flour..............

[qahtan]

 Some time ago I too was having problems with my bread. I don't use a bread machine, but some how it just wasn't right.
I contacted Robin Hood the millers, and they said it could be the corn growing under
too much rain too humid, all these things add to the quality of the finished product.
Any way they sent me two coupons good for two 10 K sacks flour, = 22pound each I always buy 10 K at a time. on top of the coupons we took the remains of the sack I was using about 1/2 the 10K. took it back to the shop and they replaced it with a new bag.

the new batches worked fine so maybe they were right.  qahtan

[qahtan]

[PurpleHeather]

I remember over 30 years ago there was a bakers strike and a local corner shop owner bought some of the flour the bakers used and sold it loose so that people could bake their own at home. .

It was the best bread I have ever baked, the flour felt like silk.

He was not able to get any more when they went back, sadly. People kept asking for it.

After that I would certainly agree that it is the flour which is the vital item.

[tomatoada]

I like Lydl's strong flower  but they seemed to have stopped stocking it.   

[manicscousers]

I like Lydl's strong flower  but they seemed to have stopped stocking it.   

they may have re-stocked it, tomatoada, I went today and got 5 bags  :)

[valmarg]

I agree PurpleHeather, the flour is the most important ingredient in making a good loaf.

I have recently been using Waitrose Very Strong Canadian Bread Flours (wholemeal and white).  I find these make a much lighter bread, because they are 'hard' wheat flours, rather than the EU soft pappy varieties.

valmarg

[qahtan]

Yes Canadian flour is mostly hard wheat, when I make whole wheat bread I always
mill my own hard wheat kernels, fresh milled whole wheat flour has a totally different taste than the bought in the store stuff. I only mill enough for what I want to use at the time.
American flour is that bit softer than Canadian, I wish we could get some of your European flour here.

                                Qahtan