[Sca-cooks] whole wheat flour sources

[Terry Decker]

>When you say "grahamy", I know defining tastes is difficult, but is that
just too "brown" tasting or more like a malt or graham cracker taste?
>

By grahamy, I meant there was to much bran in the flour to interest me.  I
suspect it was bought from the mill unsieved, because all that bran is "good
for you."  It was health food store flour.

>Thanks Bear, Phlip & everybody.  When I was really healthy, I used to go
through about 25 pounds of flour a year just for my family & friends.
That's not a whole lot when it comes to pounds of flour, but it is a fair
amount for a single lady who doesn't use a mixer, not doing SCA feasts or
anything.  Kept the white regular flour in a tamale can.  Brown flour goes
rancid though, and won't keep nearly as well.
>

Whole flours still have the germ in and it is the oil in the germ that goes
rancid.  They either need to be used quickly or stored in an air tight
container in a refrigerator or freezer.

>We have a shire that loves to cook here so I will look into the larger
quantities.  We did bread from scratch for our last feast.  It was
wonderful.  Half whole wheat half regular flour with the mexican cone sugar.
I got to teach & supervise (but not make as much as I would have liked) as
I'd only been out of ICU for a couple months.  Could be I can get a
cooperative going.  We have a couple of good health food stores.  I am not
sure about the commercial flour suppliers here, but we are about 2 hours of
either Fresno or Los Angeles so somebody somewhere probably has some
interesting stuff.
>
>Thanks again,
>Samrah
>

If you have an artisan bakery anywhere near, talk to the baker.  He might be
willing to sell you small quantities of the flours he uses.

>PS.  I love honey, particularly clover honey, in all breads, and thanks for
how to make the sponge.  I'd heard about sponge, but now how to do it.
>

You might also improve the bread by adding diamalt to the dough.  It is a
malt powder that adds potency to the yeast (easier to consume sugars).  It's
a standard additive for commercial bakeries and I know that some of the
local supermarkets here in Oklahoma carry it in small bags.

A sponge is a fairly simple trick to improve flavor (more lactobaccilli in
the dough and time to produce lactic acid) and improve the rise (a better
and more even spread of yeasts in the dough).  I often prepare a sponge
before going to bed, so that it is ready when I want to bake on the next
day.

Bear