San Fransisco style bread machine flour?
Hi everyone, as some of you have read I'm a beginner and making my own starter at home. For pictures and info on that topic, here's the link: http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/37150/elusive-sourdough-starter [1]
So today we went grocery shopping, and dropped by the nearest company that sells basically everything you could ever dream of for baking (especially sweets, cakes, etc. but also breads) by bulk. It's called "bulk barn". I went straight to the flour isle and saw two top contenders for purchase to either add to or begin a brand new starter. The first, and obvious choice was the dark rye flour. The second option, which I also picked up some of, was called "San Francisco style sourdough bread machine flour" (the San Francisco part was on the main container at the store). To help with all the potential questions that might be asked by the reader to really identify what this is, I took a picture that will help:
So I guess what I need to know is… what is this stuff? Seems like a pre-mixed bread flour that's supposed to taste like sourdough even though you just add water and instant yeast and bake. Can I make starter out of it? What ingredient makes it taste like sourdough? Is it high quality bread flour, or just a mix for people who want to cheat and make fake sourdough? I'd appreciate any advice you can give on the best use for it, considering I have no bread machine… I just figured maybe I can still work with it and since flour doesn't generally break the bank, it was worth having vs. not having considering I've been struggling with my starter. Thanks and God Bless!