Breadxit - UK flours: US or European?
Hi,
I am a novice baker in the UK, trying to get my head around all of the variables. I am working my way through FWYS and have been getting some good flavour, but not the open crumb I am after, and I am finding the higher hydration doughs pretty sticky (I am a rookie after all). Anyhow...
Q1. Posts (and book authors) tend to group bread flours into US or European? I have always thought that UK bread (strong) flours had more protein than French bread flours, and so I treat them more like US bread flours and mix in lower protein (plain) flour to get the protein down to between 11 and 12 %. However, the more I read on this site, the more I think this is a wrong assumption. My doughs made with FWYS have been pretty unshapable. So,
Q2. Any quick suggestions for converting the US artisan recipes (Tartine, FWYS, Hamelman etc ) to UK flours? Should I switch to all strong flour, as I read somewhere that UK wheat is a bit weak, or should I keep the flour mix and drop 3 to 8 % hydration as suggested by the Weekend Bakers?
Cheers
Tim