Three-way miche taste test... results!
Last week I did a three-way miche taste test, with the same formula using three different flours: King Arthur High Extraction, King Arthur First Clear, and a blend of 60% KA Bread Flour/40% KA Whole Wheat Flour. Here are what the loaves looked like:
Clockwise from the top they are First Clear, Hi-X and the hybrid.
My judges were Michael London, a very well-known baker in upstate New York, and Cindy Corbett, an accomplished home baker with a wood fired oven in her back yard whom I'd met at a KAF workshop. The results of the taste test are detailed on my blog at http://wp.me/p1S3Ig-kY . But to give you a preview, the High-X and First Clear finished neck and neck with the hybrid well behind but still a good choice for the baker who doesn't have access to these other flours.
One of the reasons I'd wanted to do this test was some discussion on TFL in which First Clear and High-X are discussed as equivalents. They're not, per Martin Philip, the staff baker at KAF who provided me with research and advice: "In terms of comparing Type 110 with an ~85% extraction rate to First Clear which lacks the patent portion would be to compare apples and oranges at least from a functional standpoint (the patent portion contains the highest quality protein in the endosperm). " Yet the finished loaves were very close in nose, texture and taste and after a few days I couldn't tell them apart.
I am now doing a follow-up test with the KAF Hi-X pitted against Type 85 Malted from Central Milling. Stay tuned.
Comments
WTG !
anna
appreciate it, anna!
What a great comparison bake. Thanks for sharing your results. I like to add First Clear into some of my bakes just for the texture and fullness of the crumb it creates.
Look forward to reading about your follow-up test.
more very interesting results to come. I also have some First Clear left over and Maggie Glezer's Jewish Rye is on the horizon!
Very interesting, so glad to see this post! When I tasted high extraction sd miche against a whole wheat/ap blend sd miche at KAF, the high extraction was also the clear taste winner, delicious. Still waiting for KAF to package high extraction flour in bags smaller than 50lbs! Hard to believe they have first clear flour and not high extraction.
Hillcrest, which sells the flours to the KAF Baking Center, is in my little town of Saratoga Springs NY so I am able to get as much High-X as I want. But I absolutely agree they should package it in those expensive 3 pound bags for home bakers who want to experiment... with all the other specialty flours why would they not?
Otis
Otis!Howdy neighbor! So do I! I live in Glens Falls and will be heading down to Hillcrest for some High-X to give Eric's Favorite Rye a go instead of the high gluten I used originally..
Donna
Hillcrest Foods is definitely a great resource for us locally. What else do you like to buy there? Otis
The SAF yeast both red and gold even though I do a lot of sourdough baking. When the "Alley" was open I liked getting nuts and raisins in 5 pound bags...too bad they closed! I am interested in trying North Dakota Milling "Clear Warrior" Would you be interested in splitting the cost of a #50 lb bag? Here is a clip from North Dakota's website:
CLEAR FLOUR Dakota Warrior This spring wheat clear flour is the exceptional ingredient for rye and variety breads. Dakota Warrior yields unsurpassed baking performance and quality with its excellent absorption and maximum gluten strength.
Email me chef@burntmyfingers.com and we'll continue the conversation offline. I have another local baker (Cindy Corbett) who's interested as well. I had very interesting results with a miche made with clear flour in this bake test as you saw!
Otis
Try again: email me chef at burntmyfingers dot com and we'll continue the conversatoin offline.