The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

good uses for Beehive All Purpose ?

samf526's picture
samf526

good uses for Beehive All Purpose ?

Hi everyone,

I was wondering whether people had any opinions on whether CM's Organic Beehive AP (10.5%) would be as good for long, slow fermenting sourdoughs as it is for baguettes (for which some have said this flour performs great).  It is a great deal lower protein than KA AP (11.7%) and most other "bread flours" (which many books specify as flours between 11 - 12% +/- ).   I've also heard a lot about how the types and quality of the proteins in flours can be variable, so the protein percentage is not always a reliable guage of a flour.

Any observations on how it handles and how it rises would be great.


Thanks,
Steven 

linder's picture
linder

I don't have any first hand knowledge of the flour in question, but I did find this info --

In his book Bread Alone, Dan Leader recommends that flour with a lower protein count (10%-11%) be blended with high protein flour to make a lighter all purpose flour best for quick breads and pastry. 

Pastry flour is generally 9% protein in the US.    Typically, bread flour is between 11.5 and 12% protein. 

I personally would be somewhat loathe to use it in a long sourdough fermentation dough.  I think it might lack the gluten strength to produce a good rise.

Linda

mdvpc's picture
mdvpc

I use Beehive a lot.  The cm flour sold at Costco is the cm organic beehive.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

any problems with AP flours between 10 - 10.5% protein in any retarded bread up to 16 hours.  If retarding for 16-36 hours, I like to put some bread flour in the mix but only 50% or so.   Sometimes I put some soft white wheat in with AP to get the protein down to 10%.  I have found that bread flour just isn't required for most of the kinds of breads I bake but I put a lot of whole grains in most breads too so I'm not looking for huge rise and spring most of the time.   I heard on TFL that in Europe the protein is lower for AP than in America and they  use what they call strong flour for bread to compensate, but I don't have any first hand knowledge on that - but my apprentice would love to bake in a little French bakery in some small town just to find out :-)

punkchef77's picture
punkchef77

Keith Giusto baking supply is a 10min drive from my house. I love the Bee Hive AP and have used it for high hydration long ferment baguettes, neapolitan style pizza dough and pain au levian. Also if you get a chance check out CM Type 70 I have had nothing but great results with Type 70 and its a higher protien 12.5%, in fact I often mix the two .

Cheers

punkchef77's picture
punkchef77

If you can get the APF from Costco DO IT. As stated in a previous comment its the Bee Hive in a different bag and almost half the price vs buying from Keith Giustos.