Well, let me tell you, I been cookin’ for a long, long time. And I seen a lot about this here hotel and restaurant flour, and that there all-purpose flour. Lots of folks askin’ what’s the darn difference, anyhow?
This here hotel and restaurant flour, they call it H&R flour, too. It’s somethin’ special, I reckon. It’s like that flour them big fancy kitchens use. They make all sorts of things with it. Pancakes, them pizzas, batter for fryin’ things, biscuits, cookies, and quick breads. They say it makes things good and the same every time you bake somethin’. That’s a good thing, I suppose. Keeps them customers happy, I guess.
Now, that all-purpose flour, that’s what most of us got in our cupboards. It’s good for just about anythin’. You can use it for bread, cakes, cookies, whatever you’re makin’. It’s like a jack-of-all-trades, that flour. Ain’t too strong, ain’t too weak. It’s just right there in the middle.
They say it’s all about that gluten stuff. That’s what makes bread chewy and stuff. Hotel and restaurant flour, they say it got just the right amount of gluten. Not too much, not too little. All-purpose flour got a middlin’ amount of gluten, too. It’s not as much as bread flour, and not as little as cake flour.
- Bread flour, now that’s got a lot of that gluten. Makes your bread nice and chewy.
- Cake flour, that’s for them delicate cakes. Not much gluten in that one.
- All-purpose flour is good for most things.
So, can you use that hotel and restaurant flour instead of all-purpose flour? Well, I reckon you can. They say it’s pretty much the same thing, just maybe a little bit different. Might make your cookies a little bit different, or your bread a little bit chewier. But I don’t think it’ll ruin anythin’.
Some folks, they get all fancy with their flour. They got different kinds for everything. One for this, one for that. Me? I just stick with the all-purpose flour, mostly. It’s always done me right. But if you got that hotel and restaurant flour, don’t be afraid to use it. I heard it works just fine, especially for businesses.
Now, they talk about this bleached and unbleached flour. Don’t let that confuse ya. Unbleached flour, it’s just flour that ain’t been messed with. Bleached flour, they done somethin’ to it to make it whiter. But they both work pretty much the same. You can use unbleached instead of all-purpose if that is what you have in your kitchen.
They say there are different kinds of wheat, too. Some wheat got more protein than others. And that protein, that’s what makes the gluten. Hard wheat has more protein and is good for bread, and soft wheat has less protein and is good for cake.
There is also this pastry flour. This one has even less gluten than all-purpose. They say it is good for scones and muffins since you don’t want too much gluten in those. However, it might not be so good for cookies since cookies need some structure.
So, you see, it ain’t as complicated as them fancy chefs make it out to be. Just use what you got. If you got all-purpose flour, use that. If you got that hotel and restaurant flour, use that. It’ll all come out alright in the end.
The most important thing is to just get in that kitchen and bake somethin’. Don’t worry too much about what kind of flour you got. Just have fun with it. That’s what cookin’ is all about, ain’t it? Enjoyin’ yourself and makin’ somethin’ good to eat. And if it don’t turn out perfect, well, that’s okay, too. There’s always next time. Now, if you want to substitute all-purpose flour for bread flour, the answer is also yes.
Just remember, whether you are using all-purpose flour or hotel and restaurant flour, choosing the right one for your recipe is key to baking success. So don’t worry too much about it, just pick one, and start baking!
