Flour is Not Just Flour

When I first began making bread, I used whatever flour was on hand, usually unbleached all-purpose and whole wheat in some combination. After a while, somebody told me about high-gluten and also bread flour, which gives bread an added spring and lightness. Armed with only this rudimentary knowledge, we opened Brother Juniper’s and began baking our own bread. One day a sales representative from General Mills dropped off a list of different types of flour the company produces and I was surprised and intimidated by the variety. There are about twelve types of high-gluten and bread flour, some made with hard spring wheat and some with hard winter wheat. Some are bleached and some unbleached. Some are bromated and some unbromated. (Potassium bromate is an oxidant that helps with oven spring but is considered potentially dangerous and has been removed from most brands as a result of complaints from customers.) Some flours are milled for bagels and some for dinner rolls. There are as many varieties of all-purpose flour and again as many of pastry and cake flours.