*  Exported from  MasterCook II  *

           Reasons for Adding Gluten or Ascorbic Acid to flour.

Recipe By     : Karen Wheless [kwheless@rockland.net]
Serving Size  : 1    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Cooking Tips

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
                        text information below

Most people add gluten if they're using low-gluten flour, especially wheat
flours.  Where I live, bread flour is really hard to find and extremely
expensive (at least four or five times more than all purpose), so it's
cheaper for me to use all purpose most of the time and add gluten, rather
than buying bread flour.  Saving money is a major reason I make my own
bread, and if I used bread flour all the time, I could afford to buy fresh
made bread at the bakery for the same price.  Some bread flour has ascorbic 
acid added, some doesn't.  I used to be able to choose from four or five 
different brands of bread flour, but now I have to take what I can get!
But, adding a little ascorbic acid gives your bread an extra boost, even if
there's already some in the flour.  I add some if I want an especially
light loaf, it makes the bread less dense.  The acidity is also supposed to
make the bread last longer.

Have fun baking,
Karen


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