Specialty Flour?

[kimmercake.livejournal.com]

As I delve deeper into the world of bread baking I'm looking for a place to find specialty flours. By that I mean different high gluten versions of bread flours (like at the bottom of the page here), not stuff like semolina, amaranth, rye flours (I know where to find those).

I've found a decent selection of bulk flours at the Harvest Market in Central but they don't have the gluten variety I'm looking for. King Arthur has a decent selection too but I've not tried any of them. A Yelp search brought up Christina's Spice & Specialty Foods in Inman but I think those are more of the flours I mentioned above I'm not looking for. My next stop might be the bulk bins at Whole Foods.

Can anyone suggest a place where I can browse and buy these specialty type of flours? And, if not, are there e-tailers? Also, any recommendations for specific types of flour you've used with good results would be awesome too.

Hope this isn't too far off topic here. Thank you so much! [x-posted]

Comments

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

King Arthur would definitely have been my #1 choice. You might consider calling Savenor's to see if they have it (both locations). I am not sure that the bulk bins at Whole Foods list the gluten content of the flours they offer. At least, not the one at River Street, where I usually go, and which is pretty darn big.

[kimmercake.livejournal.com]

Nuts, I was just at Savenor's yesterday!

I will pursue the King Arthur flours. If anything, you can buy them online.

[gingicat]

I've been going through this quandary myself.

The King Arthur catalog has good quality stuff, but some of it is the same as what one finds at Harvest Co-Op, at higher prices. I do like their seed mix.

You can sift the King Arthur (or Trader Joe's) white whole wheat and/or red whole wheat through a fine sifter if you want to make artisan bread from a fine whole wheat flour.

Restaurant Depot has a King Arthur high-gluten flour in 50-lb bags, which is way too large for me to try it on a whim... they do have some awesome containers that are JUST like the container that the King Arthur catalog sells as a "dough doubler".

Oh, and Harvest Co-Op carries a gluten additive that I've used to good effect; if they no longer carry it, I know the King Arthur catalog has it.

And, for low-gluten breads, making a sponge goes a LONG way.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

They do have the plain old vital wheat gluten at Harvest, still. As of yesterday. :)

You need to be a retailer to shop at Restaurant Depot, don't you?

[gingicat]

You need to have a business tax ID, and then you get a free membership. I work for a non-profit and therefore all of us who work here have membership cards. :) (It helps that we're two miles away from the Needham location.)

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Pretty sweet!

[kimmercake.livejournal.com]

Very!

[kimmercake.livejournal.com]

Do you know what the gluten count is on that?

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I don't think they list it, but Google tells me that the one offered by Bob's Red Mill is 75% gluten.

[ceo]

If it's their "Sir Lancelot" flour, 14.2%. They also have an organic high-gluten flour at 14.0%, and a first clear flour as well. I'm glad to see they're now selling these online, even if only in 3# bags; used to be you could only get them in 50# bags from a wholesaler.

I've ordered KA's organic bread flour and organic white whole wheat flour from their website, and been very happy with the products and the service.

[kimmercake.livejournal.com]

Cool, thank you!

[gingicat]

Oh, and also, if you want to try gluten-free baking, Harvest also carries xanthan gum which is a necessary gluten replacement.

[kimmercake.livejournal.com]

You think? I'm kind of tired of the flours I've gotten from Harvest. I feel like the quality isn't super great. I'm ready try to something else though I do like the price. I'm going to look into KA...

[cerridwynn.livejournal.com]

You may want to check out Four Star Farms: http://www.fourstarfarms.com/
I'm not sure it's quite what you're looking for, but they do have a few bread flours and, hey, it's local!

(I'm also not sure how you order from them -- I got their flour through a friend who's a cook. They may have a minimum order. But you could always call and find out!)

[kimmercake.livejournal.com]

Will do, thanks for the tip!

Amazon

[agnosticoracle.livejournal.com]

I was able to get several types online via amazon.com. If you do so with any frequency it might be worth getting amazon premium to save on shipping.

Re: Amazon

[kimmercake.livejournal.com]

Good call, that would have been my last ditch effort. I love Amazon but am hoping to find something locally. Thanks!

Start dating a nerdly IRS agent? ....

[mfinnigan.livejournal.com]

... That looks curiously like Will Ferrel?

[anu3bis.livejournal.com]

Whole foods has an impressive collection, but I'm still going with King Arthur Flour, here.

[kimmercake.livejournal.com]

Ah, what I thought - thanks!

friendly moderator note

[ron_newman]

"Where can I get obscure food X" questions are always welcome here! And you seem to be getting much more response here than in b0st0n.

Re: friendly moderator note

[kimmercake.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I may delete that other post if no one bites by the end of the day...

[puckbear.livejournal.com]

Back when I lived in Allston Clear Flour (http://www.clearflourbread.com/) used to sell packages of some of the different flours they use for bread baking. I don't know if they still do though.