So I've made a connection thru a local restaurant that should help me get access to bulk flours. I'm definitely going to buy 1 50lb bag of GM Harvest King Flour, but I'm interested on any opinions on the following flours:

• Giusto All Purpose Enriched Unbleached Flour
• Pendleton Power high-gluten
• GM Rye Flour

Any feedback appreciated, thanks in advance folks. 

I like to make standard hydration sourdough and french-type breads.  Here in Hawaii, the only bulk-type flour I can reasonably afford is the ConAgra Harvest Blend bread flour, sold by COSTCO. I can purchase 25 pounds for the price of 10 pounds of national brands. Does any one have an opinion about how much quality I would gain by paying about $7 for five pounds of King Arthur bread flour.

The ConAgra also contains Ascorbic Acid. Do I need to compensate for that in some way? Some days I think the problems are with the baker and some days I wonder about the ingredients! If I keep improving my skills (which I'd say are intermediate) can I work around a less than ideal flour?

Any experiences or advice would be welcomed.

Can anyone suggest places in southern California (preferably between City of LA north to Ventura) to get big bags of Central Milling or King Arthur flours at retail?

I'm looking to buy a few 50lb bags; I'm not a food service company, so retail is key.

I recently tried several bags of a local produce, stone ground Rye Flour, from a place called Trade Mill, which is in Trade Tennessee near Wautaga Lake. 
Food City, a local chain of grocery stores, has this product and it's both more reasonably priced than a competitor's rye, and has a more interesting texture as far as I can tell and taste. It might be that it's more freshly ground.

They have an interesting website with videos.

http://www.tradedaysfestivaltn.com/trademill.html

June 18-20 at Omega Institute in NY, I will teach a gluten-free cooking and baking weekend workshop; My new cookbook, Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook, A Seasonal Vegetarian Cookbook by Leslie Cerier due July 1st, 2010 is full of delicious and easy to follow recipes for gluten-free whole grains and flours.

Gluten-free cooking and baking is fun and easy and delicious. For more information; please join me at www.lesliecerier.com

I look forward to hearing from you. eval(unescape('%64%6f%63%75%6d%65%6e%74%2e%77%72%69%74%65%28%27%3c%61%20%68%72%65%66%3d%22%6d%61%69%6c%74%6f%3a%4c%65%73%6c%69%65%40%6c%65%73%6c%69%65%63%65%72%69%65%72%2e%63%6f%6d%22%3e%4c%65%73%6c%69%65%40%6c%65%73%6c%69%65%63%65%72%69%65%72%2e%63%6f%6d%3c%2f%61%3e%27%29%3b'))

Join organic gourmet chef, teacher, and author, Leslie Cerier, for an informative and fun approach to preparing a full spectrum of gluten-free foods.

This hands-on, gluten-free cooking and baking workshop is perfect for people with gluten sensitivities; people who cook for those with gluten sensitivities; and nutritionists, dieticians, and other health professionals. Beginner and experienced cooks are invited. You learn:

• Menu planning for ease of preparation and great taste
• Ways to substitute ingredients according to seasons, schedules, moods, and what’s in your kitchen
• Cooking and baking with various sweeteners, oils, and seasonings
• The magic of global flavors, using local produce, herbs, and spices

Delectable protein-based side dishes highlighting beans, soy foods, pasture-fed dairy, nuts, and seeds

Learn to cook like an artist as you master dishes ranging from appetizers to desserts and breakfasts to one-pot dinners, including pancakes, porridges, soups, salads, pasta dishes, pilafs, bread, sushi, and pastries.

Recommended reading: Cerier, Gluten-Free Recipes for the Conscious Cook and Going Wild in the Kitchen

To register: www.lesliecerier.com or http://eomega.org/omega/workshops/d6b7adb6b819e1f957a32d21bfe62ad2/

For those who are keeping score, I moved from the USA to South Africa in late October to work on a project being managed by my employer.  After spending a week in a hotel and a month in a temporary apartment, my wife and I moved into a leased house on December 1.  We're feeling fairly settled now and can find our way to several different supermarkets, gas stations, restaurants and the like.  It's a different landscape, and I'm not just talking topography.  Still, we're learning to navigate our way around without creating unnecessary hazard to ourselves or others.

Part of the learning process involves getting acquainted with new players in familiar roles.  In the case of bread, this includes different flours, a new starter, a different oven, and a different elevation (approximately 4200 feet above sea level, give or take a kopje).  None of these are especially difficult to cope with, but the collective effect has me slightly off kilter.

Prior to this weekend, I had baked bread three times, with results ranging from dismal to passable.  

