Bread flour question

[Green Aura]

Thanks Weedo, that was more or less what I was trying to say, albeit I'm lazy and couldn't be bothered looking up figures.

In addition to that there are various sub groups under those broader categories and then blends, of course, to get specific features - as in the denser European style breads I mentioned above.

[BernardSmith]

But here in the States - and I presume all over the world - we can buy "bread flour" with 4% protein and general purpose flour with 3% protein and cake flour with presumably less protein... so what is there to prevent a miller from selling flour with more or less protein and labeling it "bread flour". (I am not talking about the amount of protein in the grain but in the packaged flour. I wouldn't even think to try making bread using "cake flour"... But that said, I also buy wheat gluten for making seitan and a tablespoon of this gluten added to my bread flour ups the protein and allows me to make bagels as chewy as those known as New York bagels.

[Weedo]

GA - we grow and sell our wheat largely on type and protein level so do usually keep track of what is going on, at least locally. The other point is that I sometimes need to suppliment cattle with grain feeding so protein levels are important - at least they were until an old animal nitritionist told me how to simplify it; if you can brew good beer with it then it is good for cows as their digestive systems are bacsically breweries - now more barley in the feed mix.

Bernard - I guess millers all over the world, like in Oz, produce flours to order. Our mid protein (10%) wheat is deemed most suitable for European style breads by our marketers whereas for the Oz mass produced white bread market low protein grains are used. I need to look at some flour labels perhaps - as mentioned I avoid cooking anything with flour in it - Murphey's Law.

[MKG]

My six penn'orth ...
I use a fair bit of yeast in a slightly different application, but mine's a specific strain designed to do a different job. It's still Saccharomyces cerevisiae, though. However, it's a few years ago that I read about adding a small amount of vit. B1 to a wine must - and I have to say that it works wonders on yeast activity. The yeast is ready to inject into a must in very short order and the initial fermentation is stronger and more rapid than without B1. It's a bit like spinach and Popeye. I get my B1 from the local health shop - it's designed for humans, but that's OK. A single tablet provides enough for 10 to 12 fermenting gallons, so it's certainly not expensive.
Anyway, it works by boosting the yeast at a very early stage, so it may be ideal for you. Break off a tiny bit of the tablet, crush it and introduce it to the dough at the same time as the yeast (unless you pre-start your yeast, in which case introduce it then). Don't be tempted to overdo it, though - B1 has a VERY distinctive smell.
It may or may not work - but worth a try, I'd imagine. If it doesn't work, a Vit B1 tablet a day is very good for you.

[Odsox]

OK, back to normal and I think I will stick to what I know.
Using the flour I normally use I can make bread on autopilot.

2 white and 2 wholemeal/brown

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[Green Aura]