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Overheard a new baker bragging about using bread flour for everything
Last week at the shop I heard her tell someone she uses bread flour for pie crusts too and I wanted to scream about gluten development, has anyone else had to bite their tongue watching beginners ignore basic flour science?
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knight.uma8d ago
Doesn't the higher protein content actually help trap more of the butter in place if you're careful not to overwork it? I've had better luck with bread flour in pie crusts because it holds together cleaner and doesn't tear as easy when I'm rolling it out with filling inside. The tenderness difference is honestly minimal if you're using cold butter and not touching the dough too much. Plus the flakiness factor seems to trade off with the structural integrity - a slightly tougher crust means less soggy bottom when you're doing fruit pies.
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dylan_ward8d ago
Read somewhere that King Arthur's baking team actually tested this and found pie crusts with bread flour come out noticeably tougher - like a 15% difference in tenderness scores. The gluten network in bread flour just grabs onto water too eagerly for something like a crust where you want those little butter pockets to stay intact. Ran into the same thing when I tried subbing it in for pastry work years ago, ended up with biscuits that could double as hockey pucks (not my finest moment). Guess it's one of those things where you gotta learn by doing sometimes, even if it's painful to watch.
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