The Bread Flour Trial!

Yesterday I decided to figure out which bread flour worked best for us. I bought 3 different brands of bread flour. Gold Medal "Better For Bread" flour, Pillsbury Best Bread Flour, and King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour. 1. Gold Medal flour - Best If Used By : March 1, 2014 I tried this one 1st. It seemed to work up as well as others, but I feel that it didn't rise quite as quickly as some of the others I have used. Perhaps due to the 5 degree temps outside? Rose for 1 1/2 hrs in the oven with the oven barely turned on. Upon baking this loaf out, it was left in the oven just a tad too long. The crust was a little darker than we liked and under the top crust of one of the loaves it had a large bubble area that extended over the top of the loaf. The other loaf didn't have the air bubble at the top. These were baked for 25 mins. but then additional baking time was added. (A bit too much time perhaps as the crust was a bit dark, but they didn't burn). (It was too comfy under the nice warm blankets in my bedroom away from the oven!)

2. Pillsbury Flour - Best if Used By : Dec. 5, 2013 This one was 2nd. The resulting dough seemed a little bit nicer texture?? It was quite soft in feel. (Perhaps this was due to the 'Dough Conditioner - Ascorbic Acid ?) Also the bread at 1 hr rising time seemed to be rising better than the Gold Medal flour did. Both were risen in the oven turned on very low. At 1 hour the bead had risen and could have been baked, however I left it in for the full 1 1/2 hr rising time. Within the 1 1/2 hr rising time it didn't rise any higher than the 1 hr time, but one of the loaves seemed to fall in, in one small place. I baked these two loaves out 350 degrees for 25 mins. These two loaves both had a large air bubble the whole length of the top crust.

3. Kink Arthur Flour - Best if Use By : Dec. 8, 2013 This was the 3rd bread flour that I tested. The dough didn't impress me as being as smooth as the Pillsbury Bread Flour ones, but perhaps we will escape the large air bubbles with this flour? The bread had risen enough to bake at the first hour of rising. I again left the bread to rise for the extra 1/2 hour to see if it would also develop a large air pocket just under the top crust. I liked the look of the risen bread. After the additional 30 min. rising time the bread continued to look normal. I baked the bread for the 25 mins. that I had the 2nd loaf. (Remember the 1st loaf looked like it needed additional baking time so I added additional time.)

I am guessing that my air bubble under the crust is from "over-proofing" the bread before baking it out. I will limit my rising time before baking to the 45 mins to 1 hour time. Hopefully this will rectify the situation. I thought that might just be the case, but I didn't want to give any advantage to any of the loaves of bread in the test.

After cutting the King Arthur Flour loaf and looking at the crumb and tasting the King Arthur bread, I decided to re-bake the Pillsbury and King Arthur flour breads for additional oven time of approximately 30 mins. for although the bread, when tapped on the bottom sounded hollow, I felt it might have benefited from additional oven time.. The texture of the crumb when using the Pillsbury and the King Arthur flours was way off for the "Amish Bread" recipe that I was using for all 3 breads. The texture I was going for seemed best when using the Gold Medal flour, which really surprised me! I was actually leaning towards the King Arthur Flour when I started this trial as I really like the King Arthur Flour company and all of their really great recipies! I do need to give points to the King Arthur bread as the one that didn't end up with a large air bubble hole at the top of the breads. Here are some of the pictures of my results. I DO intend to re-do my trail on a warmer day, (sorry neighbors! :0), and not proof the bread as much before baking it also to bake it a bit longer in the oven before removing it. Looking at the ingredients listing; All 3 had Malted Barley Flour, (Which is used to improve yeast, as it is a natural yeast food) Niacin (A B vitamin) Thiamin Mononitrate (Vitamin B1) Riboflavin (Vitamin B2) Folic Acid (A B Vitamin) Gold Medal adds Iron and Wheat Flour Pillsbury adds Iron, Wheat Flour AND Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C which is used as a Dough Conditioner) King Arthur adds "Reduced Iron" , (although both Gold Medal and Pillsbury both list their Nutrition facts as Iron 6% and King Arthur lists theirs as 8%), and "Unbleached Hard Spring Wheat Flour" The Nutrition Facts were the same in the following listings: Serving size 1/4 cup Calories 110 Calories from fat 0 Total Fat, Saturated Fat, Trans Fat, Cholesterol, Sodium (All 0 ) Total Carbohydrates were all 22g 7% Protein in all three was listed as 4g Vitamins A, C and Calcium were listed as 0% in all three flours. Differences: Dietary Fiber in Gold Medal and Pillsbury were both listed as 3% But was listed in King Arthur as 4 % Iron in Pillsbury and Gold Medal were listed as 6 % and King Arthur was listed as 8% Thiamin in Gold Medal and Pillsbury was listed as 10%. King Arthur's 15% Riboflavin 6% in Gold Medal and Pillsbury. 10% in King Arthur. Niacin 8% in Gold Medal and Pillsbury and 10% in King Arthur. Folic Acid was listed as 10% in both Gold Medal and Pillsbury, but was listed as 'Folate' on King Arthur Flour and 15%