Flour selection question

[hoovarmin]

Back in 2020 I bought the Forkish book and flour was so hard to come by I had to order a 50 lb bag of King Arthur Sir Lancelot All Purpose Artisan Flour. It's all that I could find at the time. The results were fantastic, but I stopped making bread about 4 months later. I just decided to get back into it and bought some standard KA AP from the grocery store. Using the same methods as before, the bread looks beautiful, but it is NOT nearly as nice to eat as the bread made with the Sir Lancelot.

My wife is not ready for me to order another 50 lb bag of flour, lol. But I cannot find the same flour in a smaller quantity. I was wondering what you bread master's recommend as a substitute that would be comparable?

[rickgregory]

Richard Chrz uses that flour I think so hopefully he'll chime in.

A few thoughts... 1) Breadtopia sells a wide variety of flour and it's reasonably priced. Shipping hurts a little but the flour prices are good enough that the all in price isn't bad. After baking with some Cairnspring Trailblazer, a locally milled Yecora Rojo flour that Tartine and others use, I orderd 10lbs from Breadtopia. I would have ordered more Cairnspring, but the smaller bags are expensive (2lbs for $10, 5lbs for $18). The 50lb is fine, but I can't use flour that fast and it does go bad (unless frozen etc).

The Sir Lancelot is a high protein red spring wheat. It looks like the KA bread flour would be a closer match vs the KA AP. I'd try that first as it should be easy to find.

Also, did you vary anything else that might have accounted for the difference?

[jfmorris]

Have you tried the KA bread flour, rather than the all-purpose? It's got blue rather than red on the label, and many of the stores around here carry it in 5 and 10 pound bags. I used it instead of the AP on my last no-knead loaf, and was very pleased with the results. I feel it was better than the loaves I make with the AP version anyway.

Looks like the bread flour is in between the AP and the Lancelot as far as protein/gluten, so will be closer to the Lancelot in performance than the AP is.

All Purpose is 11.7% protein
Bread is 12.7% protein
Sir Lancelot (only in 50 pound bags) is 14% protein

[RonB]

^^ this ^^

[mgaretz]

You can up the protein and gluten content of the AP flour by simply adding some vital wheat gluten. Easily available online and a lot of stores carry the Bob's Redmill brand.

[RonB]

^^ and this^^

[Mark V]

You can usually find out online what type of wheat a certain miller uses for their different flours, along with protein content, so you should be able to find a comparable substitute. Forkish recommends flours 11-12% for his recipes. I have had good luck with higher protein flours for his and other breads. My usual is KA bread flour, at 12.7, KA AP is 11.7.

[hoovarmin]

Thanks guys. It never occurred to me to check the protein content. This is very helpful.

[hoovarmin]

jfmorris Mark V mgaretz Oh snap, turns out it was a different Knight Of the Roundtable - Sir Galahad Artisan Flour. On Amazon it says the protein content is 11.7 - same as the AP. That said, how could it be so much better?

[jfmorris]

hoovarmin maybe you got an old bag of the AP, that had been sitting around, versus fresher for the bag you bought direct? Maybe you should email/chat with someone at King Arthur and ask if there is a real difference between the AP targeted to consumers and the large bags of Sir Galahad, targeted to bakeries.

[Smoke em if you got em]

Check out Central Milling. Very high quality flour. Get on their email list, and take advantage of the sales. The high protein choices are excellent for pizza and breads. I exclusively use their custom Tony Gemignani blend for pizza.

[rickgregory]

Protein alone wont change the flavor though. Wheat variety can, though (by which I mean the strain of wheat, not just red vs white, though that can have an effect too). One challenge with large mills is that it's hard to find out the specific strain used.

[Richard Chrz]

I use Dakota Maid breadflour. It is generally 12.6 it’s a red spring wheat that was for my bread, for my pizzas I use sir Lancelot high gluten

[RichardCullip]

How about King Arthur's High Gluten flour at 14.2% protein it's a hard spring red wheat flour.

https://shop.kingarthurbaking.com/items/high-gluten-flour?gclid=CjwKCAjwgr6TBhAGEiwA3aVuIc3nlMBlMCbF8MdWSCnwqbp7r5006RG200wcINDKUh-v9QG2DKGBJBoCoccQAvD_BwE

[nmautone]

I use King Arthur all the time and love it. But my absolute favorite is https://fairhavenmill.com/ Fairhaven Mill out of WA State. Great affordable organic flours and have some heritage grain varieties available as well.

[FireMan]

I’m not in the category as you guys, but this is some pretty good stuff. It is a little on the expensive side I think.

[hoovarmin]

Bro, if I made bread from that I'd clear a room for days. I have a stomach allergy to whole grains.

[RonB]

Our local grocery sells KA bread flour in 2 lb bags. That should be a way to try it on the cheap.

[FireMan]

Hoov, have you checked out Einkorn grain. It is listed as easy to digest, less likely to cause gut inflammation, & do to its ancient quality easy in the gluten realm.

[hoovarmin]

I'll have to give it a go.