The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

A different kind of flour

localgrace's picture
localgrace

A different kind of flour

Is anyone familiar with Eagle Mills All Natural all purpose flour with white and ultragrain flour?  

It has 9 grams of whole grain per serving.  Protein 4, Fiber 2,   It's supposed to be used cup for cup as regular flour.

I didn't feel that the bread I made tasted as good and was darker than usual. So were the cookies I made.

Any thoughts on this? I'm ready to just dump the flour.

Yerffej's picture
Yerffej

This is a Conagra product and I find that there are much better flours available.  Much much better,

Jeff

G-man's picture
G-man

I've used this, bought some from Costco. It is not great, not at all.

flournwater's picture
flournwater

Well, looks like I'm in the minority here.  I buy it at COSTCO and have found it to be quite suitable for many of my bread making needs.  Admittedly it produces a darker loaf than some others.  But I like the price, I like the results, what else is there to like.   I use it gram for gram just like any other flour.  I do sometimes blend it with a bit of Pillsbury AP flour it I want something lighter and, for pizza, I blend it with semolina.

Stephanie Brim's picture
Stephanie Brim

I've been using it recently. I have oatmeal bread dough I'm making out of it right now, and I've made chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles as well. I can't really tell the difference.

localgrace's picture
localgrace

Thanks to everyone for their comments. I'm not alone with what I think of the flour but I see I can still use it for some things. I normally use King Arthur Flour for everything. I guess I'm spoiled. I'm quite the amateur bread maker but I am a little fussy about the flour. I need all the help I can get.

davidg618's picture
davidg618

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/24266/eagle-mills039-unbleached-allpurpose-flour-critique

flavorwise, this is the worst flour I've ever used.

David G

pmccool's picture
pmccool

My wife picked up a 2-pack of 10-pound bags of the Eagle Mills flour on a recent trip to Costco.  The flour is a bit darker than a bleached AP but not much different than other unbleached flours.  So far it hasn't presented any problems in anything that we have baked.  I don't think I would want to use it in something like an angel food cake but it's been fine for scones, muffins, bread, rolls, etc.  Neither of us, nor anyone who has eaten the items made with the flour, have had any gripes with taste or coloration.

This may just be one of those things that is a matter of individual tastes/preferences, since none of the complainants have mentioned anything other than flavor or color as issues.  Since the flour also includes (to the best of my ability to interpret Conagra's marketing lingo) white whole wheat flour, it is reasonable to expect that there will be some differences flavor, color, liquid absorption and, possibly, texture when compared to a typical AP flour.  However, none of those have cropped up as problems in my use of the flour so far.

Paul

tikidoc's picture
tikidoc

I have used it some too.  Not a huge fan for simple breads because I don't love the flavor (I use mostly KA, largely Sir Lancelot) but have used as a blend and it's OK.  For things like cookies, where flavor comes from more than just the flour, I thought it did pretty well, not a huge difference.  I like the health aspect, but I have also been experimenting with whole grains like kamut, with good results.

mrfrost's picture
mrfrost

Another non-fan of EMAP for yeast breads. Don't seem to get the rise I expect.

However, for non yeast breads, seemed to work out great, for the few recipes I tried.

EMAP is 70%/30% blend of "some kind of unbleached AP"(70%) and their Ultragrain white whole wheat flour(30%). Now, I do find that I get great yeast bread results with my own blend of GM Better for Bread and up to 40% Ultragrain white whole wheat(packaged for Kroger stores).

But, at the same time, I don't believe ConAgra is touting EMAP as a great or even good bread flour. Most mass market AP flours are not, though some are decent.

flournwater's picture
flournwater

I used it to make a Challah  (Bakery Challah  -  Inside the Jewish Bakery; Ginsberg and Berg)  for Thanksgiving.  The development during fermentation/proofing was less vigorous than I had expected but the texture of the dough made preparing it for braiding and the final braiding process something akin to child's play.

The oven bloom was incredible and the nutty flavor, complimented by the creamy texture made it a welcome addition to our family meal.

(click image for larger view)

I believe too many home bakers tend to rely on a single (or perhaps only two) variety of flour for their bread making interests.  Obviously, Eagle Mills is not the only flour I'd use in my bread making but it has merit and I will do my best to keep some on hand to use when I want the flavor profile and performance it offers.