Is There a Rye Flour Shortage?

[58limited]

I can't seem to find rye flour anywhere other than Bob's Red Mill - small expensive bag. I've purchased Hodgson Mills before at the local store but it isn't even on their website now. Really expensive on Amazon too.

I have a new sourdough culture adapted for rye flour and I want to bake some bread with it. I bought the Bob's Red Mill to feed it for now.

[MBMorgan]

Seems to be in stock at King Arthur Flour.

[58limited]

I saw that. My local store doesn't carry it and it will be more expensive than Bob's if I pay shipping. I might have to settle for one or the other even though they are pricey right now.

[J-Melt]

Our flour shelf was pretty low when I was as Mariano’s the other day. Couldn’t find any whole grain four at a price I was willing to pay.

[jfmorris]

I've never shopped for rye flour, and checking my local stores online shows none of them (Kroger, Publx and Walmart) have it in stock either.

I use rye malt in brewing, but only on occasion....

[johnec00]

I get rye flours from Baker's Authority - 5 pound bags at reasonable prices so long as you order several at a time as shipping is a bit painful.

They are also one of the very limited sources of Clear Flour for rye bread.

https://www.bakersauthority.com/collections/rye-flours-bulk

[58limited]

I looked at the site, lots of good products but I don't need anything other than the rye flour right now and, as you mentioned, shipping was pretty high for one item.

[Skip]

Our local Food Coop had some yesterday.

[coupster]

Our local Food Coop had some yesterday.

+1 The only place I've been able to find rye flour at a reasonable cost with pretty reliable availability is my local food coop. And since it sold as a bulk commodity, I get to buy what I need when I need it so I don't have to fuss over storing it. Everywhere else its either not available or way too many $$. And its been that way for a at least a couple of years now.

[58limited]

Unfortunately I do not have a Co-op near me. I ended up ordering two of the 3 lb bags ($10.95 each) from King Arthur because there were some other things I wanted from their website and shipping stayed the same price when those items were added to the order. Also, the bag of Bob's Red Mill that I bought yesterday was the last one at the store, no guarantee that they will restock soon.

I did find a 5 lb bag on amazon for $15.00, I would have bought that one but I wanted the other items from King Arthur.

To compare: Hodgson Mill's rye flour was about $6.00 for 5 lbs but now its unavailable.

And I googled "Is there a rye flour shortage?" and yes there is: most rye comes from Northern Europe. Covid, bad weather events, and geopolitical issues have all contributed to a shortage for quite awhile now (I guess that lets you know that the last time I baked with rye flour was a few years ago).

[jfmorris]

Good to know. Now you have me wondering if there is a rye malt shortage.... checking brewing supply sites... Nope. Seems to be plenty of malted rye - and a good bit appears to be domestic. After all - a decent percentage of whisky made in the US uses rye. Must not be much demand for rye flour though...

[58limited]

I'm dumb. I forgot that I have a grain mill stored in a closet. I can buy 5 lbs rye berries for $7.00 or 50 lbs for $31.00 (don't need that much) and grind them myself. Even with shipping added its still a few $$ cheaper than Bob's or King Arthur. Wish I would have remembered about the grain mill before placing the King Arthur order - D'oh!!

[mrteddyprincess]

I just milled rye this past weekend to make rye bread for this coming Sunday. Making pastrami on rye and Reubens.

Brian

[RichieB]

I have the KA Organic Rye, 3#. It's available at Amazon $9.66. In stock and I can have it tomorrow.

[SheilaAnn]

My last bag of rye was gifted.

58limited Have you considered an Eastern European market? I have a predominantly Polish market near work that has all kinds of rye flours.