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today's cheap flour is better quality than has ever been >
Better how? Better to bake with, or longer shelf life? Plenty of ways to define better
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I've been using good 500 'bread' flour in the UK, but my local super market in Munich only offers 450 - but it costs about 40p and I'm being tight. The difference seems to be minimal. A bread website (yes, WTF? But I've been bored) I spotted yesterday said that today's cheap flour is better quality than has ever been available to bakers throughout the ages, so I figured that, as baking bread is about as traditional as you can get, I'll continue with the cheap stuff for now.
The protein content of wheat has decreased over time - wheats have been selectively bred for how easy / cheap they are to grow, as opposed to being bred for their gluten content.
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kboy
NotThamesWater
@Alkali
I've been using good 500 'bread' flour in the UK, but my local super market in Munich only offers 450 - but it costs about 40p and I'm being tight. The difference seems to be minimal. A bread website (yes, WTF? But I've been bored) I spotted yesterday said that today's cheap flour is better quality than has ever been available to bakers throughout the ages, so I figured that, as baking bread is about as traditional as you can get, I'll continue with the cheap stuff for now.
I'm aware that my recipe above is the same as found all over the internet and on the back of Allinsons yeast packets, but it's working well for me.
I've added something about oiling the bowl for the second prove too, makes it easy to get the dough from the bowl with minimal air loss / dough sinkage. I invented that.