The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

King arthur flour

LT72884's picture
LT72884

King arthur flour

I found a store about half a mile from my house that caries King arthur AP and 100% red wheat flour for 3.16$ per 5lb bag. Is KA a good brand? should i replace my Goldmedal AP flour with KA flour? I follow the Artisan bread in 5 a day and healthy bread in 5 a day, but i have been using goldmedal for this process. Will the red wheat KA flour work as a replacement for goldmedal whole wheat?

 

thanx guys

 

Matt

dablues's picture
dablues

That's the only flour I have been using, and I get very good results with their flour

RonRay's picture
RonRay

Matt, I find KAF to be an excellent flour.

Ron

longhorn's picture
longhorn

King Arthur AP is about 11.5 percent protein and GM AP is about 10.5%. This places KA AP closer to most bread flours than most APs. I primarily use KA AP but I also use GM AP. It all depends on what I am making. I particularly like GM for soft breads like Banh Mi. The KA yields a tougher crumb which you may or may not want in all your baking.

Good Luck!

Jay

 

suave's picture
suave

 At 3.16 both are a great deal, and you should try them, but I freely admit that I am not a huge fan of either flour - KA AP is to strong to replace regular AP flour, so your bread won't be the same, and if I had to compare medium strength flours I'd say that GM's "Better for Bread" is better than KA AP.  KA's traditional whole wheat is interesting, but you will discover that it is more robust than any other whole wheat flout you've seen, and your breads are darker and have stronger taste than with most other ww's. 

longhorn's picture
longhorn

Try KA's White Whole Wheat. It is milder in flavor and yields lighter colored breads.

suave's picture
suave

I know that.

msbreadbaker's picture
msbreadbaker

What would "too strong" look like, what would be the resulting change if you used it in a recipe. If the bread won't be the same, how would it be different?

The reason I'm asking is my old recipes do not taste the same, seem to lack that delicious taste they used to have when I did not use KA flour. I have been a devoted fan of KA for many years, but this recent discussion has intrigued me as I have not been able to figure out my problem. All else was the same except for the flour. The differences were found mainly in the rye breads and pumpernickle.

Thanks so much, Jean P. (VA)

Chuck's picture
Chuck

What would "too strong" look like?

When baking, you'd probably have to use slightly more water, and you'd probably have to knead a little longer to get the same results.

When looking, you'd more likely see a more closed and uniform crumb (in other words "big holes" are less likely).

When eating, it would be more "chewy" (right for a bagel, wrong for a biscuit).

I'm not aware of any taste difference (although there are lots of things I'm not "aware of":-).

 

The differences were found mainly in the rye breads and pumpernickle.

There seem to be lots of very different styles of rye flour: coarseness of grind, amount of bran, and so forth. I expect they look and taste quite different. (Each brand's "pumpernickle" for example could be a] rye flour with some dark coloring added, or b] rye flour with molasses added, or c] a particular grind of rye, or d] not even produced because it's an obvious misnomer, or ...)

It seems that nobody's "right" or "wrong"  ...but you may prefer the flavor of a certain kind of rye flour, and it may not be the style that KAF provides. Do check out molasses though to see if it's responsible for the flavor you prefer, as you can add it to recipes without changing flours.

msbreadbaker's picture
msbreadbaker

Chuck, once again thanks for a clear and concise answer to my question. I think KA used to have more of a variety of rye flours, now they only have one, med. rye. The old recipes now just have a bland taste, even while they include molasses and other spices. One of my recipes from Bernard Clayton, "Sheepherders Starter Bread" used to be so good, then it too became bland. (white bread)

Then I was also wondering if time enhances your recall!

Hope everyone's Christmas was great and here's looking forward to the new year. Jean P. (VA)

LT72884's picture
LT72884

Thanx guys, i only have those two available to me from KA. I am going to try it out and see how i like it. I might have to either add a we bit more water or less flour in order to accomdate the artisan bread in 5 min a day recipes. I do like the flavor of gold medal, im just wondering if KA will taste better?

 

thanks

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

As suggested, the KAAP is more similar to the GM Better for Bread flour in terms of it's protein and bread making properties. And to me, although neither the KAAP, nor the GM Bread have quite the same flavor as the GM AP, the GM Bread is closer in flavor to the GM AP, probably understandaby so. The GM Bread should be quite a bit cheaper than KA also.

I do think you will find that the KA ww will make a better(higher rising) loaf than the GM ww, on it's own or mixed with other flours.

Chuck's picture
Chuck

"King Arthur Flours" first claim to fame is they provide the most consistent flour of any in the U.S. (what you buy next year will rise exactly the same), but you usually pay more for that consistency. Their specs seem to be very tight and their quality control very good, but as with most "premium brands" you tend to pay for what you get.

IMHO, the taste of different brands of (unbleached) white flour will be completely swamped out by whatever flavor enhancing procedures you use (pre-ferments? long cold autolyses? retards? special ingredients?). The net result will be you can't tell which flour "tastes better". The "feel of the dough" matters a whole lot more.

The taste and texture of whole wheat flour varies considerably with the fineness of the grind and the level of bran. You may need to experiment with different brands (really different grind styles) to find what you like best for the breads you make.

Choice of flour probably depends above all else on gluten content, which should be matched to what you're baking and your procedure. After that come things like the store's storage practices, bugs, and additives. I keep both GM AP and KAF AP on hand so I can very easily shift the gluten content of the flour I use for different breads.

Gluten content for breads (even lower for cakes and pastries) seems to be (I'm not certain about some of these numbers:-)--

  • low - GM AP, about 10.5% (9.8%-11%)
  • medium - KAF AP (also KAF Sir Galahad), 11.7%
  • high - a approximate tie - KAF Bread, 12.7% or GM Better for Bread, about 12.5% (12.2%-12.7%)
  • ultra - KAF Sir Lancelot (only available via mail order), 14.2%

The King Arthur Flour website also offers "Sir Galahad" with 11.7% gluten. It may be just another name for their AP, or it may be made a little differently than their AP but have the exact same gluten content, I don't know.

You should be aware that in the "South", GM AP may be different. In particular it may have a slightly lower gluten content. The theory is that "southerners" make a lot more of things like biscuits that shouldn't be chewy, and so prefer their AP flour to be a little weaker. Many (but not all:-) flour brands try to cater to this preference.

 

LT72884's picture
LT72884

well, i just bought 5lbs of each flour. the KA AP and KA WW. As of right now, i ONLY follow the ABIN5 book. i am soooo new to bread baking that i need to follow them for a while till i understand things. I just wanted to try out KA flour and see what its like.

 

i will be making the master whole grain recipe from healthy artisan bread in five minutes a day tomorrow with the lady friend! She used to work at a mill and likes to bake. so we figured we would learn together!

 

thanks

 

Matt

longhorn's picture
longhorn

If you are new, you may find that switching flours is confusing. In my opinion there are enough variables to learn that flour is best not one of them. I.e. get a good/great bread from one recipe such that it is reliably repeatable. THEN  change flours and see how it is different/better/worse/and what you need to do differently to accommodate it!

 

LT72884's picture
LT72884

Well, i have made the master recipe once or twice with good results. I guess tomorrow will be very interesting. The book says if i use bread flour or a flour that has 12% protien, to increase water by about 1/4th cup. ill just have to add water till i think its a wet sticky dough.

 

thanks guys