I normally use either Italian 00 flour or Hogdsen's Mill AP flour (either of which has about 9.8-10% protein per the mill specs) to make my Rosetta Rolls. I prepare a biga at 50% hydration with 90% of the flour and pre-ferment 12-16 hours. I add diastatic malt powder, water (52-55% final hydration), salt, and the rest of the flour for the final mix.

Not having enough of either of these two flours on hand, but having some White Lily AP (8% protein per the mill specs) and some fresh vital wheat gluten, I decided to try and boost the gluten content of the White Lily to arrrive at a protein level of 10%. The vital wheat gluten had a 67% protein level, so I calculated that I would need 28 g to bring my White Lily flour (850 g) up to about a 10% protein level.

In final mixing, I could not get a good windowpane no matter how much I mixed. The dough would tear with the least bit of stretching. The baking results were not great either. I got a decent rise, but not anything like I get with a straight dough.

I have used the White Lily before by mixing it with bread flour to strengthen it, with good results, but just adding the vital wheat gluten seems not to work. I replicated the test today, just to be sure, with the same poor performance.

What's happening here?

I was going to make some Italian bread loaves this A.M. using KA AP flour but my wife had used most of it for pies (go figure).  I used AP for the preferment yesterday, and I have KA Bread Flour on hand, but I've learned I like the softer crumb I get with the AP flour so I chose to use (In what I thought was a flash of brilliance) some White Lily light all purpose flour (essentially cake flour...I think it's about 8% protein).  I probably had about 1/3 KA AP and 2/3 cake flour.  First thing I noticed was how brilliantly white it was (forgot it was bleached), then after mixing for a reasonable time I realized how weak the dough was as it failed the windowpane test badly and wasn't as smooth as I'm used to.  Now I tried to decide what was the best fix, add bread flour (I didn't want to make it much stiffer and I was trying to avoid increasing all ingredients proportionately), or vital wheat gluten which I had on hand.  I decided to add wheat gluten, about 1 Tablespoon from the freezer, but it didn't seem to make much difference right away (I don't know if it should work immediately, or needed an autolyse, or much more mixing or what), so I then added about 2-3 Tablespoons of bread flour and continued mixing.  This time the dough looks like it should, and windowpanes much better.  It's fermenting now.  I'll let you know later how it turns out.  I'm just wondering what you guys would have done.  Thanks for the feedback.

Okay, so today I was rumaging about my pantry in a quest to find my rye flour, which I don't use very often (blah blah blah... get to the point) and I was shocked by the different types of wheat flours I have. Would it be possible to just purchase AP flour and mix it with Vital Wheat Gluten in order to create various gluten levels? 

Hi --

After using some vital wheat gluten at culinary school recently, I picked up a bag of it at the store today.

I made the 100 percent whole-wheat loaves on the back of the package and they turned out great.

Just wondering if this is a product you all use in your breads and, if so, how you put it to good use.

You can see the recipes and photos of the Honey-Oatmeal Bread at Flour Girl.

Happy baking!

Heather

Is anyone interested in sharing their expertise about various so-called dough enhancers? I found that lists and discusses them:

http://www.baking911.com/bread/101_ingredients_doughenhancers.htm

--Pamela

I've been making some good Rye and Buckwheat Breads with my Bread Machine.  I need to use at least 60% All Purpose Flour, othewise the Bread does not rise and form well.  I want to make the breads with less percentages of All Purpose Flour.  Is it possible to use Vital Wheat Gluten to accomplish what I want, or will Vital Wheat Gluten only help form and rise Wheat grains?

If it is possible, pls reply with some formulas.

If not, what else can I use to make good breads with less percentages of all Purpose Flour.

Thanks

Hello,

With the help of folks on this forum, I've been perfecting a South-Beach-friendly whole-wheat bread recipe (ie., using no sugar or white flour). The ingredients and procedure I'm using now can be found at:

     http://bmbmisc.home.comcast.net/bread_2.html

The resulting loaves are tasty and have a nice, although heavy, texture.

I've read elsewhere that a couple of TABLEspoons of vital wheat gluten are recommended per cup of whole wheat flour. As the link above shows, the recipe I'm using calls for much less.

If I want a somewhat lighter loaf with more of a rise to it, would it make sense to experiment with more wheat gluten? What do you think?

Thanks,
Bill

Hi, I had a bread that tasted like regular bread almost but with only 5 carbs per bun or slice, The ingredients are Unbleached Flour, Vital Wheat Gluten, salt, vinegar and yeast. Not sure of the amounts so I tried one with 1/2 cup unbleached flour, 2-1/2 cups vital wheat gluten, 3/4 cup water 1 teaspoon salt, 1 tablespoon vinegar, and 3 teaspoons yeast. It was a disaster and made my breads machine door push open(really rose up!)and the stuff looked like a volcano. I baked some of the dough and it was very dense, chewy and not right, I fried some, tastes good like a doughboy or I should say like a dough flavored chewing gum, VERY VERY rubbery. Is there a special technique or is the amount of my ingredients way off? Maybe more flour less Gluten or vice vesa? The bread I bought is called Irene's Health Bakery(5.95 a loaf is too much!) and it's for my mother who is diabetic and likes only white bread. Does anyone have a  gluten bread recipe that tastes like white bread and has minimal carbs? Thanks!