High-Gluten Spring Wheat flour is what I use for all my sourdoughs, Shannon, and using it tends to make a stretchier, chewier loaf, which is what I want. H-G flour is a step higher in protein than bread flour. Don't know if you are making sourdough, but if so, here's a simple recipe:
50g starter
210g water
300g High-Gluten Flour
6g salt
Here's an example of another loaf using the same basic recipe as the ones below. In this case, I used all white flour and added barely sprouted wheat berries which I ran through a mini food processor. Turns out it won't be a favorite of mine, but that's okay. I tried it. (My fav, so far, is white flour with 25g rye or whole wheat and 2-3 Tablespoons of dry steel-cut oats thrown into the mix.)
75g firm starter
210g water
25g ww or rye flour
275g high-gluten flour (if using bread flour or AP, adjust the water)
1/2 ounce dried onions (soaked in hot water for a couple of hours, then drained; use the water drained from the onions as part of the water in the dough)
3 tbsp poppy seeds
6g salt
I recently took a step back to 2006, and resurrected a starter I dried and tucked away in the pantry.
The starter I had been using put its feet up in the air and died. Every bit of flour I put in it was consumed almost immediately and it turned to glop. Doggedly, I kept feeding and using the starter, hoping for the miracle of a beautiful loaf again. Each time I was disgusted and embarrassed at what came out of the oven: bread that was almost flat, and totally lifeless.
Here's my first loaf using Bay State Milling's Bouncer. (Premium high gluten flour made from the finest high-protein spring wheat.) Smiling nicely, isn't it?
Dough made with this flour felt softer than with the GM All Trumps I've been using, and less stretchy. I was worried that my usual 70% hydration would be too high, but I don't think it was. The crust seemed a bit thicker and, boy, did it sing when it came out of the oven!
There was no real reason to switch from All Trumps to Bouncer; I just wanted to try out different flours.
Today I baked the sourdough bread I've been looking for ever since starting this odyssey. It has a crispy crust and a stretchy, holey crumb. And it's easy. As I told a couple of friends earlier, "...it's reproducible, if the weather stays exactly how it is today."
I'm not suggesting that this could be anyone else's ultimate sourdough, but it sure is mine, at least for right now. Thanks to all who have helped me over the past year or so, even unwittingly. It continues to be great fun. The recipe is below.
Thanks, Norm, for this recipe. Boy, are these good! This is the first recipe in a long time that tempted me to stray from straight sourdough!
I think I should have used convection for the last half of baking. And I should probably smush them down more and give them a bit more room on the sides next time.
You can see that I started out with 15 two-ounce rolls and now have only eight left, and they just came out of the oven! Mmmmmmm.
Susan from San Diego
One-day, 100g starter
Sponge-based, 50g starter