What Is All-Purpose Flour Good For?

Question

I used to disdain the differences between types of flours. But as I got more interested in good baking, and became more concerned about not wasting ingredients (=money), I am forced to admit that you do need to use the proper flour for different kinds of baking.

So, there is bread flour for bread baking. Pastry flour for pastry-making. Cake flour for cake-making. The great Shirley Corriher uses self-rising flour for biscuits. And so on.

What is AP flour good for? What's left? Thickening gravies, I guess, but does that justify buying a 5 pound bag?

Answer

I use AP for everything. I am an excellent baker and have been at it for 40 years. I cannot see enough difference between the performance of different protein levels in flour to justify owning all of them. I do see some difference with cake flour in cakes, but I don't like the flavor and texture of cakes made with cake flour. I make great, chewy bagels with AP. If I did large-scale artisan baking, I would differentiate - but I don't and I'm good with AP.

Answer

I think the name 'all purpose' says it pretty plainly. I do think some AP flours are better than others (I really have come to like Robin Hood flour a lot) but every one I've used, for a variety of purposes, has done the job well. There may be certain things I'd want to use cake flour for if I can (my brownies, for one) but if I don't have cake flour on hand, I use the AP and it's not a big deal.

The difference between AP and the specialty flours just isn't great enough to worry about.

Answer

I'm firmly in the mindset of "it's not the instrument, it's the musician." I use all-purpose flour for just about everything. Nobody has ever spit out any of my creations and then questioned whether or not I used the correct flour. I get that there are advantages to it all, but don't personally think that it matters enough for me to have three, four, or five different flour jars.

Answer

It's good for (wait for it now) ... all purposes!

Answer

As a base for cake flour, self-rising flour, pastry flour, and bread flour. And for all other uses.

http://www.joyofbaking.com/flour.html

Answer

I use AP flour for cakes, muffins, and stuff where I don't want or need the gluten. I like bread flour for bread.
I bought a bag of self-rising flour once, made biscuits. They were amazing. But, that's the problem. I really shouldn't have amazing biscuits in the house. I don't care what PD says about "moderation," hard to do when they are so good! ha!
My favorite flour, though is Wheat Montana. They have several types. Prairie Gold is great.

Answer

Gothamette, I would like to piggyback on your question:

AP flour can be used for almost anything, but, relative to Cake Flour for Cakes, Pastry Flour for Pastries, Bread flour for Bread, Double Zero flour for Pasta, etc. ...is AP flour *best* for anything?

For instance, you might tell someone to use their AP flour for bread-making had they attempted to use their Cake flour. AP flour would be better for bread than Cake Flour. But, it is unlikely to be better than Bread flour. So, is AP flour best for anything?

Answer

I don't know a single patisserie that uses pastry or cake flour over AP for the majority of their recipes. I add a ratio of wheat gluten to my AP for breads and it's a fraction of the price of buying bread flour specifically. Your argument about not wasting ingredients/money doesn't make a lot of sense. AP does it all for cheap, specific flours are more expensive and single purpose.

Answer

This is a good article about flour comp:

http://www.lallemand.com/BakerYeastNA/eng/PDFs/LBU%20PDF%20FILES/1_17FLOU.PDF

Answer

I don't bake much, so I mostly use flour to make bechamel sauce, pancakes, and pie crusts. AP works fine for that! 

Cake flour does make a huge difference in cakes, and bread flour does make my bread better. But that's a lot of flours to have in the cupboard, so I just go with AP.

Answer

I don't pretend to understand how protein or gluten affect baked goods -- in fact, I hardly ever bake -- but this much I can tell you: AP flour makes one heck of a popover! I'd never use anything else.

Answer

As a general rule, I tend to use what the recipe calls for, on the assumption that it was tested with a particular flour, and especially if the writer explains why a particular type is called for. I certainly woudn't assume that every cake recipe is designed for cake flour. Of course I will cautiously substitute if I'm out of something, or if I'm consciously trying to change how a recipe turns out. I

Answer

I never realized how much flour/gluten content made a difference until my bread-baking mother in law left a mostly full 5 lb bag of King Arthur bread flour at my house. To use it up, the next time I made pizza dough I made it with half AP and half bread flour. Wow. HUGE difference. The crust was more tender, better chew to it...I will never make pizza dough with AP flour only again. 

King Arthur AP is my go-to flour for the usual stuff: baked goods, cakes, dredging, roux making, etc. However, I always have bread, cake, and whole wheat flours on hand as well.

Answer

I keep 3 regular flours - King Arthur AP, King Arthur Bread flour, and White Lily. I buy one box of cake flour every year, for one cake that I have found really does benefit from whatever is in cake flour that I don't get with AP + corn starch. I use ap for everything from pasta to quick breads to every day breading, etc. I use bread flour when I want dense, chewy bread. I use White Lily for biscuits. I sometimes do white wheat, rye, etc., but I don't keep them on hand.

Answer

It's good for having fresh flour all the time for things that are OK with it. I don't have infinite storage space in my freezer to keep a dozen flours fresh. I'd much rather have fresh AP flour in my cake/pastry/bread than stale "correct" flour. 

And I'd stack my AP flour biscuits, pie crusts, cakes, pie crusts, and cookies against most home bakers out there. They're, as we call them, "rustic", since I don't go in for fussy presentation for homemade food, even if it can be fun in restaurants. (Yeast breads I do think one gets a better result with bread flour, but I pretty much never make them.) 

And I thicken gravy with cornstarch, usually.

Answer

What's left?

Cookies, quick breads, dinner rolls (enriched doughs) and anything that calls out bread flour or pastry flour. I've found the differences in flours to be subtle and not really a big factor.

However, for lean doughs, I do stick with bread flour.

Answer

I would hazard a guess that a lot of those who feel that AP is 'good enough' for everything wouldn't appreciate or realize the differences between different flours when tasted anyways.

I use KA Unbleached White Whole Wheat for everything - breads, breading, roux, etc. It's easier for me, and my baking skills are still developing, and this is as "AP" as I'll go. I do realize that my crusts could be better, my cakes finer, if I used a different flour, but until I master the baking skills I aspire to, I'll keep with the one type of flour. Plus I lost my job and we're beyond broke, no no extras in our grocery bill.

Just my .02.

Answer

Also, I won't touch bleached flour with a 10-foot pole. Not only is it trash nutritionally, but it gives me heartburn. So only unbleached, preferably whole grain for me.

Answer

The types of flour that you listed are differentiated by protein content. The name that one gives is mostly for marketing. Cake flour results in a fine crumb which might not be the desirable result if one is baking a pound cake. Flour with a higher protein content such as all-purpose flour results in coarser crumb that one associates with pound cakes as well as many other such as genoise, bundt, butter cakes.
All-purpose flour is still the "go to" type in most cookbooks and baking books. Substituting a different flour will not yield the same result.

Answer

What are the differences between these three different kinds of flour (bread, cake, pastry)?

Answer

I am from the South and most of my family and people I know use Red Band or Southern Biscuit for making Biscuits.

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What Is All-Purpose Flour Good For?

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