January 23, 2015 - 5:46pm
A thoroughly unscientific survey
As a result of the recent rye bread test bakes for Stan's upcoming book, I'm curious about what rye flours TFL bakers are able to find in stores in their areas. For instance, in my neck of the woods:
Location - Overland Park, Kansas (a Kansas City suburb)
Flours - Hodgson Mills, a coarse stone ground whole rye flour in 5 pound bags; Bob's Red Mill, finely ground whole rye flour in 24 ounce cello bags; brand unknown in Whole Foods bulk section, finely ground whole rye flour. White rye isn't available at all; neither are various grades of rye meals.
What's in your stores?
Share
here just south of Sacramento, CA, the supply is very parallel to your own, but no Whole Foods here. I can get BRM Dark Rye, and Hodgson Mills Whole Rye (same 5# bag as yours I imagine), but none of the "outliers". I use NYBakers.com (Stan) for the rest, and I buy White and Cream of Rye, and Chops from him to augment the local lack of supply on these items.
Good luck with your survey
OldWoodenSpoon
In southern New Hampshire, I can get BRM (dark, but not light) & Hodgsons ryes at the supermarket, and whatever is in the bin at Whole Paycheck. I pick up rolled rye flakes, which I substitute for rye chops, at a local food co-op.
I live about 1.5 hours from the KA store in Norwich, VT. Sometimes we are passing by and we always stop in to buy stuff like white rye without paying the shipping charges.
whole rye flour in 2 pound bags at Albertsons last week too for the first time - can't remember the brand for sure but was struck by it being a big brand like Gold Medal. We buy the whole berries in Whole Foods bins and grind away.
I am not a tester for Stan's book, however I bake with rye quite often. Here is what I use and where I find it:
Arrowhead Mills Organic Rye Flour is available at Whole Foods Market, Fairway Market, Westside Market, The Health Nuts, and Fresh Direct.
Bob's Red Mill Organic Rye is available at Whole Foods Market, Fairway Market, Westside Market, The Health Nuts, www.soap.com.
Bob's Red Mill Organic Pumpernickel Rye is available at Whole Foods Market, Fairway Market, Westside Market, The Health Nuts, www.soap.com.
I have also found Farmer Ground Flour at Whole Foods.
Sometimes I find Hodgson Mills Rye Flour at Gristede's and Westside Markets.
Also at Fairway and Whole Foods, they have organic rye berries that I buy on occasion to mill myself.
There's always Amazon.
Hope this helps,
Tim
I'm interested in what is readily available in your local stores, not looking for a source to buy from. These early responses already suggest that one's location has a big influence on what is within easy reach. Thanks for the feedback so far and keep it coming, please.
Thanks,
Paul
Paul,
I found that milling rye myself was the only plausible solution to finding rye in all its various milled forms from cracked to flour.
Jeff
We can get the same things here locally as you do in Kansas. With about an hours travel there are whole grain and white rye flours as well as rye berries at an Amish general store located in Kolona IA.
Stu
Maybe not too relevant to a book published in the US, but here in the corner of the UK where I live in the smaller shops tend to stock flours from one or both of the relatively well-known (throughout the whole of the UK) "small" flour mills - Shipton Mill or Doves Farm. Both do organic wholemeal Rye, Shipton Mill does a "light rye" and Doves do "White rye". I use the light rye from Shipton Mill (but I buy by the 25Kg sack directly from the mill via courier) Doves farm advertises theirs as stoneground, Shipton Mill doesn't.
I've no idea about the supermarkets as I don't shop in them - this is small local shops, farm shops, etc.
Cheers,
-Gordon
Hi Gordon: My husband and I live in Southern CA, but my husband is from Liverpool, so I often bake when we are over in the UK. In fact, I took my sourdough starter in a checked bag. I have seen the Doves Farm (at Marks & Spencer, I think), but I find that many stores label their own flour. I have seen McDougall's and Allison's flour as well. We can walk to Tesco, Marks and Spencer and Sainsbury, so I often buy flour in these stores. My sister-in-law takes us over to Asda, and I can find a decent selection there. For hard-to-find ingredients, I have ordered things online. If I recall, it's mostly wholemeal rye....I don't think I have seen a light rye. I will certainly check on my next trip. Best, Phyllis
It's a bit of a minefield here now.. Shipton & Doves are in some supermarkets, but not all. I think Doves are pushing retail sales more than Shipton though.
The supermarkets often have their own brands, or some of the bigger brands which look independent, but often aren't )-: e.g. Alinsons is now a brand name used by Associated British Foods Plc - a somewhat large megacorp... McDougals is a trading name for Rank hovis McDougal, now owned by Premier Foods - another biggie...
Asda is a big budget supermarket chain here, although it's now owned by Wallmart.
One of the issues with stores own-brand flours is that you don't really know where its from - ie. which of the megamills is putting it in the supermarkets own bags..
