how to make bread flour

Question

While you cannot truly "make" bread flour in the traditional sense of milling your own wheat, you can create a substitute for bread flour using all-purpose flour and vital wheat gluten. Bread flour has a higher protein content than all-purpose flour, which leads to better gluten development, and consequently, chewier and more elastic bread. Vital wheat gluten is the isolated form of this protein, allowing you to increase the protein content of all-purpose flour to mimic bread flour.

Answer 1

Here's what you'll need:

All-purpose flour

Vital wheat gluten

Measuring tools (cups, spoons, or scale)

Bowl

Whisk or sifter (optional)

Instructions:

Measure out your desired amount of all-purpose flour. A typical recipe might call for 1 cup of flour.

Remove a small amount of flour. For every 1 cup of all-purpose flour, remove 1 ½ teaspoons (or 4 grams).

Add the same amount of vital wheat gluten. In this case, add 1 ½ teaspoons (or 5 grams) of vital wheat gluten.

Whisk or sift the flour and vital wheat gluten together. This ensures they are evenly incorporated.

Tips:

You can adjust the amount of vital wheat gluten based on your desired protein content and the specific recipe you're following. Some sources recommend using 1 teaspoon of vital wheat gluten per cup of flour, while others suggest 1 to 3 tablespoons per recipe, depending on the baker's preference and budget.

This substitute may not be perfect and might not achieve the exact same results as real bread flour. However, it can be a helpful option if you don't have bread flour on hand and still want to bake bread.

Remember, this is just a substitute, and for the best results, using actual bread flour is recommended.