I usually just use AP flour but my MIL bought me 10lbs of bread flour & I can unfortunately confirm that bread flour does indeed make a better loaf. Waaay fluffier than I usually get with the same recipe.
Recipe:
100g starter
350g tepid water
12g salt
500g bread flour
Method:
– mixed starter & water until dissolved, then added salt & flour to make a shaggy dough
– did a mix of coil folds & stretch & folds every 30 min over the next 2 hours
– tucked her in to bulk ferment on the counter for about 9 hours (kitchen is approximately 64°F)
– shaped into a batard & let sit for about 15 minutes on the counter, then reshaped again, put her into the banneton & in the fridge to cold proof
– did 11ish hours of cold proof, then baked in a Dutch oven at 450°F for 20 minutes covered, then uncovered at 400°F for 40 minutes
by pittiesandpints
5 Comments
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Awesome! I have also been using AP since it’s all I had at the time and been getting pretty good loaves. But this makes me want to make the switch to bread flour now, well done!
I used bread flour for the first time in my loaf yesterday and it made a huge difference too!! Why is that? Just better nutritional value for the starter or what?
I don’t understand why bread flour is even necessary. The more I bake sourdough the more I read that AP flour in the US is already really high in protein, sometimes higher than my bread flour depending on the brand.
Trader Joe’s AP is supposedly 13%