I decided to test out four different brands of bread flour. Comparing Bobs artisan, King Arthur, and Great Value bread Flours.
I also tested White Lily bread flour and is the only one I can't recommend. It could not handle a 75% hydration rate. Even with extra kneading up front and extra folds at each step it never developed sufficient gluten.
Each loaf is the exact same recipe baked for the exact same amount of time. It does seem like my oven was not as hot during King Arthurs bake which resulted in a blonder loaf.
Mixing them the Bobs flour felt the smoothest, Great Value was the only one with clumps of flour but after 3 turns it was hard to tell the different doughs apart. I do feel like the great value flour developed more gluten overall and resulted in the tallest loaf
Shaping the loaves they all fealt nearly identical.
Flavor wise the Bobs bread developed the most sour flavor in the bread while still retaining a nice wheat flavor throughout.
King Arthur was slightly Sweeter than Bobs bread with a mild sourness. It seems to have trapped the most gas and resulted in a larger loaf with a more open crumb.
Great Value was the least sour of the three with the flavor most similar to conventional white bread.
Cost at my local Walmart has bobs at $6.10, King Arthur at $5.60 and Great Value at $3.90
Overall I was extremely impressed with Great Value bread flour. All of the loaves ended up extremely similar to one another and frankly without paying attention it would be difficult for the average person to differentiate these loaves.
If you're trying to save some money try out Great Value brand flour!
by Frequent_Morning_900
17 Comments
I’d probably vote for Bobs cause of the wheat/sour flavor. Nice report!
you buy the big bag at restaurant store and it’s same price as great value.
also lmao, walmart in normal areas sells AP 5lb white flour at $2.5
If it’s not too much trouble, OP can you post the ingredient list for each of the flours? I’d imagine there’s likely different ingredients to enrich the flour (enzymes, acid, etc)
I’m in Canada so it’s quite different, but I’ve been using Walmart brand organic AP and whole wheat and it’s pretty good. Our AP flour is about equivalent with bread flour in most places, around 13-14% protein.
I do a mix of flour most times, AP/WW/rye and it’s pretty sour. I’m actually trying to get better at feeding my starter to make it a little less sour.
But for anyone in Canada who doesn’t know, you’ll do just fine with generic AP flour.
This is great science! Thank you!!
Would love your recipe if you’re willing to share.
Great write up, thank you! I may just have to try some Great Value bread flour now
I wish my local Walmart stocked great value bread flour. They only stock King Arthur bread flour so that’s been what I’ve used. Thanks for the experiment!
Whatever you say Walmart
GV beat King Arthur??? 😂
Try out makers mark bread and pizza flour if you have a chance. I switched from King Arthur and have had great results.
What a fun experiment! I’m curious about the controls you used—did you use a thermometer to ensure the same rate of fermentation? Were all of the breads made the same day, to account for humidity?
The KA looks the best to me, which is what I would have predicted.
Overall, my assessment of your experiment is that you are an excellent baker! I think they’re all more expensive at my local Walmart unfortunately.
Next do organic flours vs conventional!
I only use generic brand bc I am cheap lol. I’ve been fairly happy with it so far!
Love the experiment, thanks for putting the time and effort into it and sharing your findings!
Although I’m not “advanced enough” for the different flours to make a huge difference in my breads (I do sourdough/commercial yeast hybrids) so definitely have a lot more wiggle room for flour inconsistencies. It’s still really cool to see the comparisons!
We started with KA, then Gold Medal, then Great Value, now using the brand sold in 50 lb. bags by Costco. There is virtually no difference.
I dream about having the time to do these kinds of experiments! Thanks for your work OP 🫡