April 13, 2020 - 10:33am
Central Milling equivalent of all purpose flour?
I've heard great things about central milling but I'm confused as to what is their all purpose flour equivalent. The one they refer to as "all purpose" (beehive) is actually just 10-10.5% protein which seems pretty low for an all purpose.
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I've been ordering the ABC (not the ABC+) and using it as a 1:1 replacement of my usual AP (Gold Medal.) I have found that it is quite a bit thirstier than the GM, so I have been upping my hydration as I make my way through this 50 lb sack.
Rich
@Rich: I just received my first (25 lb) sack of ABC from Central Milling. I'm excited to bake with it. I had been using Bob's Red Mill AP prior, but can no longer find any locally. I'm so relieved to have a big bag of flour!
When you say "thirstier" than the GM, can you give an example of by how much you're increasing hydration?
TIA!
Beth
Hi, Beth. On my first loaves with the ABC, I used 70% which is my standard, and the dough was considerably stiffer. I've settled on about 74/75% with this flour to get the same consistency in the dough as with my Gold Medal. Certainly, your usual Bob's Red Mill AP behaves differently than my Gold Medal, so you may need to experiment a bit. There may be no difference at all, or it may be more/less than the difference I noted with GM.
I would recommend you make a single loaf with your usual hydration, and adjust from there.
Good luck!
Rich
Thanks, Rich!
That's quite helpful. At least gives me something to consider with my initial attempt(s).
Happy baking!
Looking at the protein % alone, CM beehive (10-10.5%) is pretty similar to most brands AP flour, but lower than King Arthur All Purpose which is 11.7%.
CM's ABC+ (11.5%) is close to King Arthur's All Purpose (11.7%) on protein and might be closer to what you're looking for?