Bleached Plain Flour
Hello, I've been a member of TFL for a few months now, but this is my first post. I was wondering how one can tell whether their "plain flour" (as it's called in the UK - I think in the US it's "all purpose flour") has been bleached? It certainly doesnt say so on the packaging, which doesnt really suprise me. Is all plain/all purpose flour bleached? If so, how can I find white flour that is not? Are there some key terms or flour jargon that I should be aware of that indicates bleached or not bleached? I'm looking primarily in the grocery store... I'd love to be able to grind my own flour and get into all that, but I depend on public transportation and somehow doubt that farms/mills where I could get some whole grains are conveniently near to tube/train/bus stations. And the shipping costs for sending them are through the roof - probably because they are heavy. So I'm dependent on grocery store flour for now I'm afraid.
Also, the reason I'm trying to find unbleached white flour is because I read somewhere (probably on this site!) that bleaching the flour does something to it that makes it not work very well in the baking process - can someone clarify what that is and why bleaching has this effect? I use primarily wild yeat - does it not like bleached flour? Thanks in advance for all the information!