May 25, 2011 - 4:22am
Shawnee Flour ?
Has anyone ever seen Shawnee Flour? It is from Shawnee, Oklahoma. I purchased some at my local grocery store (IGA in Camden SC). I had no idea if it would be a "cheap" flour or a "good" flour. I made Jason's Ciabatta bread which I have made MANY times. For some reason, this flour made this bread better than any other I have ever used, including King Arthur. It had a very fine sifted texture to it, very light feeling. I hope this store keeps this one in stock!!
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Shawnee Mills buys the majority of their wheat from Oklahoma producers (I assume that they will have to "import" wheat this year, because between drought, freeze, and hail damage, this year's production is going to be terrible). From a producer standpoint, they are absolutely the best to work with, and the only time we don't sell all of our wheat to them is in record production years when they have already bought as much as they plan to mill for the year and won't take any more.
From a baking standpoint, my experience is that they are pretty consistent year in and year out. They are best known for their extensive line of baking mixes, and the only flours they sell to retail customers are AP and self rising. They package bread flour and whole wheat flour for food service customers, and you can buy sacks of them at the elevator, but they don't distribute to grocery stores. The bread flour is definitely better and less expensive than most retail bread flours, as long as you don't mind buying in 25 lb sacks. (I've never used KA, so can't make that comparison). We mill our own whole wheat, so I've never used theirs.
Just thought I'd update - yields turned out better than expected (below average, but not exceptionally bad). Quality was very good. So, Shawnee Mills should be in good shape for next year's flour.
Thanks for the info!! I was just so surprised when this ciabatta came out so good. The texture, holes, etc. were just awesome. I added green and black olives to one loaf (it makes 4 loaves) and ate half a loaf before I could stop myself!!
Yes! I'm from Oklahoma, so I've seen a lot of Shawnee mills. In fact, I've been to their factory a couple of times!
I haven't tried their flower, but I use their cornbread mixes every once and a while. My mom and her family moved to Shawnee from California, but since then she moved. My aunt that still lives in Shawnee sends me their mixes, so I have a stash in my cubbord.
I caught the last end of the news and it looks like Shawnee might have some tornado action there tonight, hope all is well.
It was fairly bad there. Not as bad as Joplin, although. Our friend's HS graduation last night in Shawnee had to be canceled at the last minute due to the storm.
We we're just hit with bad wind where I live in Oklahoma!
Glad all is well, I've never even seen a tornado, but we've had some touch down here as well. Guess I'm just lucky or God looks out for me!! Take care. Susan