topic Re: Which do you prefer to use, self rising or APF and why? in Kitchen

Which do you prefer to use, self rising or APF and why?

gulf coast girl — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 22:26:40 GMT

Thanks for your help in the kitchen.

Re: Which do you prefer to use, self rising or APF and why?

RedTop — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 23:05:46 GMT

My preference is all purpose flour, but I do have both on hand at all times. Most of my favorite recipes are older and were created with all purpose flour.

Re: Which do you prefer to use, self rising or APF and why?

gulf coast girl — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 23:34:36 GMT

Thanks Red Top. I'm still learning.

Re: Which do you prefer to use, self rising or APF and why?

KYToby — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 23:41:20 GMT

AP -- one can always add salt and baking powder to substitute it for self-rising, but one cannot remove the salt and leavening from self-rising to substitue for AP.

Re: Which do you prefer to use, self rising or APF and why?

cookie16 — Fri, 14 Aug 2015 23:57:01 GMT

Not meaning to change original question but what is the difference between bleached flour and unbleached flour? I think I have only used unbleached.

Re: Which do you prefer to use, self rising or APF and why?

gulf coast girl — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 03:39:11 GMT

The reason I was asking is because I don't do that much baking or cooking for that matter and it seems my baking powder is just being wasted sitting in the cabinet and so it ends up getting thrown away. I'm lucky if we use the can maybe one time, that's a waste to me to even buy it.

cookie16 I have no idea what the difference is, now that I read that it sort of sounds odd, we're eating bleached food...yuck.

....

debic — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 11:06:17 GMT

I've never even bought self raising flour. I also keep my baking powder in the fridge.

Re: ....

Sooner — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 18:17:50 GMT

Self-rising flour is only used for things that require it to rise--mostly baked goods. AP can be used for everything but you add leveners to it to make things rise. So, you could keep ONLY AP for all uses, but not ONLY SR--because is most recipes you couldn't use it because of the levening in it.

Bleached flour is just that--the flour is bleached to make it whiter. It really doesn't need to be bleached, so I always buy unbleached because it is one less chemical exposure.

Baking powder is cheap so I replace mine every 6 months or so. I always want to be sure it is fresh. Flour needs to be fresh too to really taste its best.

There is a lot of info about different flours--whole wheat, rye, unbleached, cake flour, southern blour for biscuits, etc. on the net.

Re: Which do you prefer to use, self rising or APF and why?

peachesncream — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 18:38:02 GMT

I always have all purpose flour in the house, and sometimes self-rising flour.

It's true that you can create a substitute for self-rising flour by adding baking powder and salt to regular flour. That will work well.

However, it won't be identical to self-rising flour - because self-rising flour is made from a softer flour with lower protein. That's why it makes superior, tender biscuits, for example.

Self-rising flour also makes baking easier and faster because the leavening and salt are already present.

When I don't have self-rising flour, I make the substitution.

Re: Which do you prefer to use, self rising or APF and why?

Nightowlz — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 16:39:52 GMT

I always have AP, Bread & Wheat flour in the freezer. Baking soda is cheap so just buy some when you need it. I only buy the aluminum free baking soda like Rumford.

Re: Which do you prefer to use, self rising or APF and why?

Sooner — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 16:37:49 GMT

@peachesncream wrote:
I always have all purpose flour in the house, and sometimes self-rising flour.

It's true that you can create a substitute for self-rising flour by adding baking powder and salt to regular flour. That will work well.

However, it won't be identical to self-rising flour - because self-rising flour is made from a softer flour with lower protein. That's why it makes superior, tender biscuits, for example.

Self-rising flour also makes baking easier and faster because the leavening and salt are already present.

When I don't have self-rising flour, I make the substitution.

Actually national brands of flour like Gold Medal and Pillsbury list the same protein content of 3g for their AP (bleached and unbleached) as they so for the self-rising, so it is probably the same flour. So you'd probably have to be in the deep South to find self-rising made from soft wheat. They list bread flour as 4 g protein.

Replacing your baking powder at least once a year is cheaper than throwing out something you bake and it doesn't rise. I'm too lazy for that! LOL!!!

Re: Which do you prefer to use, self rising or APF and why?

tkins — Tue, 18 Aug 2015 19:33:20 GMT

Even though I have quite a few recipes that call for self rising flour, I found that I was never able to use a whole bag fast enough. The grandma that gave me most of the recipes, gave me a recipe to make my own self rising flour. That way I could make it as needed for any of the recipes. It is very easy to increse or decreas as needed.

Self Rising Flour Recipe (1 Cup)

1 Cup all purpose flour less 2 Tablespoons

1 1/2 teaspoons Baking Powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

Mix well, add to recipe.

I prefer:

Gold Medal All Purpose Flour for general use.

Gold Medal Better For Bread Flour for homemade breads, rolls and pizza crust.

Wondra Flour for gravies.

Hope this helps and happy baking.

tkins