Stone Ground Flour

[spinal]

Thinking of buying some stone ground flour to make bread... has anyone tried this?

What brand should I look for? Bacheldre seems to ship in the UK, and looks pretty good...

M

[adm]

One flour supplier I can highly recommend is Shipton Mill. They have an online store and an excellent range of flours. They do charge shipping so it's worth buying a good few bags at a time.

One particular flour that's worth looking at for bread baking is their French Type 55 flour. This makes a fantastic loaf (it's not stoneground, but it is really good!)

[barney]

You can get Bacheldre from Amazon, I thought about it but shipping is still quite steep. The other place that is worth a look is Big Barn, you might find someone closer to home, we have a few local mills here in Cambridgeshire selling stone ground flour.

I've never used it myself but have heard that is much coarser than you might be used to, I suppose the important thing is the grain that it came from.

[rivergirl]

I loved the bacheldreoak oak smoked flour , I bought it from a supermarket but cannot remember which one.......

[spinal]

Aug 21, 2013 10:58:10 GMT barney said:

You can get Bacheldre from Amazon, I thought about it but shipping is still quite steep. The other place that is worth a look is Big Barn, you might find someone closer to home, we have a few local mills here in Cambridgeshire selling stone ground flour.

I've never used it myself but have heard that is much coarser than you might be used to, I suppose the important thing is the grain that it came from.

That's where I found it! Ironically, looking for something entirely different (my cookbook).

Shipping is free though on amazon? Or am I missing something?

£17.50 (£1.09 / kg) & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery.

[barney]

You're right Spinal, I must have confused myself, well done for reading!

I prefer something a bit stronger for my bread making, having great fun with Marriage's Manitoba flour at the moment, though it isn't stone ground. Might be worth searching for something that has the extra protein, especially if you're buying in bulk.

Good luck.

PS Got a Labradoodle myself, thing is as crazy as a barrow-load of monkeys...

[spinal]

To be honest, I only saw the white ground- but am looking for something that will make a multigrain type bread... any suggestions?

RE the 'doodle - I don't have one yet... my rottie-x-husky-x-tervuren rescue passed away from a very aggressive osteosarcoma two week ago yesterday. I have my eyes (and a deposit) on a bernedoodle though (the one in the link) - which should be coming home next weekend Do you shave yours? How curly is his hair? I'm trying to figure out if I need to shave them, or if daily combing is enough to keep a nice long coat...

[barney]

For a multi grain I would go with something malted and either with malted grains included or it is easy to do your own (soak some grains in water until they just start to sprout then dry them on a tray in a low oven and add to the flour). I once smoked some home-malted barley grains on my old BBQ (a la Laphroaig) and made a loaf of bread out of those, still one of the most fantastic flavours I have ever experienced in a bread. In this situation there are more important elements around the taste than the structure, so a weaker flour would be ok. Perhaps try some small bags (e.g. Doves) and see how you go.

Now way off topic: Our doodle is medium curly and we prefer to have it pretty long, he should be brushed/combed at least a few times a week, but it is difficult to get him to sit still so there are some fairly matted areas, particularly around the head (should have called him Marley). It's the trade off for not having hair all over the place. We keep the legs and feet quite short to stop him picking up too many burrs, seeds etc.



Perhaps this discussion should move to the Other Interests section...

[spinal]

When you say malted - do they need to be dried afterwards? I was planning to just pop the soaked seeds straight into the mixer and try.

Also - while I have you to hand, would they react with my sourdough culture? Is this one to do on yeast, or should I be ok with sourdough?

(now I need to build a door! Last loaf I baked in the oven took all night to cook without a door/fire... )
M.

[barney]

I suppose there is no reason why they have to be dried, I've always made more than I needed so have dried them to preserve them (damp grain will mould quickly so don't hang around), but true, probably better to put them in wet as they then won't suck moisture out of your dough and will be less crunchy afterwards (unless you like them crunchy!). I think I'm learning more than you here!

I can't see any reason why they would affect a sourdough culture, there'll probably be a few extra species on there to give it a helping hand! In fact I have seen cultures which include grains to start in the hope that they will 'seed' the sourdough (excuse the pun). Again, make sure they're used quickly, some of the moulds that grow on grains can be pretty nasty, to you and your culture.

[barney]

While you're malting your own grains, ever thought of milling them yourself too?!

www.myhomegrainmill.co.uk/index.html

[spinal]

Perfect, thanks! Where do you buy the grains? I was thinking of popping by Holland and barret on my way home, but they're not exactly... cheap...

M.

EDIT: Just had a look around the mill-your-own pages... WOW! quite interesting... now I know what to get for xmas I think I'll start with commercial milled flour, and work my way towards self-milling...

[brennanpincardiff]

I rate Bacheldre Mill very highly. Some of the best bread I have ever made. Great flavour.

[barney]

We've got a couple of good wholefood cooperatives here in Cambridge, Arjuna and Daily Bread, both of them do a good range of grains in varying pack sizes and for reasonable prices. I don't know where you are, but it is worth looking around for independents, especially wholesalers.

Good luck.

PS not cheap enough to make it worth milling your own, for that you need to be talking to producers I would have thought...