Hi all.
I was using plain flour for some of my bread baking but added extra gluten.
By accident I used the same amount of extra gluten when using strong bread flour, and my rolls came out very nice. Softer. So, I've continued doing so.
The recipe is a basic bread recipe with 1/2 wholemeal and 1/2 white flour.
How much gluten in bread is too much
It’s not “gluten”. It’s the protein level in the flour. Plain flour in the UK is the equivalent of pastry flour in the rest of the world. The domestic wheat in the UK is naturally very low in protein, only about 9% protein.
Domestic wheat in the UK is not suitable for bread. The wheat cultivated for bread is imported from other countries, mainly Canada and Australia.
Good bread requires flour with at least 11.5% protein. Most ”bread“ or strong flours are 13%.
Now French flour is the exception because of the way it is milled; it can have a lower protein content, but the flour performs like a higher protein flour.
Most mills separate the kernel, then mill the bran, endosperm, and germ separately. The endosperm is also milled so the center and outer portions are separated, with the center of the endosperm being the premium flour. From these separate millings, called streams, they blend all the different flours: wholemeal, plain (all purpose), pastry, cake.
But the French do not separate the wheat kernel. They mill the whole kernel; they sieve the flour to the extraction levels desired. So the flour is embedded with more nutrients and protein from the bran and germ. It will also produce more color and flavor. And so it performs differently than flour that were milled by separating the kernel.
