September 13, 2017 - 11:23am
winco bread flour vs non gmo
Hi there, ive been baking breasd for a coulpe of years in my home town in Australia, and now im in California im encountering some differences. I would normally use 60% flour weight for water, and here up to 75% flour weight. I started use bread flour from Winco, but now i want to change to a more healthy alternative. I went to a local flour mill and bought some bread flour, but it doesn't rise the same. The loaf tastes good, the holes a smaller the loaf denser, and about 7/8ths the size. I have added a photo of the 2 different outcomes.
I would love to know why, can you help me please?
Thanks Joel
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Without knowing the exact type of flour that you were purchasing from Winco, and what additives are in it, and then the same info for the new flour, it really isn't possible to say why the difference in the loaves.
The flour that you were used to in Australia likely would be a lower overall protein and less gluten than the American flours (different strains of wheat / different soils / different climate), which is why American and Canadian flours normally take more water than flour from anywhere else.
With the two different American flours, I would suspect that the Winco flour likely has some malted barley flour, and maybe some ascorbic acid, and possibly other "dough enhancers" added to get a really good rise and strong glluten structure. Organic flours, especially straight from the mill, most often won't have those. Good technique and timing will help, or you could try purchasing and adding some extra Vital Wheat Gluten, or some diastatic barley malt, or even some ascorbic acid to see if that makes your organic flour perform closer to what the Winco flour does.
Hopefully you can give us more info on the flours so that we can be more helpful!
oh, wow, thank you for all that info, that is amazing.
So here is the ingredient list for both flours.
Winco:Enriched bleached wheat flour (wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid).
Moores Mill: Wheat flour hard red wheat, malted barley flour niacin, iron, thiamine, riboflavin.
The recipe i use is: 500g flour, 365ml water, 7g dry yeast, 9g salt.
After speaking with the Mill, I was advised to increase the water content a little, but at 75% flour ratio I'm a bit hesitant.
What are your thoughts
Thank you
Joel
If you're making this in a machine, open the lid and watch during the mixing / kneading cycle. The dough ball should be smooth, stretchy and fairly soft towards the end of the cycle. If it is lumpy and looks a bit dry or hard, or if the machine paddle seems to be labouring, then you need to add more water for this flour, whatever the reason (higher protein or some result of the milling process). It also looks like you have other ingredients in the bread - is it enriched with any fats, dairy or sugar / sweetener? Those will also affect the rise and texture.
As IceDemeter says, you could also try adding just a teaspoon of lemon juice to see if that makes a difference.