November 11, 2019 - 8:35am
Where can I find Manitoba flour (W380-400) in the US??
Hello fellow bakers!
I've started a process to create stiff sourdough for panettone. The process I'm following calls for Manitoba flour with a strength of W380-400.
I found this one on amazon with 15% protein and W360-380 but I haven't tried it yet (I just started the apple yeast water lol)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07KJXZ3DK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I'm worried it won't be strong enough. Where can I buy Manitoba flour? Here int he US is supposed to be easier, no? :D
Have any of you used the flour I posted before?
Thanks a lot!
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https://www.montanaflour.com/100-organic-white-flour/
I have used this flour for croissants and panettone and it is excellent. Definitely stands up well to long fermentation. Great flavor, too. The shipping is expensive ( basically doubles the price :-/).
you might be able to save a bit by ordering Caputo's Manitoba direct, www.brickovenbaker.com, and they will charge you actual shipping, instead of flat rate shipping on Amazon. That is if you are in Eastern united States, it may be the better deal. I think he is in New England, Massachussets or Connecticut.
If you are in Western United states, visit www.centralmilling.com, and send them an email/contact, asking which of their flours matches Caputo "Manitoba"
Turns out that the Manitoba flour I bought in amazon, is the one from brick oven baker. It says "manitoba" on the package but it says it only has 12.5% protein. While the specs on amazon said it had 15% proteins. I sent them an email, hopefully they can clarify this. Because, I'm not sure if the W index of a flour corresponds to the protein content. I mean, can a W380 flour have only 12.5% protein?
I already had my apple yeast water ready when I realized this, so I made the starter with this flour... we'll see! I just want flour that's good for panettone haha
The W number is not a measure of protein.
"Manitoba" is a province of Canada. But the name "Manitoba" is also a "trade name" Caputo uses for one of their flours. As a "trade name" there is no formal specification for "Manitoba" flour, It is whatever Caputo specifies.
So if a recipe calls for "Manitoba" flour, then they either mean Caputo's Manitoba flour, or a flour of equivalent W numbers, etc.
Here's the specs for Caputo's Manitoba:
http://www.mulinocaputo.it/en/flour/la-linea-professionale/manitoba
So if Brick Oven Baker sent you something labeled 12.5%, they sent you the wrong one, or if it really was Manitoba, then they mislabeled it with their private repack label.
Did you buy a repack (something smaller than 55 pounds), or the full 55 pound bag? I can see how the repack could either be mislabeled or they sent you the wrong one.
In ofher words, if the flour really is Caputo Manitoba, it could have been just a clerical error, when one of the office grunts was making up the repack label template. Brick Oven Baker is a small home business.
So you are correct to point out their inconsistency and the confusion it caused.
It's a repack. From what I see on their website the bag is either 55lb or 5lb bags that have been repacked (same flour than the one on your link).
I understand the W number is not a measure of the protein, but I guess the higher the strength the higher the protein content? I mean, can you have a W400 flour with 12% protein? or a W350 with 15% protein? I'm not sure what's the correlation (if any) between W and protein % (please, enlighten me if you know, because I can't find that info lol).
I really really hope it was just mislabeled :)
Thank you so much for your rapid response!
Caputo sells mainly in 55 pound (25 kilo) bags, though they do have some 1 kilo and 5 kilo bags. The 5 pound bag is where the reseller, Brick Oven Baker, takes the flour out of Caputo's 55 pound bag, and makes 11 bags of 5 pounds each, and then puts their own label on it. It's so people don't have to buy 55 pounds at a time.
So if BOB's private label says both "Manitoba" and "12.5% protein", then someone at BOB screwed up.
W number is a complicated thing with mathematics and graphs. You can read about it here:
http://www.theartisan.net/Flours_One.htm
Warning, reading that made my head spin, and I'm a tech geek.
I just heard from the BOB, apparently they bought a bunch of bags for their pizza flour to reduce cost, so they used that bag and just put a "manitoba" sticker on my order. Which I need to double check, I can't remember if there was a sticker.
Thanks for the article and all your help! (It does make my head spin btw hahaha)
You don't need some magic Italian flour which by the way is most likely milled from North American grain. KABF works just fine in panettone. Or you can order some high gluten flour.