No bread flour

slm6002

Recently I have struggled to get any bread flour to stock up my supplies, and I was wondering if I can substitute it with plain flour instead.  I only really make bread or pizza dough in my bread maker but have always followed the recipe from the book that came with the machine.

Skintoap

Normal plain flour doesn’t have sufficient gluten to make bread. Do you have access to chapatti flour? I’ve used this before and it makes reasonable bread. 

Sky_

I've also used chapatti flour successfully during the first lockdown, but then I've often made breadmaker bread with cheap plain flour when money has been tight.  It doesn't rise quite as much, but the difference was minimal and the bread tasted good.

Another possible option is to buy wheat gluten (such as Vital wheat gluten sold in some health food shops) and add a tablespoon or so to your plain flour for each loaf. 

On balance though, I'd just make a tester loaf with plain flour if you have that available and see how it turns out.  

London_1

Or make soda scones My late Father used to make these on my Granny's 'girdle' a large round flat iron plate with a half hoop handle.made the dough with flour, salt baking soda and milk on the turn (or ordinary milk with a squirt of lemon juice in it .They were delicious and floury and he cooked them on top of the stove and warm with butter and jam were delicious and toasted next day for breakfast were to die for 

But then my late widowed wheelchair-bound Granny in the 1911 census had five children under 14,left at home, and two lodgers in her tiny cottage (a butt'n'ben') in Brechin. I think the lodgers helped to keep the family in food.
No benefits back then, and only the kitchen range to cook on and a well in the garden for water, a pretty tough lady who actually slept in her wheelchair, so she could allow the working lodgers a bed. 
No good old days for Grsnny Annie

JackieO xx

maisie_cat

Amazon for bread flour for me, I buy in bulk, 16kg or larger, it lasts forever if stored properly but you can get smaller quantities.

pumpkinlife

You can make bread with plain flour but it won't rise so well and the crumb is a biy different, though for pizza probably perfectly acceptable. Perhaps a sofa bread recipe would work better than yeasted? You can also buy bags of Vital Wheat Gluten and add some to the plain flour, but I don't know if there is a shortage of that too.

Katiehound

pumpkinlife said:

 Perhaps a sofa bread recipe would work better than yeasted?  

can we all have sofa bread please! so so much more comfy than soda bread.

Sorry, made me smile- guess it's that predictive text again......

Brie

Katiehound said:

pumpkinlife said:

 Perhaps a sofa bread recipe would work better than yeasted?  

can we all have sofa bread please! so so much more comfy than soda bread.

Sorry, made me smile- guess it's that predictive text again......

Yes but sofa bread will inevitably be covered in cat or dog hair.  Always happens no matter how many times they aren't allowed up there.

YoungBlueEyes

Put on a pair of rubber gloves and that’ll lift the hairs outta there, make like you’re sweeping crumbs off a worktop! 🙂

Edit - outta upholstery/ carpet. Untested on hairy bread ha haa! 

slm6002

Thank you everyone for the advice and ideas

goldfinches

Just in case it's helpful I recently tried some of the specialist flour from the sale page on the Bakery Bits website and it is delicious plus they sell 15 kg and 25 kg bags of some flours in case you want to stock up.