Homemade Self Rising Flour

Have you ever come across a quick, easy, yummy sounding recipe calling for self rising flour and were disappointed that you didn't have any on hand? No worries, because you can make your own! It couldn't be any easier to put together, it works great, and you'll save money on your grocery bill. In fact, you probably already have all the ingredients you'll need in your kitchen!  Ready? Let's make it together... 

But First of All, What Is Self Rising Flour?
And, What's in Self Rising Flour That Makes It Rise?

What is self rising flour? It's a convenient pre-mixed combination of dry ingredients that are typically used in many recipes, in just the right balance of measurements.

If you see a recipe using self rising flour, it's because this specific combination of dry ingredients is what's required for the recipe. This saves time, simplifies the baking, and, if your ingredients are fresh, it ensures that your baked goods will rise beautifully.

However, please be aware that there are specific uses for self rising flour. It's only suitable for a recipe calling for self rising flour. This is because some recipes require a different type of leavening agent, such as yeast, or for a different amount of leavening agent, or none at all. In these cases, you'd simply use regular flour and other ingredients the recipe calls for.

When making bread, self rising flour works for quick bread or batter bread recipes which don't require yeast.

Here's How to Make Self Rising Flour

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Questions Folks Are Asking About Self Rising Flour...

History in the Baking: The Invention of Self Rising Flour

An old proverb states that "necessity is the mother of invention", and in the mid-1800s, an English baker, Henry Jones, saw a need and invented.

Henry Jones was born in Monmouth, (Trefynwy) in Wales and established a bakery in Broadmead, Bristol, England. 

The Necessity: Better food for the British sailors. The seamen weathering the high seas in defense of the British Isles were given a diet of hard tack, a "molar breaking” bread made from flour, water and salt, served with thinned down salted-fish or salt-pork and root vegetable stews. These ingredients were easy to store, but nutritionally poor.

The Intention of His Invention: Henry Jones' quest was to make a more palatable, fresher, softer bread available for the sailors when sailing abroad. He was granted a patent for self rising flour in 1845. By the end of 1846, its great success led to his appointment to purveyor of patent flour and biscuits to Queen Victoria.

His newly combined baking mix which produced the desired baked goods and proved to store easily, was soon widely accepted.

However, it took Mr. Jones over 10 years of trying to convince the British Admiralty of the benefits of using the new flour mixture in preference to the hard biscuits to which sailors were accustomed. Why? Because while the higher ranking officers dined well, they deemed an improved fare above the common seamen. 

Success! In 1855, self rising flour was finally put to use to make soft, fresh quick bread for sailors, partly at the behest of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

Jones also was granted a patent for his self rising flour invention in the United States in 1849, and in 1852 the first gold medal for the new flour was issued to a Chicago firm using the Bristol formula.

His invention remains a popular staple in British and North American kitchens and pantries to this day.

These successes gave rise, pardon the pun, to modern dry baking mixes.

Out of the original self rising flour has risen similar products such as Bisquick, Jiffy, boxed cake mixes, and other convenient baking mixes that we're all quite familiar with.

We, along with the late Henry Jones, hope that you'll try making your self rising flour and enjoy the convenience, savings of both time and cost, and tasty baked good that will result! 

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