October 1, 2009 - 3:01pm

High Gluten Flour
There is a recipe in Hamelman's book which calls for high gluten flour. I don't use this type of flour often. Can you substitute this with bread flour?

There is a recipe in Hamelman's book which calls for high gluten flour. I don't use this type of flour often. Can you substitute this with bread flour?
Substitute for High Gluten Flour
Before I started getting into all the different flours, I generally just kept AP and supermarket bread flour (usually GenMills Harvest King or Pillsbury Better for Bread) in my cupboard and found that they were good (but not great) substitutes for high-gluten.
In addition to the egg whites, you might also think about picking up some vital gluten at your local health foods or whole foods store and add about 1 tsp (0.3oz/9g) to each pound of AP flour, which will kick the protein up to about 13-13.5%.
Just remember that each tsp of vital gluten will increase protein by about 2% per pound of flour, so you can adapt accordingly.
You could also look for high gluten flour at places like Whole Foods, or you can find it online.
Stan Ginsberg
www.nybakers.com
"Bread" has several formulas which call for high gluten flour. Which one do you plan on baking?
The formula I was referring to is Whole-Rye and Whole-Wheat Bread which I found on pg. 195 from Hamelman's Bread book. Thank you.
Bob
into your liquids replacing water. A few things to remember is that the bread will not keep as long. Good for a day or two. The other thing is not to let your dough stand too long warm, that could lead to a bacteria growth, a problem with long pre-ferments. So if there is a long ferment at room temp, add the white toward the end of mixing up the dough or use retarding and refrigerate the dough.
I would first try one egg white to 500g flour and go from there.
Now if you are working with sweeter and softer breads, powdered skim milk can also be used to extend gluten in a recipe. It is not as good as the egg whites but does help. I would about a heaping tablespoon into every 200g flour but stir into the liquids and then heat the milk just up to scalding and then cool. Decrease sugar in the recipe by a teaspoon for 200g flour. Those are estimates, please feel free to experiment.
Mini
If I understand the chemistry correctly, if you are using powdered skim milk, there is no need for scalded milk. If adding liquid milk to a formula, remember milk is approximately 85% water, so you need to adjust accordingly.
there are two types of skim milk powder. So to be on the safe side, I mentioned scalding. If you happen to have the skim milk powder that is heat treated, then just stir into the flour and forget the whole scalding bit. Don't substract any flour.
Thanks Den Marty,
Mini
Thank you for clarifying that. I'll be sure to look for the heat treated. Making scalded milk is a hassle.
Bob, when I'm on vacation, and away from my stash of high-gluten flour, I buy King Arthur Bread Flour at the grocery, and am very happy with the outcome. For me, the other commonly available bread flours just don't measure up. I've tried them, too.
Susan from San Diego
As a bread flour comes. It might not have quite enough for bagels, but for breads, it would be fine
and it works ... not nearly as chewy as high gluten like All Trumps, but it's certainly better than the bread donuts that pass for bagels in the drive-thru world!
Stan Ginsberg
www.nybakers.com
Thanks for the tip!
I havent' had a chance to try making bagels, but it is something I want to try soon.
I want to make bagels and don't have high-gluten flour. It seems like this thread implies that I could simply add wheat gluten to my four to create a type of high gluten flour. Is that correct?
On a similar note, what is the protein content of vital wheat gluten?