Leicester_H Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Dear all I used to use this bread mix to make pizza bases, focaccia etc. https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/sainsburys-crusty-white-bread-mix-500g?productId=28374&storeId=10151&catalogId=10241&langId=44&categoryId=235753&krypto=pnj7WYSdCtGQTk%2BVYN4gdqfvYAYtUQ21lhTAcbLRsSdRcaM%2FkTA2zMiWfWXOkzn2H9OnyLQCVpYgAdzUp7tBWZ9xTICfF%2FgOoXJOBQ4ME4akRaA%2FNBiKnl2PaUO0rwDtOrElZqsfI3UpxT%2BZSeW2PkfQZD%2BYBkk%2FdnnlmJOCW7ZCIXfcivv3MbYvxCwX%2BV4fvmqWJvtWHFIi4wQTHU3dXRrLVixPxSv%2Bm6jUq4J9br0%3D&ddkey=https%3Agb%2Fgroceries%2Fbread-flour--mixes---yeast%2Fsainsburys-crusty-white-bread-mix-500g but can’t get at the moment. I managed to buy some plain flour https://carrsflour.co.uk/product/carrs-plain-flour-1kg/ and I have Fermipan Instant / Fast Action Yeast Will this flour work (more or less) or MUST it be proper bread flour ? Worth a try or not ? Any modifications to recipes or advice will be gratefully received. H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 Bread flour is much higher in gluten than baking flour so you will def not get the same result! You can try with plain and it will make 'bread' but not as we know it! Try Googling Bake with Jack; I think there is a lesson on bread with non bread flour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted April 27, 2020 Share Posted April 27, 2020 I agree, you need 'strong bread flour'. One year, the quality of the wheat was very poor, with low gluten levels. I forget why this was. Everyone was turning out duff loaves... had to use flour improver! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicester_H Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 Thanks - I thought that was probably the case. I'll try using it as a pizza base - might not be such an issue there. H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 I use 00 flour for my pizza bases but as they’re pretty flat anyway and are ‘sogged’ a bit by the toppings and crunchy around the edges I would use plain if that was all I had - I wouldn’t expect it to be exactly the same though. I tried to make croissant dough with plain flour and it was a total fail - dough structure just wasn’t strong enough to hold the butter and it all leaked out. Tried it with string flour and perfect - up until then I hadn’t really believed it made a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willow Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 If you need to make bread and have only plain flour make soda bread 350g plain flour (I use a mix of plain white & wholemeal depending on what odds and ends of flour I have) 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda 285ml buttermilk (or sour milk, or mix milk & plain yogurt, or fresh milk with some vinegar or lemon juice added to sour it) Mix dry ingredients, add liquid, mix together into a ball of dough, if sticky add some more flour. knead for couple mins, form into a flattened ball and place on a greased and floured baking tray using a sharp knife cut a cross right across the dough almost to the bottom 180C for 30mins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachel84 Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 On 4/28/2020 at 1:38 PM, mullethunter said: I use 00 flour for my pizza bases but as they’re pretty flat anyway and are ‘sogged’ a bit by the toppings and crunchy around the edges Expand My pizzas were always a little soggy in the middle until I started sprinkling a little bit of semolina on the baking tray first - crisp all the way to the middle now 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 If you make pizza fairly regularly it may well be worth investing in a baking stone and baking the pizza directly on the pre heated stone. We have one because OH makes sourdough but it's brilliant for pizzas too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luvachicken Posted May 4, 2020 Share Posted May 4, 2020 On 5/4/2020 at 3:17 PM, soapdragon said: If you make pizza fairly regularly it may well be worth investing in a baking stone and baking the pizza directly on the pre heated stone. We have one because OH makes sourdough but it's brilliant for pizzas too. Expand Be careful what kind you buy. We bought a stone thing from Lakeland but it absolutely stank when in use - and afterwards. We ended up taking it back because I really couldn't stand the smell and Lakeland, being Lakeland were very good and gave us our money back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 Oh that's odd.....I wonder why it smelled?! We are on our second and haven't had any nasty niffs - the current one is by Navaris and I think OH got it from Amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mullethunter Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 On 5/4/2020 at 2:51 PM, rachel84 said: My pizzas were always a little soggy in the middle until I started sprinkling a little bit of semolina on the baking tray first - crisp all the way to the middle now 😀 Expand I use stones with semolina on and they are always crisp and never stick. I meant that it wouldn’t matter if your bases weren’t perfect if you had to use normal plain flour 👍🏻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted May 12, 2020 Share Posted May 12, 2020 Heard a recipe for potato bread on the radio this afternoon....sounded nice! As I was listening with only half an ear I missed the actual proportions but plan to have a Google and see what comes up. Apparently it's quite dense and so soaks up loads of butter when toasted........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...