Bill Heffron wrote:
>I have used all AP flour, 50/50 AP and bread flour, and now recently
>incorporated degrees of patent flour
Bill,
French flour is typically fairly low in protein and has a slightly
higher ash (i.e., bran) content when compared to North American
flour. You're going the wrong way by adding bread or patent flour to
AP flour. If anything, you should be adding pastry flour. According
to Harold McGee(*), there are considerable regional variations in the
protein content of AP flour, but what you want is about 9.5% protein
with 0.55% ash. Here in Toronto, I make baguettes using 80% AP
flour, 13% white pastry flour and 7% whole wheat pastry flour with a
dough hydration of about 70%. (The result doesn't have the "small
uniform texture" that you think you want but that's not typical of a
traditional French baguette, which has a more irregular crumb.)
Cheers,
Dan
(*) On Food And Cooking: The Science and Lore of The Kitchen,
published by Scribner, ISBN 0-684-800001-2