More bread research. I'm struggling with French v UK v US terminology. So far my conclusions are:

All purpose (US) ≡ plain (UK) flour

Soft flour ≡ low gluten levels

Hard flour ≡ hi gluten levels (bread flour UK)

Gluten level ≈ protein level (as a percentage). TBC (Single source .)

Bakers flour (US) ≡ Bread flour (UK)

.FR flour. Farine additionnée de 3% de levure chimique/ farine spéciale gâteaux Farine de blé complète (type 150) - wholegrain flour. Farine type 45 - pastry flour. Farine type 55 - multi-purpose flour.

The grades are based on the amount of flour which has been extracted from the grain of wheat. This ranges from 70% of the grain for white flour, type 45, up to 95% for wholegrain flour - type 150. The browner the flour, the more husk is in it, and more husk means more herbicides, insecticides etc are found in the flour, unless you choose organic.

Type 45 flour is for pastries, 55 is used for white bread, and types 65, 80, 110 and 150 are for various kinds of brown bread. Clearly, the higher the type, the browner the bread.

Protein levels. Plain flour - 10.3%. Bread flour - 11.7%. Strong Bread Flour / Very strong flour 12.7% (US) 13.9%(UK)

Confusing? Yep. this guy seems to be simplifying matters.

Using Julia Childs recipe I need around 8-9 hours from starting to baking the bread so I guess it's a Sunday job. I'm becoming more convinced about her lesser yeast, more time perspective.