June 17, 2011 - 6:32am
my first manitoba flour has arrived!
Hey TFL-ers,
I received my order of Manitoba. Of course I will be browsing around for formula's and recipes to make the best of my first bake with this much praised flour.
Nevertheless I would be very happy to hear from you; what is your favorite formula/recipe with Manitoba?
hope to hear from you all,
Freerk
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Where did you get this flour from? I've done a quick google search and most of the sites that pop up are in German or are about hockey. :)
I sent you a message here on TFL with details on where you can order Manitoba!
freerk,
Where did you purchase the hard red winter wheat flour, Manitoba flour?? Thanks!!
My thoughts exactly!
I decided to go for the most enriched bread I ever made: Frisian Sugarbread, based on the "Rich Man's Brioche". The final dough is in the fridge proofing for 1 hour now. Curious to see this battle ;-)
I am going to shape them into individual cupcake style servings this time, it's a big riser with the usual flour, so... Manitoba, come and do your magic :-)
Thanks for that formula tip for the ensaimadas. I am definitely going to try (jo's way, I didn't try that one yet, with your flour mix. I tasted the original (without filling) and it was crunchy and separated al the way to the core, and not chewy like my best attempt so far. A nice golden brown on the first 3 or 4 or so layers, and than fading to a creamy yellow, pale, but just crusty enough. I am thinking of baking longer on a lower temp, and trying to stretch that dough even thinner.
I have all this great stuff coming in by mail right now; malt powder to try and make that leaner version of the Dutch "waldkorn" loaf and pearl sugar for the sugar bread. Great stuff at reasonable prices!
Have a good weekend
X Freerk
Good Canadian spring wheat flour has very high gluten content. We consider ourselves lucky to have it. Developed over many decades of breeding to mature in a short growing season and provide what is locally called "hard spring wheat". I tend to make what we call "elephant bread" periodically because it rises so much when it is mostly the white flour. You can make very fine 100% whole wheat with it and get a very good rise and crust.
Having it from Manitoba - the marketting on your bag suggests Mennonite ("mehl") - ethnic protestant Germans who immigrated from eastern Europe. Flour in Canada currently goes through the Canadian Wheat Board, the gov't agency which has marketted wheat for >100 years, which means that even if labelled Manitoba, it is the same as any flour of the same general type. There has been controversy so as I recall about the CWB (Cdn Wheat Board) and some wanting its monopoly to end and others wanting it to stay. Because so many of the world's farmers are subsidized to the detriment of smaller economies, I tend to be biased toward making sure we keep the CWB monopoly and also don't allow corporations and those out of province to own farmland.
I wonder what you paid, is this 10 kilos?
Unfortunately I have no means of verifying where the flour comes from. It was re-bagged in Germany, but on the website they sell it as Canadian, so my guess is they import and re-bag it. Don't know if there are any ethnic protestant Germans involved. I am not sure what you are saying in your post. You mean to say that all flour from the province of Manitoba can be called Manitoba, even if it is not the kind that produces the very interesting sounding "elephant bread"? Any chance you have a formula somewhere here on TFL, I'd love to try!
I've had some interesting bakes with this flour already. I first gave it a try on a "rich man's brioche" with added sugar pearls. It did an amazing job! I also experimented with a multi grain mix that was reasonably successful. Most and foremost I noticed the "speed" of the flour. With still some cookies in the oven I had to really crank up my tempo to keep up with the Manitoba! As a European I'm much more accustomed to lower gluten-potential flours and their "rhythm". I still have a lot to learn when it comes to, for example, proofing with Manitoba. At least on one occasion I chucked the dough in the oven before its time, startled about the active rise. I'm thinking of just making a tiny bit of dough and let it go as far as it can to see where its limits are, as an experiment.
On the other side: I was curious to see what this flour would do for my most beloved filone bread. It produced a completely different loaf together with the durum flour that goes into that formula! More volume (I was happy with that), but also a completely different texture from what I am used to. When I use "normal" wheat flour in that formula together with the yellowish durum, it goes to a very pale yellow; almost all of the durum-color disappears in the bake. I was surprised to see that in the same formula, this time with Manitoba instead of standard flour, the crumb retained much more yellowness during the bake. I wish I had a picture to show the remarkable difference, but alas; it was eaten before I had a chance to get the camera out. Also the texture of the crumb was completely different; far less chewy and shiny and more spongy. Very nice, but not at all what I associate with Filone.
I got 5 kilo's for about € 3,75 a kilo (shipping included) That is quite a price to pay, but still cheaper than some of the local biological flours sold at health stores here in Amsterdam, so it's worth the trouble.
I am curious to hear more about the elephant bread!
Thanks for your feedback and info!
Freerk
I am travelling right now, since 16 June. Will be home by 08 July, so will post re 'elephant bread'. Recipe plan and a photo or two.
€ 3.75 for 5 kgs?
This is what I usually get: http://www.rogersfoods.com/pro_flour.htm , whole wheat, white, rye. Mainly because it is no additive and not bleached. It runs about 50¢/kg if I remember right but seeing as my wife usually shops .... The other major brand name is Robin Hood, but we don't always see it in 10 kg bags. Simply a matter of what the local stores carry. We don't see any American or European flours outside of small quantity health food types of stores.
Barley and triticale flours are widely available as well. Ground flax runs about $3/kg, which I frequently add in the attempt to avoid cholesterol lowering medication.
I think the Manitoba label is just a brandname for standard Cdn flour. There is no distinction between flour from any province via the federal marketting board, the Canadian Wheat Board, which, by law, is the only agency that can export flour. -- I just looked up it. The info is that the wheat board is the only buyer of wheat and barley. It cannot be sold by a farmer to anyone else. So what must be going on is that the flour / grain is bought from the CWB and branded and sold.