I've been turned on to vital wheat gluten. A tablespoon of this stuff in two cups of flour converts that flour into a high-gluten flour. High gluten flour is practically double the price of all-purpose flour, and vital wheat gluten makes the latter into the former. The stuff is pretty cheap. Maybe ten bucks a pound. The high gluten flour makes for loaves with vastly improved crumb, and more sliceable without fragmentation. So when I make my bread batter these days, I stir in the vital wheat gluten, and then add flour to finish the dough.
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First - that isn't cheap - at least to my mind. If the additive is needed - I would look at the process. I should note - it won't hurt - but it is a sign of something else. Enjoy!
Takes a tablespoon of vital wheat gluten for two cups of flour. Know how many tablespoons of vital wheat gluten are in a pound? About sixty. Yes, compared with high gluten flour it's REAL cheap. Your mind might need some recalibration. I use two tablespoons of the stuff for my weekly baking of two large (2+ lb) sandwich loaves. Maybe 4 lbs of flour. That makes Probably two dollars extra for flour if I were to use high gluten flour. So we're talking sixteen cents worth of vital wheat gluten to convert two dollars worth of AP flour into high gluten flour that would be twice the price.
Like you I'm a fan. Think in small quantities it works for me.
However, where I live bread flour typically has 11.5% protein or so. So, for me a small amount of VWG (1% for me) gives reliable loft to loaves and I like the crumb. I do find with too much the texture gets a bit too chewy/rubbery and I prefer a softer bread.
I'm not so sure if I enjoy the taste of bread made with some of the cheaper flours. For me that wonderful wheat aroma is a bit deadened, and it is even worse if the flour was bleached. It all depends on the brand of flour. So, even though I know adding VWG to those loaves would improve the texture and other things I don't want to make loaves that I don't enjoy eating.
That's interesting. Taste-wise, I consider white flour to be a non-issue. Never noticed any difference in taste in ANY white flour. I never use bleached flour.
Yes, my supermarket has their own "bread flour" brand, and that's 11.5%. Call that poor-man's bread flour. As opposed to poor-man's flour, which is just AP. Bumping that up a bit with vital wheat gluten makes a big difference in the degree you can make modest slices that hold together. True that if you use too much, it basically turns saimen-like.