January 21, 2006

Hooked up!

Filed under: Bagels, Ingredients — Professor Salt @ 12:00 am

Sir Lancelot FlourA 50 pound bag of flour ought to hold me for a while. Scoring this humongous sack today gave me the same joy i felt as a college freshman when my dorm mate brought home a half keg of beer.

King Arthur Flour’s Sir Lancelot has a higher gluten percentage than just about any American-milled flour, and ought to produce the chewy bagels I’m after. If I can’t, it’s not the flour’s fault.

But scoring a beer keg as an eighteen year old is as difficult as securing this high gluten flour as a home baker. This particular brand is only distributed through wholesale channels to professional bakers. I spoke to a Phoenix distributor willing to sell me a pallet of 50 bags. That’s a ton and a quarter of flour.

A schmuck like me has to jump through serious hoops to get a “small” quantity, or have really good friends with a hookup. Thanks, RM, you are the best!

5 Responses to “Hooked up!”

  1. Kirk Says:

    Hey PS - Looks like a major “score” for you! I have a question; we have a chain here Henry’s; that seels bulk unbleached high-gluten flour that my MIL and the Missus claims is the best flour for making Dumplings (jiaohzi), how is this different from the flour you managed to get? Is it the amount of gluten, or processing?

  2. The Survival Gourmet Says:

    How do you keep that much flour from going bad before you use it?

  3. rafael Says:

    That I know of, this is the same stuff, from KA, only in a 3-pound bag:

    http://shop.bakerscatalogue.com/items/Sir_Lancelot_Unbleached_High_Gluten_Flour.html

  4. Professor Salt Says:

    Kirk: Someone on Chowhound suggested Henry’s as a retail source for high gluten flour. King Arthur Flour supposedly keeps tighter tolerances on their protein content than other mills, but I have no way to verify that. That matters to pro bakers looking for the most consistent results, but not to me. I didn’t look into the Henry’s flour because I had an angle on a wholesale source, and could buy it cheaper.

    SG: If I had room in the freezer, I’d store it there. Unfortunately, I can only keep it in plastic bins and hope I go through it quickly.

    Rafael: Believe it or not, I actually wanted this humongous bag. I go through about 5 pounds of it a week, easy.

  5. You gonna eat that? Random musings on food and life in Orange County, California » Bread baking demos with King Arthur Says:

    […] They make flours for both retail bakers and the commercial trade, such as 50 pound sacks of Sir Lancelot high gluten flour I prefer to bake bagels with. They also sell all manner of baker’s needs through their […]

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