My attempts at sourdough baking so far were made using bread flour with 12% protein. In your experience is AP flour (11.7% protein) also used for sourdough bread?
I ask this question because I don’t see AP flour being mentioned much where sourdough baking is concerned.
Hi Miller:
I don't use AP flour since I found out what is in it commercially! I know others sometimes use half AP to strong flour(Bakers Flour) . I use stone ground wheat flour for my starter when I plan to make sourdough bread. I also use 80/20 mix for my sourdough. That's 80% strong flour and 20% stoned ground wheat flour. This mix has never let me down yet!
I did make an AP loaf once but found the crumb to be tight and much smaller bubbles (gas pockets) not to mention the flavor was quite bland.
Maybe try to bake a loaf with some stone ground wheat mix and see If you notice a difference in crumb and flavor?
Everyone learns by trial and error, you'll find what you prefer and make it your own! Experiment a bit and see what you like and dislike about it. Keep a log book on your changes to your recipe and note what you liked or didn't like about it! it will help you a lot!
Have a great evening!
Cindy
I'll most certainly experiment with different mixes of flour. Unfortunately I don't have an easy source of stone ground flour, just whatever I can find in the local supermarket. What I find is that using only bread flour with 12% protein makes the bread too chewy.
When I first started out making sourdough I used AP flour, then I started to experiment! You can add a small percentage of whole wheat flour say 18-20% with the AP ! It will give the bread more flavour! If you have a Costco where you live they also sell large bags of strong flour (baker’s flour) there that has a higher protein level than AP!
it honestly is experimenting! I also sometimes add a small amount of spelt flour! They should have these flours in your local supermarket, maybe look at the natural foods aisle or vegan area?
Have a great day!
Cindy!
Generally speaking, yes you can use either AP or bread flour for sourdough baking. The French have been using low-protein flours for who knows how long in their sourdough (levain) breads.
With AP flour, you will probably need a lower hydration. If your starter is particularly acidic, shorter fermentation times may also be needed. However, if the protein difference is only between 11.7 and 12 percent, you might not notice any difference.
Paul
Dough hydration is one difficult area for me. I'm improving handling this issue, but it's useful to bear in mind that with AP flour I'll probably need a lower hydration. It will be interesting to see if there will indeed be any difference between 11.7 and 12 percent protein in flour.
I thought this experiment answered my questions. There really is not much of a difference between AP and Bread flour. The water absorption is a bit higher for bread flour due to the higher protein. There might be a big difference when comparing other 10% protein cheap flour in comparison to KA's AP flour. I always use KA AP flour when going for that sour baguette and have also not found much difference in using the KA bread flour. I think its just marketing. French sour dough baguettes have classically been made with AP flour. Add some rye and wheat to it to increase flavor for a country blonde style. See link below:
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2016/07/21/substitute-bread-flour-all-purpose-flour