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Hello & sorry if this has been asked before.
I have been watching Jim Layey's video on No knead bread,in which he uses "all purpose flour".
My question is - is American "all purpose flour" the same as "ordinary" flour in the UK?
I seem to recall that American flour is different from English flour in someway (protein?) & wanted to check before I have a go.
Many thanks

Hi

Typical USA all purpose flours are 10-12% protein.

Their King Arthur all purpose flour is 11.7%.

Allinson plain flour in uk is 10.3%.

For most bread recipes we would use a Strong bread Flour, having said that some types of bread such as french use a softer flour which allows larger holes to form in proving.

If you can explain type or name of bread it would be possible to advise you further.

Regards Gazza.

Many thanks Kimgarry
So it is the protein thats different?
The flour I have been using is 12.1% ,so I will have a go with that, as it's very close to the American figure of 10-12% you quote.

The bread in question is the "No knead bread" made famous by Jim Lahey.
I saw the video on You tube & thought I'd like to give it a try.
Despite trying various methods to get a good crust,such as steam & baking stones,my bread never has a good crunchy crust.
I'm hoping that the dutch oven method used in the video will make the difference,as the bread shown looks ideal.
Thanks again.

Hi again,

For that bread I would use a Strong bread flour, somewhere aroung 13%, that said your flour should be ok.

When I tried a similar method, at my second attempt I put the dough into the lightly greased cold dutch oven to prove, I then preheated the oven and put the dutch oven in, to my mind this worked better and was easier to move the dough, the unexpected bonus was that I got a better oven spring on the bread, I would check the bread 10 mins before you expect it to be ready.
Regards Gazza.

Hi,
I have made lots of this no-knead bread in a cast iron pot and used a variety of flours. Some just cheap plain flour and others more expensive and mixtures of wholemeal, rye, nuts and seeds included and only 1/4 tsp yeast.
They all came out the same way, just make sure that your mixture is a little bit on the wet side and leave it up to 24 hours to ferment, depending on the temperature of course.
You can't go wrong.
Good Luck.
Jan.
Brisbane.

Sorry for the late reply,for some reason I didn't get an e-mail notification & didn't know there were any more posts.
For info,the bread was a little disappointing-being a bit "heavy"
I've since found out that the You tube video I watched omitted a second rising & being a novice it didn't seem strange to me.

I recently bought a cast iron "dutch oven" & have made a couple of loaves of French bread that I have been really pleased with.
I let the Dutch oven get really hot before putting the dough in,baked at 200C for 30mins with the lid on & then removed the lid for 15mins.
Still can't get a good crust though-I suspect my oven's max temp of 200C just isn't hot enough?

Thanks again for the help.

When you remove the lidm give the bread a short spray with plain water and cook the usual 15-20 minutes with lids off.
Good Luck,
Regards,
Jan.
Brisbane.

200C is a little on the cool side for good crust formation. 240C for the first 15 mins is better, then 220C. Even hotter for the notoriously difficult baguettes.

Thanks for the replys.
I'll give the water spray a try next time.
It's just occured to me that I may be able to get a better crust by moving the loaf up to the top of the oven & putting the grill on for a few minutes.
The grill has a max temp of 250C -----better keep my eye on it!!