Lidl white bread flour

[jenny_haddow]

I often use Lidl's or Tesco's white bread flour to make bread for my dad (he wont eat wholemeal). It always turn out a good loaf, and tastier than the stuff that masquerades as bread on the supermarket shelves. For home consumption I grind my own flour, using organic wheat. The flavour is fabulous, and you can smell it as it's grinding. My last lot of wheat was a 20kg bag from Brow Farm which is superb. However, when I went to grind another batch recently I was dismayed to find it had gone mouldy, despite it being stored in a sealed bucket. When I contacted Brow Farm they immediately sent me another 20kg and thanked me for alerting them to the possibility of their own stocks doing the same. Good service eh?

Jen

[wheels]

Watch out for those moulds Jenny - they're not at all nice:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergot

Phil

[jenny_haddow]

Thanks wheels. I've never had it happen before and binned it as soon as I saw it. One thing this forum has taught me is to be careful with mould. I suppose being organic, ie no pesticides and fungicides, may have contributed to it.

Cheers

Jen

[saucisson]

It's the bread flour Phil

We went to LIDL yesterday and I forgot to buy any flour...

I despair...

[lemonD]

It's the bread flour Phil

We went to LIDL yesterday and I forgot to buy any flour...

I despair...

Dave, you need to write a list and remember to take it with you, now what were we talking about

[covlocks]

We went to LIDL yesterday and I forgot to buy any flour...

In my opinion you did yourself a favour. Ask yourself why lidl, aldi and the tesco value flours are so cheap? I wouldn't like to check out the actual wheat content - but it certainly is nowhere near 100%.

Its a bit like chicken nuggets and turkey twizlers - the nearest they got to a chicken or turkey was the name, the rest is pre-chewed crap that I wouldn't feed to a stray fox.

[lemonD]

It's the bread flour Phil

We went to LIDL yesterday and I forgot to buy any flour...

I despair...

Dave,
Was in Lidl's tonight they still have their Bread flour on offer, don't forget, tie a knot in your hanky

[Oddley]

wheels, is your dad back from the lake district if so, can you nick that wholemeal bread recipe from him.

[wheels]

Err, umble pie time I'm afraid! Dad sent the recipe over and it's only 1/4 granary flour. Funny, that's not as I remember it. Anyway, for what it's worth, here it is:

It uses the cup that comes with the machine, I assume that they all come with a similar thing?

1 cup Hovis Granary flour
3 cups White bread flour (he uses ASDA or LIDL)
1 sachet yeast
1 level teasp salt
1 level teasp sugar
1.66 cups water
Sunflower and pumpkin seeds

Put water sugar and salt in first
Add flour, seeds and yeast

Make dough, then bake normally in the oven (not machine) 25 - 30 minutes.

Sorry, I don't think that it serves your purpose.

Have you tried just using your normal white loaf recipe but increasing the hydration? Wholemeal flour can stand the extra liquid. My post here may give some idea of what I mean:

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/weblog ... =my_weblog

I've also done a similar recipe as a seeded loaf, nothing special but I'm sure it could be improved, I've not had time to tinker with it:





I hope this helps.

Phil

[Oddley]

Thanks wheels for posting the recipe, but as I explained they have said I've got to eat wholemeal. I'm doing a handmade 70:30 wholemeal to white bread flour at the minute.

The reason for the white bread flour is there is not enough gluten in the wholemeal four, and it comes out a bit crumbly, with the white bread flour the texture is defiantly improved.

For all you diabetics, the white bread spikes my glucose level way beyond it's normal level.

[johnfb]

Hi Phil

lovely bread that!

Could you post the recipe in grams and litres please?

thanks

John

[wheels]

Oddley,

Sorry. I put you on a horse and then didn't let you ride it.

The bread rolls on the link I posted were 100% wholemeal - and were good. You could try them as a loaf, but I'd suggest using a tin.

I know it goes against the grain (no pun intended), but maybe try taking your basic white recipe: swap the flour, up the hydration to pushing 70%, and add oil, butter or other fat, to keep the crumb moist.

Mind you, is fat a problem with the diabetes?

Phil

[Oddley]

Thanks for the advice. The bread already has about 25g veg oil in it. I always use 55% hydration for white bread and 60% for wholemeal. I just can't get on with high hydration dough's, it drives me up the wall chasing them around the kneading board.

The hand made wholemeal loaf I make suits me, and my lot seem to like it, but I would have suffered a slight drop in taste, for the convenience of using the bread machine. Oh well. :roll:

[wheels]

...it drives me up the wall chasing them around the kneading board.

I know that stage well!