Bread Flour System

My first bread recipe post will be on January 22nd.  I am posting it then so that you have time to practice it before the Super Bowl party that you are hosting or attending because you will absolutely want to use it to make lots of different things to wow your family and friends.  But first things first, I told you that I would share my system for storing flour if you chose to buy a 25 pound bag.  I totally recommend this system if you are planning to commit to making your own bread.  It is very cost effective and as you will see it will streamline your process.

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In my last bread post I told you that this system is good for a 25 pound bag of flour but this process could be done even if you are using a smaller bag.  Make sure it is bread flour that you are using though.  I have not found a brand that I don’t like, so I am not recommending any brand in particular.

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You will also need a kitchen scale, as I mentioned there are electric and battery operated, I have both.  The battery operated one can be used anywhere but the electric one never runs out of batteries.  I use the electric one more often.

baggies and sharpiescoop

You will also need quart size baggies, a good sharpie for writing on the bags and a scoop of your choice.  The baggies I am picturing are the slide kind but I actually prefer the zipper ones.

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I also like to have some kind of an air tight container to store a some of the left over flour, and a box or container that is big enough to store the baggies that you are making.  I just use a box from Costco for the storage.

Try to find a space that allows you room to set the bag of flour and scale on and then work freely.

  1. Make sure that the scale is turned on, is zeroed out and set on ounces not grams.
  2. I usually use a knife and slit my bag of flour down the middle and cut away some of the paper so that it is easy to access.
  3. Take your first baggie and write the weight of the flour you will be measuring out on it.  The first recipe I will be giving you is a pizza crust recipe that you will be able to use to make many different things, I will give you the measurements for the first few recipes I will be sharing.
    • 1pound 8.7 ounces for
      • Pizza Crust (from this recipe you will be able to make: pizza, calzones, pizza roll ups, garlic bread sticks, cinnamon/sugar bread sticks just to name a few things.
      • Pretzel Rolls (and the jalapeno cream cheese pretzel bites that I shared on my Facebook page)
    • 1 pound 12.8 ounces for
      • French Bread
      • Jalapeno Cheddar French Bread
      • Italian Herb French Bread
      • Rosemary Parmesan French Bread
      • Any other flavor French bread that you might want to try

4. Put a big scoop of flour into the baggie and set it on the scale and make sure the top is opened up wide.  That will give it stability and make it easy to fill.

5. Scoop flour into the bag until the number reaches the number you want depending on what things you are interested in making.

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6. Continue to fill bags with your desired weights until you have enough flour left in the bag to fill your air tight container. I get about 14 to 16 bags from a 25 pound bag.  The extra is nice to have for sprinkling on your counter for rolling the dough out and for other little things.

IMG_1201Make sure that you mark your container clearly as Bread Flour. 

7. Make sure the bags are securely closed and set them in the box that you have prepared to keep them in.

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Now you are ready to easily start a batch of whatever kind of bread that you like and you don’t have a big bag of flour to work around or try to keep closed up.