Alright, let’s talk about this journey I went on with European types of flour. It wasn’t something I planned, really. I just found myself baking more, you know how it is, and honestly, some of my breads were coming out a bit, well, disappointing. One day, I was chatting with a friend, and he mentioned how flour over in Europe is supposedly a whole different ball game. My first thought? Flour is flour, mate. But the idea stuck in my head.
Diving In and Getting Confused
So, I decided to actually look into it. First thing I hit was a wall of confusion. Forget your simple ‘plain’ or ‘bread’ flour. Over there, it seemed like they had all these codes and numbers, like W-this and T-that. It felt like learning a new language just to buy a bag of flour. I spent a good few evenings just trying to figure out what was what. I did read some interesting bits, though. Apparently, a lot of European wheat is naturally a bit lower in gluten. Plus, they’re stricter on certain pesticides, which I figured couldn’t be a bad thing for what we eat.
The whole thing was a bit of a faff, to be honest. My kitchen counter started to look like some sort of experimental lab with little bags of flour I’d managed to track down. And the advice online? All over the place! What I quickly realized was:
- Most European flours are milled for very specific purposes, not like our ‘do-it-all’ types.
- The protein content can vary wildly, and it’s not always labeled as clearly as I’m used to.
- Getting consistent results meant I really had to pay attention to which flour I was using.
It was a proper learning curve, I tell ya.
My Experiments and What I Found
I finally got my hands on a bag of something they called, I think, W700. The description said it was good for lighter bakes because it was more finely ground and had more fiber, or something along those lines. So, I thought, okay, let’s try pancakes. And you know what? They were noticeably fluffier. Really quite good. Then I gave it a go with some simple bread rolls, and they turned out pretty decent too, a bit lighter than usual.
The bag also mentioned it could be used for pizza, which I haven’t gotten around to trying with that specific type yet, but it’s on my list. It seems this W700 is kind of versatile for those softer bakes, things like sand cakes or even choux pastry, though I haven’t been brave enough for choux yet!
Then I stumbled upon another type, I think it was a W480, or something with a lower number anyway. That seemed to be for even more delicate stuff, or maybe it was the other way around – see, still a bit confusing! The point is, each type felt quite distinct. It wasn’t like just grabbing any old bag from the supermarket here where you kinda hope for the best.
Final Thoughts on It All
Honestly, using these European flours has been an eye-opener. My baking has definitely changed. Some things are better, some are just… different. It’s made me think a lot more about the ingredients I’m using, that’s for sure. It’s a bit more effort, no doubt about it. You can’t just wing it as much. Sometimes I do miss the simplicity of just grabbing one bag of all-purpose. My pantry is certainly more crowded now with all these different flour bags!
It’s a bit like when I tried to learn a new software for work. Everyone said “this is the one!” but then you find out you need ten plugins just to do basic tasks. With these flours, it’s not that bad, but you do need to understand their quirks. But when you get it right, the results can be pretty rewarding. So yeah, that’s been my little adventure into the world of European flour. Still learning, still experimenting!
