November 2, 2006 - 7:45pm
King Arthur Flour- French style flour
Has anyone tried using King Arthur French Style flour for baguettes? I'm thinking of purchasing some.
I' ve been trying to make a decent baguette for months now. I want a light, flakey crumb, but can never acheive this. I've tried using bread flour and all-purpose. Am I expecting too much from a conventional oven, perhaps?
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Bakingmad,
Today, 1-5-08, I posted a blog on King Arthur French style flour. I ordered 4 three pound bags and have made three batches of baguettes and one batch of ciabatta. The ciabatta turned out good but I had problems with the baguettes. The French style flour is low in protein (10%---you need 11-12% for baguettes and the French bakers use 13%) . Anyway, I haven't had very good luck with it. I used the poolish method, and with one batch used a piece of scrap dough (from a previous batch of baguettes) along with the poolish, when mixing the dough. I had rather disappointing results. I have been trying to perfect baguettes for 10 years and am getting closer but still no brass ring. I personally wouldn't buy the French style flour again. It's expensive and it doesn't give any better results than K.A. all-purpose. The interior/crumb or the baguette was tacky, similar to the effect that you get from using malt powder in bread.
Good luck,
holds99
I use King Arthur Special. It is a special spring patent flour with a 12.7 Protein, .48 Ash. I do not think they sell it in small bags though. I get it in 50lb. bags for about $14.50us. It has worked great for all kinds of breads, and based off of what you are looking for in protein content it might be something to look into.
Good luck,
TT
If you were to make a journey to Vermont and take a baguette class, either for home bakers or professionals, you would be using Sir Galahad flour. The home baker equivalent is KA All Purpose flour.
That might help you make up your mind.