Okay, so I’ve been on this huge bread-making kick lately. Seriously, my kitchen looks like a flour bomb went off most days. But I’m learning a TON. And one of the biggest things I’ve been wrestling with is flour – specifically, high-gluten flour. I kept seeing it in recipes, and my regular all-purpose just wasn’t cutting it for some of the things I wanted to make.
So, I started by just grabbing the first bag of “high-gluten” flour I saw at the store. Big mistake. My bread came out… well, let’s just say it was dense. Like, use-it-as-a-doorstop dense.
My Flour Journey
Then I decided to do some actual research (imagine that!). I went down a rabbit hole of online articles and baking forums. It turns out, not all high-gluten flours are created equal!
- Some are better for bagels.
- Some are better for pizza crusts.
- Some are apparently best for things I’ve never even heard of!
So, I picked up a few different brands. I grabbed one that was specifically labeled for pizza, and another that was recommended for artisan breads. I also found a smaller bag of a really fancy-sounding one, just to see if it made a difference.
Then the real fun began: testing! I made a basic loaf with each flour, using the exact same recipe and method. I wanted to see how they behaved differently.
It was pretty wild! The pizza flour? It made a seriously chewy crust, just like I wanted. The artisan bread flour? It gave me this amazing, airy crumb. And the fancy stuff? Honestly, it was good, but I’m not sure it was worth the extra cost for my everyday baking.
So, I feel like I finally cracked the code, at least a little bit. I still have tons to learn, but I’m definitely getting better at picking the right high-gluten flour for the job. And my bread? It’s getting seriously delicious.
