed surface, perhaps with some gas bubbles on top.
For the final rise, I recommend the finger poke test. It’s not 100% reliable, but it’s the best that I know of. Just google finger poke test if you are not familiar with it. There are lots of videos showing how to do it.
Check the temperature during bulk fermentation and final rise. The best temperature for yeast microbes is about 80°F/27°C. That will give you a quite mild tasting bread, but you can always retard it in the refrigerator if you want it sourer.
Finally, you can add more water. However, that will not work very well if you don’t have the fermentation in order.
GREAT suggestions and I did an extra feed yesterday for Miss Piggy, my starter, and I finally got the kind of rise from her that you suggested is needed. It’s always seemed to me she was a bit recalcitrant. Added a dribble of agave nectar and some rye. She liked it. Will now do a regular feeding and see about the finished product. Thanks again for answering. Big help.
Great to hear Sarah. I think proper fermentation is the most important key to success. There is lots of talk about hydration and how to handle the dough. All these things are of course important. But the truth is, they don’t contribute much if the fermentation is not in order.
And remember that Miss Piggy is not unique. All starters can be obstinate creatures. You don’t want to know what I’ve called my starter sometimes.
Thanks to you Sarah and also Tomas Anderson. I am going back to KA AP for a number of reasons the main couple being taste and only needing one flour. I have others I grind but for a white I will stick to KA Ap as it is easily obtained here in the US. Taste is everything to me and how it looks or the size of the holes is totally of no interest to me. I need the butter and the jam to stay on the bread, not fall through onto my hands. I gave some away and one lady was from France and she never knew the difference. She loves my bread and baking so it is great to just bake something for fun and give it to someone who loves it. Great article and thanks for sharing.
I’m glad you liked it, Jon.
And I agree with you. The obsession with open crumb can be somewhat tiresome sometimes. It’s nice to look at, but the taste is the most important factor when it comes to bread baking.