Strong white flour for pastry

BOBS

Not sure where to ask this. Want to make pastry for a steak pie tonight and realised I have no plain flour in the house after yesterdays bake fest !!
I do have strong white flour - would that work ok ?

molerat

You need to rest it for longer for shortcrust - put it in the fridge in a plastic bag for an hour or so - or it can be a bit chewy or biscuity, fine for flaky / puff.

BOBS

molerat wrote: »

You need to rest it for longer for shortcrust - put it in the fridge in a plastic bag for an hour or so - or it can be a bit chewy or biscuity, fine for flaky / puff.

thanks - will make it now and throw in fridge for using at 5pm.

VfM4meplse

Was it ok, or did it come out a bit on the bread-y side?

BOBS

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Was it ok, or did it come out a bit on the bread-y side?

It turned out really well, was a bit doughy after resting, but plenty of flour and it rolled like a dream.
On eating maybe slightly bready but not overly noticeable - Fed my growing family and had no complaints and clean plates.

PasturesNew

It's what a lot of pasties are made from, especially more traditional types...so I expected it to go ok for you

McKneff

I use self raising flour then half lard and half marg or butter, but the resting in the fridge makes a difference

BOBS

PasturesNew wrote: »

It's what a lot of pasties are made from, especially more traditional types...so I expected it to go ok for you

I really only have the strong white in the house for making pizza bases - good to know for back up !!

McKneff wrote: »

I use self raising flour then half lard and half marg or butter, but the resting in the fridge makes a difference

Would have been scared it would rise when comes in contact with the gravy . Thank you !

jackyann

I always use strong white flour for pastry, and I follow Nigella's idea (from her first book, How To Eat which I think fantastic) of chilling the flur as well as the fat.
I used to be a dreadful pastry cook, but really find this works:
weigh flour and put in fridge whilst sorting other stuff out, 10 minutes upwards
make pastry, chill in fridge, 30 minutes upwards
roll out into dish and chill again, 30 minutes upwards
this last bit is more difficult for something like pasties, but I can fit most of of tart tins in.

It sounds time-consuming,but like a lot of similar things, it's just about fitting around the other things you are doing.
All that chilling stretches the gluten.