Bread-Bakers v107.n016.4

Hi Liz,

The major supermarkets should carry several brands of flour that are 
just fine for making dough:

* General Mills Gold Medal "Better For Bread" flour is a strong (high 
protein) flour for those breads that require it, such as bagels. I 
like it for my sandwich bread, too.

* General Mills also just started selling their "Harvest King" medium 
protein flour (very popular with many artisan bakeries) to the 
public. It makes a great baguette. Most supermarkets (such as 
Safeway) should have it.

* General Mills unbleached all purpose flour (even less protein than 
Harvest King, but more than cake flour) is the most widely 
available...and the best for "no knead" bread and other crusty, 
rustic breads. Pillsbury's should work, too. I'd be a bit wary of 
stores' private label brands--the quality may not be consistent. King 
Arthur's all purpose flour has a bit more protein in it than I might 
want for these rustic breads, but it might work, too.

Supermarkets also carry yeast...but at exorbitant prices. Instead go 
to Costco, Smart & Final or whatever the local warehouse store is and 
buy the one pound vacuum pack packages of Fermipan or SAF instant 
yeast. The cost/ounce is 1/16th the cost/ounce of the little 
envelopes of yeast.

A pound (about $2.60) may seem like a lot, but it stores well. Put a 
little in a zip top bag and store in the refrigerator; put the rest 
in another zip top bag and store in the freezer. It will last for ages.

A variety of bread improvers can be found at King Arthur's online 
store: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/ under 
"shop"->"ingredients"->"Bread Improvers & Conditioners" and 
"shop"->"Bread Baking"->"Loaf Improvers".

But I don't think she will need any...

Hope this helps.

Allen
San Francisco