07/04/07

Flour Test - Gold Medal 10% All Purpose Flour

Last week's Muesli Bread was a flop. The crumb turned out a little gummy. I am not completely sure about the cause. Anyway, I bought a few bags of flour from Vivomart. These were 11.5% Waitrose AP flour, 11.3% Waitrose Plain flour, Waitrose Whole-wheat flour and Gold Medal 10% AP Flour. Since I want to do a flour test, I decided to make a plain white loaf. Although this test is sort of re-inventing the wheel as Mike Avery has already done a battery of tests on various flours, I did it so that I can experience the flavor of the flour personally. Maybe the day will come when we can experience the 5 senses over the internet. It will be a Brave New World then, wouldn't it?

I foolishly and blindly added 75% water and a really tiny fraction of 1/8 tsp yeast and as a result, the dough was very slack. I used the entire dough as a pre-ferment and as I had to go to the office, I had no choice but to stick the dough into the fridge after 1 hour instead of 2. By the time I got back from the office, the dough was only slightly risen. After many rounds of Stretch and Folds, I managed to get the dough to co-operate a little better. However, I made the mistake of not flouring my brotforms sufficiently and as a result, they stucked and the dough was disfigured. When they sprung up in the oven, I knew I was going to get those lazy baker caverns. By the time, I was through, it was already 1.00am in the morning.

Verdict:

Flavor: Average

Crumb texture: Average

Crust: Crunchy, which is a surprise and I thought was better than my regular flour.