November 5, 2007 - 3:39pm
high gluten seems lumpy?
Hiya
I have been using a regular organic unbleached flour and decided to try using some high gluten flour. I did a 50/50 mixture of the 2 flours and kneaded and kneaded but it still seems very lumpy. Is this normal?
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Hi there--
High gluten flour absorbs much more liquid than bread flour, which in turn absorbs more than a-p. Adding more water will help (that's flour that's only part of the way hydrated that you're talking about), but usually, high-gluten flour isn't recommended unless you're making bagels or the like, or something along the lines of a dough high is rye. What is it you're making?
SOL
"What is it you're making?"
A mess apparently. :)
I was thinking of mixing it with barley flour since that has little to no gluten but wanted to see how the high gluten behaved in the typical loaf I usually make. Just in order to understand the properties of the flour better.
It was easier to work after the first rise but is still pretty stiff. Its in the oven now. I have been doing a lot of experimenting lately - with the mixed results you would expect - but my family is still devouring it all with enthusiasm so I keep at it.
I agree about the experimentation thing--I try to do as much as I can. My latest foible was a pumpkin brioche. I made it the standard size as a regular sandwich loaf and rose it the normal amount in a loaf pan. The sides caved in as soon as I turned it out, but that hasn't kept my two sons from devouring it. I guess I'll just have to try it again. :)
SOL
If I didn't have somebody to eat all of this stuff I don't think I would keep going. Every fledgling baker needs a supportive community.:P
The loaf looks gorgeous but took longer to bake than I expected. The sides caved in some - I had never seen that before. Do you know what causes that?
I also used the same 50/50 flour mix with milk and made sesame buns with it. My sons comment was that they tasted a bit like soft pretzels.
In the Bread Bible on pg. 243, Rose gives some pointers for making soft breads. One of them reads as follows " Soft breads need to be baked long enough so that the crust is strong enough to support the high rise and not cave in at the sides after baking".
Very often I take the loaves out of the pan and finish baking them for an extra few minutes directly on the oven rack just to make sure. If the loaf is very soft when it comes out of the pan and I think it can't support itself, then I place it on it's side in the oven to finish off.
Hope this helps a bit.
L_M