Breadmaking 101

Lesson 1: The Basics

A Flour Primer

If you’ve been down the baking aisle at your local supermarket lately, you’ve probably noticed the dizzying variety of flour available. Even just considering white flour, there are tons of choices – bleached, unbleached, enriched, flour for bread, flour for cake, self-rising flour, organic flour. If you shop at a natural foods store, you will find even more varieties, from blue corn meal to amaranth flour, as well as organic flours of every type.

Most traditional quick breads are made with white flour. Many people who know about such things suggest using unbleached all-purpose flour for quick bread, because it has less protein than bread flour and therefore will produce less gluten, the long strands of protein that make yeast breads so chewy.

Though I would rather use unbleached flour (because who needs to put another chemical in their bodies?) I bake almost exclusively with bleached bread flour that has three grams of protein per serving. I use it because it’s something like $5 for a 25-pound bag at the local wholesale club, and the way I go through flour, I need it to be cheap. But whatever kind of flour you have, as long as it’s not pastry or cake flour, should work for quick breads.

If I didn't buy the wholesale stuff, which most home bakers don't need to do, I would probably buy King Arthur Flour all the time. It's a New England brand that is becoming more widely available across the country. The quality is consistently great, it's relatively inexpensive and they offer a great variety of flours, including white whole wheat. There's only one store in my area that sells it, and they only carry two varieties. Occasionally I will order from them directly, but only when I need something really special.

Of course, many recipes also call for whole-wheat flour, which is great for added nutrients and fiber. The government recommends Americans eat three servings of whole-grain products daily, but most people get only one. Making your own bread is a great way to monitor the nutritional value and get extra fruits, vegetables and fiber into your diet. It is possible to substitute some, up to as much as half, whole-wheat flour for the white flour in a recipe. You will get a good idea about the variety of recipes and ingredients just by flipping through "The Best Quick Breads."

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