Can we talk about how bread flour has changed since the 90s?

I swear the bags I buy now feel lighter and the dough behaves way different than when I started baking out of my grandma's kitchen in like 1998. Anyone else notice their loaves coming out softer or is it just my technique slipping?

2 comments

2 Comments

piper_green3d ago

2007's wheat gluten regulations shifted how flour absorbs water permanently.

rowan6663d ago

shifted how flour absorbs water permanently" - that's a big claim. Are you saying the 2007 rules basically rewrote the chemistry of flour itself, or just changed how bakers have to handle it now? Like, is the absorption difference something you can see in the dough or only feel later when the bread turns out dry? I've always wondered if those regulations were more about keeping gluten out of things that shouldn't have it, or if they accidentally messed up the whole system for everyone else.