My bread machine loaf got wrecked by cheap flour, and the $9 bag fixed everything
I've been baking sandwich loaves in my machine every Sunday since January, and around week 6 my loaves started coming out dense and gummy in the middle. Turns out I was using the store brand all purpose flour from the corner market here in Columbus, and it just couldn't build a good gluten structure no matter how long I let the dough knead. Last weekend I grabbed a $9 bag of bread flour at the co-op instead, same recipe, same machine, and the loaf rose almost to the top of the pan and sliced clean with a soft crumb. I feel dumb for blaming my machine for two months when the flour was the whole problem. Did switching flour types make this big a difference for anyone else, or am I just late to the party?