Bakers Flour

[annanstee]

Hi there,

I was wondering if any of you bakers out there could tell me if there is a difference between bakers flour and cake flour. I saw some flour with the former label, but wasn't sure if it was meant for cakes or bread, or what.

Thanks a million,

Ann

[chefpeon]

I will certainly say that the term "bakers flour" is pretty vague. This is the first I've heard of it.

I refer to my flours as bread flours, cake flours, pastry flours, all-purpose flours, high gluten flours, whole wheat flours, rice flours, and so forth. Sheesh.....bakers flour sounds like it could be anything.

I did a quick Google search and found that bakers flour refers a lot to high protein flours, but found a couple of sites that referred to their bakers flour as being a general all-purpose flour.

So who knows.

Generally cake flours are for just that.....cakes. Cake flour has a relatively low protein content so that it can't form long gluten strands resulting in a rubbery cake. Cake flour has some other applications too.....but mostly it's cakes.

As to your question, is there a difference between bakers flour and cake flour......probably.

It all depends on exactly what "bakers flour" means. I suspect it's all purpose, but I couldn't say for certain. Maybe someone else is more familiar with the term than I.

[artisanbaker]

it's probably all purpose.

one of baking guru didier rosada's trademark quips is "all purpose flour: used for everything, good for nothing."

[andiesenji]

Stick with bread or high gluten flour for bread and pastry or low gluten flour for everything else and you can't go wrong.

[annanstee]

Thanks for your thoughts everybody. The price was lower than one would expect for cake flour, so I got a little excited, but I guess it was too good to be true.

Ann

[chromedome]

Hi, Annanstee! Baker's flour is what some companies here in Canada call their commercial all-purpose flour.

We use it a lot at my work for cookies, cinnamon buns, etc...you know... unexacting items. If you bake cakes, go for the cake flour and save yourself some stress.

[shinyboots]

Many of the recipes in Baking By Flavor call for "Bleached" All-Purpose flour. I was wondering if this more processed version of unbleached All-Purpose flour (which is what I always use - kIng arthur's version) actually changes the consistency or texture of the final product. I've heard that unbleached may be a little more likely to get crumby...any thoughts (and should I worry about substituting the flours?) Thanks

[CanadianBakin']

Hi Ananstee! I'm guessing you saw the Robin Hood Baker's flour at Costco. I use it all the time and it works quite well. I wasn't sure what it was either so I e-mailed Robin Hood and here's their response:

The difference between the Keynote and the Baker's Flour sold at Costco is that the Keynote flour is strictly a Commercial bread flour.  This product is specially blended to work with industrial equipment and it is perfect for breads, buns, pizza doughs, or just about anything that has a "bread-like" texture.  It will NOT work for things like cookies, cakes, pastries, pie crusts ect...

Baker's Flour, on the other hand, is an All-Purpose flour.  It is great for any type of baking.  It can be used for breads and cakes, buns and pies, or just about anything that requires flour.

Hope this helps. By the way, Wendy (Sinclair) says to never apologize for asking questions or think they're silly. Everyone is here to help.

[annanstee]

Wow,

Thank you so much, all of you. You have really gone above and beyond.

Ann

[panadero]

it's probably all purpose.

one of baking guru didier rosada's trademark quips is "all purpose flour: used for everything, good for nothing."

←

Who the heck is Didier Rosada? AP flour is fine! I've been baking bread with an organic unbleached AP flour for three years and it's given me great results!

Marc-A

[Just loafing]

I agree, Marc A, that A/P flour makes good bread, but we're in Canada and our A/P is a higher gluten flour than in America. I, too, use organic unbleached A/P for my sourdough bread, but for regular non-organic yeasted I use a bread flour ... same price as the non-organic A/P, but a little stronger. Cheers, Susan