For making homemade white loaves of bread with a nice texture, crust, and chewy interior, you can use bread flour or all-purpose flour. However, bread flour is typically preferred for achieving the desired results. Here's why:
Bread Flour: Bread flour has a higher protein content compared to all-purpose flour, usually around 12-14%. The higher protein content creates more gluten during kneading, resulting in a stronger and more elastic dough. This leads to a better rise and structure in the bread, producing a chewy texture inside. Bread flour also tends to yield a slightly denser crumb, which can be desirable for a traditional white loaf. The additional gluten formation also contributes to a well-developed crust.
All-Purpose Flour: While all-purpose flour has a lower protein content compared to bread flour, usually around 10-12%, it can still be used to make white loaves of bread. The resulting bread will have a slightly lighter texture and softer crumb compared to bread flour. However, the crust might not develop as well, and the bread may not have the same chewiness as bread flour.
If you prefer a chewier texture and a well-developed crust, I recommend using bread flour for your homemade white loaves of bread. However, if you don't have bread flour on hand, all-purpose flour can still be used with satisfactory results, albeit with a slightly different texture.