This weekend saw some improvement, with plenty of room for additional improvement.  I baked a pain de campagne from Clayton's Complete Book of Breads, a honey oat sandwich loaf and scones from KAF's Whole Grain Baking book, and Mark Sinclair's version of Portugese Sweet Bread (in hamburger bun form).

The pain de campagne calls for a yeasted "starter"; I used my own sourdough starter to build the levain.  I'm beginning to wonder if there is something about the whole wheat flour that I'm using (Snowflake brand Brown Bread Flour at 12.5% protein, if memory serves).  My impression is that it tends to absorb less water than other whole wheat flours that I have used, which produces a stickier dough.  By sticky, I mean almost rye-like stickiness.  The grind is a bit coarser than I have seen in other flours, so it may be that I need to go with extended autolysis to give it enough time to absorb moisture.  And I may need to dial back on water content, too.  The closest thing to AP flour that I've located so far is something labeled cake flour, at 10% protein content.  The initial dough was quite sticky after mixing (did I mention stickiness earlier?), so I gave it a series of stretch and folds during the bulk ferment that lasted about 5 hours.  Temperatures in the house ranged from the low 70'sF in the morning up to about 80F yesterday afternoon.  I shaped the dough into two batards, achieving a good gluten cloak, and set them to rise in a parchment "couche".  When they had expanded about 60-70% in size, I preheated the oven and baking stone, along with the steam pan, then poured in about a cup of boiling water.  I slashed each loaf and jockeyed it as gently as possible onto the stone, using a baking sheet for a peel.  Oven spring was modest, with the slashes opening partially.  The loaves colored up nicely, indicating that the yeast hadn't run through all available food.  I haven't cut into either loaf yet to know how the crumb turned out.

Things went quite well with the honey oat sandwich loaves, but for two glitches.  One was that I had intended to make each with a cinnamon swirl but failed to remember that until I was pulling them out of the oven.  The other is that both loaves were over proofed and partially collapsed during baking, even though they did not come close to reaching the volume ("one and a half inches above the pan rim") recommended in the directions.  Eish!  At least they taste good.

This morning's scones also tasted wonderful, but failed to rise as much as they should have.  Maybe the oven runs a bit cooler than the controls would suggest.  Then again, its geared for Celsius and I'm not.  I think I'll pick up an oven thermometer or two while we are back in the States over the holidays.  Then we can find out if it is a calibration issue, or operator error. 

The Portugese Sweet Bread was everything that I wanted it to be, though.  Texture, color, flavor, rise, everything worked just right.  If only I could figure out why!  My track record so far would suggest that it is more of a fluke than an exercise in skill.  Right now, I'm just happy to have had a bake go the way I wanted.

The experimenting and learning will continue.  I will keep trying various flours and methods until I get to where I can produce consistently good results. 

Oh, and if anyone can tell me where to look for rye flour, I'll be grateful.

Paul

So, I live in Hungary, but my family lives in the U.S., and wonderfully, in five days I'll be visiting (I'm going to bake them so much bread!).  It'll be neat, too, as a good number of ingredients in some interesting recipes aren't easily available here.  

Including King Arthur flours.  I always see TFL-ers mentioning it, and I've seen (and disobeyed) recipes specifically calling for KA... I'm just wondering - why?  I definitely want to give it a go, but can anybody tell me why it's the most preferred one?

has anyone posted a comparison of various protein percentages in different brands/types of flour?  KA flour lists theirs, but many companies do not...I would really appreciate it if anyone here has some resources for me..it would certainly be helpful when comparing different "bread book" authors and which flours they use in their recipes....thanks!     cathy in WI

Has anybody had experience with any of these flours from Rocky Mountain Milling?

• Aspen - An all purpose organic wheat flour made from a chosen blend of hard red winter wheats; produces quality results in a variety of baked goods including quick breads, flat breads, tortillas, soft rolls, breading/batters, and biscuits.
• Boulder - A superior high gluten organic wheat flour made from select hard red spring wheats; ideal for hearth breads, bagels, hard rolls, croissants, and thin pizza crusts.
• Columbine - A premium organic bread wheat flour milled from a blend of hard red spring and winter wheats selected for their gluten quality; excellent for variety and pan breads, hard and soft rolls, thick pizza crusts, and puff pastries.

I'm going to be driving past their mill and thought I would stop and purchase a 50lb bag of one of the flours. Any input would be appreciated.

I noticed this evening that I had a fair number of different types of flour on hand:

White wholewheat bread flour
White bread flour
All purpose white
Cake flour
Corn meal
Mochiko (rice flour)

Only 6. I'm guessing that the dedicated bakers here would stock many more varieties. (Hi-gluten, barley, spelt ...). How many do YOU have?