The ratio (5:3 flour to water) works for milk. I’ve used it in other bread recipes (or rather, observed the ratio) with success. Other ingredients shouldn’t affect it. For pizza dough, I add a couple glugs of olive oil, but use the same 5:3 ratio. I’ve only used wheat flour, but you’re right, if the other flours glutenize, they should be fine. The only solution is to try it out! Failures can be let to dry out, wazzed up and turned into bread crumbs.

The important thing is the ferment – allowing the yeast to go to work on the flour. Just flour, water, and yeast will produce flavourful bread, at a cost of long periods of time (about 3 1/2 – 4 hours) but you can speed up the process by adding other ingredients. Some sandwich bread recipes I’ve used use eggs, butter and milk, but ferment much more quickly.

There are a LOT of variables for bread. It’s understandable that there is a whole profession devoted to it.

In your bread post you mention the ratio of indredients. I’m inteested in the flour/water ratio.

what do you think the range of ingredients are for this? Does potato flour work? What about rice? I’d think that if it can produce glutten strands it’s feasible. And water.. How about milk, or juice, I guess I’d be adding sugar, so this would change other ratio’s.

Either way great reading.
Ciao!

Rob Snow