SWR: Wheat

Any tips on where to get ideologically pure wheat flour for less than the $6-7/lb Dan's source charges?

Also curious, Mark, if you're looking, about glyphosate as a desiccant. I know it's less toxic than the chemicals it replaced, but I can't believe the Politburo would approve this use. Or maybe it would?
 
originally posted by Cliff:
Any tips on where to get ideologically pure wheat flour for less than the $6-7/lb Dan's source charges?
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Jaded soul, thou! "Ideologically pure".... Anson Mills just makes hella tasty grains.

I love their pencil cob grits and Carolina gold rice especially.
 
originally posted by Sharon Bowman:
originally posted by Cliff:
Any tips on where to get ideologically pure wheat flour for less than the $6-7/lb Dan's source charges?
Click to expand...

Jaded soul, thou! "Ideologically pure".... Anson Mills just makes hella tasty grains.

I love their pencil cob grits and Carolina gold rice especially.
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Isn't that the place Dan indirectly recommended? It sounds fab, but the prices I saw are out of reach for my daily bread.

ETA: The daily bread has, I confess, become something of an obsession.
 
originally posted by Cliff:
Isn't that the place Dan indirectly recommended?
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Yes; whence my defense of them. Because I really like them.

But you're right, it isn't cheap. I (maybe wrongly) tend to think of any foodstuffs as a "luxury" and therefore don't get outraged at the price (within reason). I was sobered (if I can ever use that word) when I posted a picture to social media of a lamb's head I had excitedly purchased at Marlow & Daughters in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a couple of weeks ago. A savvier homemaker friend, Alex R., noted that it was $8/lb. and that that was highway robbery.

So... I hear you. I am a whiz with leftovers and am a parsimonious sort. But sometimes the higher tariff might be justified? Dunno.
 
I don't doubt that their wheat is worth it and don't want to disparage what they do. I'm glad they do and that it's available. If I didn't go through 25 lb bags every month, I'd consider it. I just wonder if there isn't a more moderate option out there. I haven't been able to find ideologically pure, European-style (protein c. 11 percent) wheat that is not a total luxury. Thus my question about just how ideological the quest for purity is in this case -- the price differential is huge.
 
originally posted by Jonathan Loesberg:
25 lbs. a month! Man, that's a fair amount of bread. I thought Gail and I were bread eaters, and I don't think we usually use more than 10.
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Well, maybe not quite that much, but close. As I say, it has become an obsession. There is the starter that has to be fed. I don't have the logistics down of refrigerating it. As soon as I do, someone asks for focaccia, or pizza. And then there is the daily bread.
 
Yes, I use starter, too. I find it stays fine in the refrigerator if you use it at least once every 3 weeks or so and since I make up batches of dough every week or so, that's hardly a problem. Pizza uses very little flour: three cups makes up a good sized dough. And I use only unbleached white for that. I'm not much of a purist about flour, though we do use a fair amount of rye for our daily bread.
 
originally posted by Cliff:
Any tips on where to get ideologically pure wheat flour for less than the $6-7/lb Dan's source charges?

Also curious, Mark, if you're looking, about glyphosate as a desiccant. I know it's less toxic than the chemicals it replaced, but I can't believe the Politburo would approve this use. Or maybe it would?
Click to expand...

There's no reason I can think of why glyphosate should act as a desiccant, but it is remarkably non-toxic to animals (we auxotrophes don't make our own aromatic amino acids so need for the shikimate pathway).

Mark Lipton
 
Thanks. I am not opposed to GMO or glyphosate, in general. I much prefer it to the alternatives. But still, spraying it as a desiccant right before harvest does not sound Kosher.
 
It disrupts the shikimic acid pathway through inhibition of the 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSP) enzyme. The resulting deficiency in EPSP production leads to reductions in aromatic amino acids vital for protein synthesis and plant growth (Tomlin 2006; Vencill, 2002). Glyphosate is absorbed by the leaves and stems of plants and is translocated throughout the plant (Roberts 1998) concentrating in meristem tissue (Franz et al, 1997). Translocation into the grain does not occur if treatment is delayed until seed heads or pods are almost ripe (i.e. bulk sample less than 30% moisture).
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So it helps ripen the wheat and deal with weeds, it sounds like.

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www.glyphosate.eu
 
I am no baker but I was recently stunned by just how much better our local Nash's Red and White flours were than even the other local organic producers - a big wow.
 
originally posted by Cliff:
Any tips on where to get ideologically pure wheat flour for less than the $6-7/lb Dan's source charges?
Click to expand...

Many of our local AZ bakers use product from Hayden Flour Mill ($4/# for a 10# bag of AP) http://www.haydenflourmills.com/
Good product from good people. I've not used their flour yet but have used a few of their grains and their crackers are really good.
 
Thanks. That is quite a bit better. Still around twice as much as the locally available organic flours. Excellent conventional flour can be had for $1.39/#

originally posted by BJ: I am no baker but I was recently stunned by just how much better our local Nash's Red and White flours were than even the other local organic producers - a big wow.
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This does not surprise me. I'm sure the luxury versions are really good. At some point I'll give one a test drive.
 
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