The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

ISO rye flour at a reasonable price

ejm's picture
ejm

ISO rye flour at a reasonable price

A while back strattor was asking where to find rye flour in NYC. I replied that it was difficult to find in Toronto as well but that there was one store we knew of.

Well, not any more....

Yesterday, we rode our bikes over to the store to replenish the rye flour. There were NO 5kg bags of "Five Roses" dark rye flour!! Nor any 2.5kg bags of "Five Roses" dark rye flour!! They did have some little bags of "Bob's Red Mill" at around $3 for 600gms! We continued riding, visiting all the supermarket chains. Not one of them was selling rye flour in bags larger than 600gm (Yes, it was BRM, all priced about the same, give or take 25¢). Most of them had zero rye flour on their shelves. Some of them had 5kg bags of a multigrain blend wheat flour (white and whole wheat), cracked wheat, cracked rye and whole flax. How useless is that?

This morning, I spoke with someone at "Five Roses" and am absolutely devastated to learn that their "dark rye" flour has been discontinued due to slow sales. Wah!!! One good thing though, the woman I spoke with did say that she would pass on my dismay to the correct department, with the note that as the price of wheat rises, people will be looking for alternative grains. "Five Roses" (was a Canadian company) is now owned by the US based company "Smucker Foods".

And now here's some really disturbing news. "Robin Hood" (that I always thought was Canadian, but googling shows that it was started in the US and moved into Canada in the earlier part of the 1900s) is now ALSO owned by "Smucker Foods". So much for competition....

Where in Toronto can I buy rye flour at a reasonable price? A 5kg bag would be nice.

beeman1's picture
beeman1

I feel your pain. The only retail rye flour I have seen is a wal- mart. I was able to order 50lb. Bags through a local health food store. I have recently ordered  a mill and will make my own. 

mariana's picture
mariana

Hi,

 I don't know what would be a reasonable price for you. I live in Toronto, west end, and  buy rye flour for 1.25/kg, i.e. $25 for a 20kg bag. Rye kernels ( for rye malt and for milling my own shrot or whole grain rye), rye flakes, cracked rye, dark rye and medium rye I buy from the bins or order at Strictly Bulk and white rye flour I buy from a corner bakery because they use it in their production of Light Rye bread - a few kg or a 20kg bag, it depends on my needs.

 Generally, even 5 kg of dark rye is too much for me to keep in my pantry, because I have to keep dark rye cool but not refrigerated and not frozen to preserve its quality and microbiological content, and I bake really dark ryes with high % or dark rye flour about once on twice a month, i.e. seldom. So I prefer to buy a 1-2 kg bag of dark rye in a health food store or mill my own and that is always plenty for me.

 You may live in a different area of the city and will find your own bulk food store to order from or a bakery that uses rye flours in their production and are willing to sell you a few kg. If they need a name of the mill to order from, I can give you the ones I tested and find their quality very satisfying/ 

GrainPro has good rye kernels, dark rye (aka whole rye) and medium rye flour. They sell medium rye as LIGHT, but in reality it is medium, has too much bran and germ to really qualify as light.  They mill organic stone ground flours. GrainPro has a big store in Scarborough

Grain Process Enterprises Ltd

 (416) 291-3226
115 Commander Blvd
Scarborough, ON  M1S3M7
CANADA

Brant Flour in Oakland mills extraordinary good light rye flour, organic dark rye flour and organic whole rye flour. I use their light rye flour in Pierre Nury's Light rye and other European light rye recipes.

http://www.brantflourmills.com/

 The Baking association of Canada has a website with a directory of all mills and flour suppliers, they also organize a bakery showcase once a year in Toronto, where you can go and meet the producers and distributors, discuss their flours and grain products and prices, taste and see the differences, mingle with other bakers and have fun.

http://www.bakingassoccanada.com/

http://www.bakingassoccanada.com/directory/directory.cfm

good luck!

mariana

ejm's picture
ejm

Many thanks for this information, Mariana. This is most useful.

-Elizabeth