What kind of flour for baking bread?

 

 There are many kinds of flour in many markets. That is why I was failed at the first time when I tried to bake bread. I did not know which kind of flour I should buy, so my bread was tough like a rock. Lol. After I tried to find and read books in the library, some websites on the internet, I realized that I totally used wrong flour. I should have used the bread flour instead of all-purpose flour, oh yes all-purpose flour is all-purpose using, so we can use it for all purposes, right? Lol wrong again. That is why you should know what it is before you want to use it. Here is some research that I found on the internet.

According to http://whatscookingamerica.net/Bread/FlourTypes.htm, 

"Bread Flour is white flour made from hard, high-protein wheat. It has more gluten strength and protein content than all-purpose flour. ...Bread flour has 12% to 14% protein (gluten). This is the best choice for yeast products."

"All-Purpose Flour is a blend of hard and soft wheat; it may be bleached or unbleached. It is usually translated as "plain flour." All-Purpose Flour has 8% to 11% protein (gluten)...Bleached flour has less protein than unbleached. ..."

"Cake Flour is a fine-textured, soft-wheat flour with a high starch content. It has the lowest protein content of any wheat flour, 8% to 10% protein (gluten). ...When you're making baked goods with a high ratio of sugar to flour, this flour will be better able to hold its rise and will be less liable to collapse...."

"Whole-Wheat Flour (Low Gluten) - Also called graham flour. It is made from the whole kernel of wheat and is higher in dietary fiber and overall nutrient content than white flours. It does not have as high a gluten level, so often it's mixed with all-purpose or bread flour when making yeast bread. ..."

"Corn Flour (Gluten Free) - It is a powdery flour made of finely-ground cornmeal and is milled from the whole kernel. Corn flour comes in yellow and white and is used for breading and in combination with other flours in baked goods. White corn flour is used as a filler, binder, and thickener in cookie, pastry and meat industries."

Don't ask me why I like to use King Arthur Flour, hehehe. As you see the information above, the bread flour has the highest protein. The higher protein flour has, the soft, fluffy, moist bread you have. I use bread flour to make my bread. However, you might use another flour instead of bread flour in some bread recipes, I will let you know when it is.

Due to my poor English, I could not explain everything, which I know about baking bread. I just give you the basic, and hope to help you, a newbie, knows something before baking bread.

LL