June 8, 2009 - 3:57am
question about high extraction flour
I have been reading about high extraction flour on this forum and I want to make Thom Leonard's country french, but I have a question. In the book "artisan baking" it tells of a way to make a kind of pseudo high extraction flour by sifting whole wheat, but in "the bread bible" RLB talks about reduced bran flour. It sounds similar and she states one way of getting reduced bran flour is to sift whole wheat, but another way is to add wheat germ and bran to bread flour. My question is, is reduced bran, and high extraction in fact the same. I added bran and germ to white flour and I really liked the texture of the big flakes of wheat bran. I just want to make sure they are about the same so I don't get bad results.
thank you in advance.
Share
Every few weeks, someone posts a question about high extraction flour. So, every few weeks, I find myself staring at the Golden Buffalo checkout screen wondering if I am the type of person for whom spending $1.95/lb (including shipping) is not out of the question.
Thus far, I have not been that person. But today, the elusive High Extraction flour sings its siren song ever more sweetly. Temptation is great. I grow weak. The memory of thrift and prudence vanishes like the shores of a distant Ithaca. Today, I might not be able to resist. Pray for me, that I may remember Penelope.
Hi, Eric,
I got an order of Golden Buffalo flour that I've been using to make the Pointe a Calliere Miche from Hamelman. It is an extraordinary loaf. Sometimes I make it into two smaller miches, and sometimes I make the levain with rye or pumpernickel. I do add a little extra water because of David Snyder's comments about the flour, and I find that no matter how slack it is, it winds up being delicious. He calls for a series of folds, and they do help the dough come together.
When you think of how much food you get for the cost of flour, it works out to be fairly economical. The flavor is just so great, and the the keeping capacity is excellent, too.
Patricia
While I have never used store bought high extraction flour living in a high shipping charges part of the country, I have made excellent Poillaine style miche using straight white whole wheat flour both from King Arthur and Hodgson Mills.
Maybe someone that has actually used both types of flour can comment on how similar or dissimilar the results are.
Golden Buffalo has a more assertive, wheaty flavor. The color is more intense. White whole wheat is milder. I prefer Golden Buffalo, but it's a matter of personal taste.
Patricia
I'm not positive but I think typical "high extraction" flour only has 10% of bran, whereas RLB's "reduced bran" flour has 20% of the bran remaining. So you'd want to adjust her formula if you were trying for a T60.
Both have 98% of whole wheat's germ.