AP vs bread flour

[chris629]

I have 2 things of bread flour given to me but have 4 AP given to me. When I run out of the bread flour and need to use the AP until I can get some more, would that ruin it or are their recipes out there that call for AP that I can use?
Thanks!

 

[AllenOK]

AP Flour is just what the name says, "all-purpose". It should work for just about everything you try.

However, Bread Flour is best for baking bread, as it has a higher percentage of gluten in the flour, and results in dough with more "elasticity", so that it holds the trapped gasses better.

"Pastry" or "Cake" flour would be the opposite, with a lower percentage of gluten. It is best used for cakes and muffins.

If I were in your shoes, I'd use the Bread Flour and bake a lot of bread with it. I'd use the AP Flour for everything else I use flour for.

 

[Otter]

AllenMI gave you what the differences are from one flour to another. Some flours are milled to give better results for a specific purpose (bread or cakes, etc.) but AP is in the middle of the extremes and will work reasonably well in most applications. If you do a lot of bread and cakes and don't mind stocking a variety of flours, you might get slightly better restults with the specialty flours. I don't use a whole lot of flour, so I use AP for everything.

 

[Russell]

In my Baking Illustrated book, all of the yeasted things, except pizza, are made with AP flour

 

[chris629]

Well that would make it easier for me if I ran out of BF and only had AP till I could get to the store.