Waitrose do tell you which farm it comes from, but you can pay a premium for that and the closest Waitrose to Liverpool appears to be in Formby. (ask the in-laws what they think of Waitrose if they're regular Asda shoppers ;-)
But at the end of the day, most flour you buy is going to be fine, but I suspect you'll not get light or white rye in most supermarkets (if you can find Rye at all - M&S and Waitrose might be the best bets)
Both Shipton Mill and Doves Farm have online shopping, but transport costs can be high - Virtually all my flour is from Shipton Mill apart from Stoneground wholemeal wheat which I get from a local(ish) watermill. (which is some 35 miles from me, but about 270 miles from Liverpool, so not recommended for a trip!) Shipton mill's postage costs are zero if you spend more than £30 with them - which I do, buying in 25Kg sacks mostly.
Next time you're over, check here: http://www.sustainweb.org/realbread/bakery_finder/ and enter the postcode. It looks like there are 2 real-bread shops in Liverpool and they often sell retail bags of the bulk flour they buy. (or pass this on to the in-laws for sources of good bread and other bakery products)
(And leave some starter with the in-laws and get them to make their own next time over - One less thing to carry over :-)
Cheers,
-Gordon
Gordon: Thank you for sharing this information. The link is quite helpful, and I will try and get to the shops close to us or hitch a ride with my sister-in-law when we are in Liverpool. We often go and visit friends in London, so I could try Waitrose while visiting. Another UK baker friend said Waitrose is the best, but as you point out, it's not convenient for Liverpool. We also have friends in Knutsford, and there is a Waitrose there I will have to try. I also may consider ordering from Shipton Mills as we will be over quite a lot this year, and I will use up the flour throughout the year. When I am over, I have lots of requests to bake...Thanks again for your suggestions. Best, Phyllis
Organic rye, available only through local health food stores in my area of Northern Michigan. Hodgson Mills rye is available at some grocery stores, but I prefer Arrowhead.
Amazon for Bob's Red Mill organic dark rye pumpernickel meal, which I use for the Forkish Field Blend #2
Up in Arcata, Ca.
Central Milling and "can't remember company name from CT" Whole Rye Berries. My guess is they are likely the same thing coming from Canada. (This is what I use)
In bulk we have Giustos Whole Grain and White Rye most commonly. I think one of the stores has a medium Rye. And a local bakery uses local Rye from Mendocino Grain Project and puts it out for sale in the bulk bins as well. It's super pricey though.
Then we have Arrowhead Mills and Bobs Red Mill packaged Rye Flour, both whole grain I believe.
around here but I'm reasonably sure that there is an option or two for fine ground. The whole food bulk bin had no berries as DAB's does but it does have some fine ground rye. For all my rye needs I hit up the Bob's Red Mill factory store. They carry rye chops, extra coarse rye, whole grain and also fine white I believe, Also they carry the berries which is what I tend to get.
sunny Denver, CO I can find only Hodgson Mills whole rye in 2 lb bags at King Soopers - if I look really hard. Sometimes.
I will admit I haven't looked at Whole Foods. Last time I checked our "world class neighborhood market" Marczyk's, no rye was to be found (But in a nice moment of product placement - Tim Allen often carries a Marczyk's shopping bag on the show "Last Man Standing.")
Rye Berries, mill my own, has been my solution.
It's wheat country out here - as you know...
Pat
The grocery chains don't have much selection. The three where I shop most often have AP of course plus whole wheat AP. I've seen both white bread flour and unbleached AP on the shelves, but neither is always there. And I've never seen any type of rye flour.
I can order quite a few Bob's Old Mill products at my local Walmart, but have never seen any on-shelf.
I can get more flours - some unbleached types, rye, spelt, etc. - at the Bulk Barn chain, but the selection varies from store to store and occasionally even visit to visit. And the provenance is unknown.
Although I haven't searched diligently, it seems like there are at least a couple of places in the Toronto area with much better selections, but none closer than about 30 miles.
Bob's Red Mill is available in health food stores and, occasionally but inconsistently, from Rouse's. Amazon has been my go-to unless I'm driving the 65 miles to New Orleans. Lately, like yerffej, I mill my own whole rye--which I also purchased from Amazon.
That's it.
North Central Florida: a culinary wasteland.
Perhaps Bob's Red Mill ryes are available in a local "organic" store, but their mark-up is so ridiculous I've stopped shopping there.
David G
For the Rye Test Bakes for Stan's upcoming book I purchased all my rye flours from Stan (NYbakers.com). Being new to rye baking and testing for Stan I wanted to make sure I got the "right" type of flour. It appears different vendors, millers, etc., seem to label rye differently. With that being said, I can get rye flour locally.
Weaver Street Market, Carrboro, NC this is a co-op. They carry rye flour in bulk (It looks like a medium rye but not labeled that way)
Company Shops, Burlington, NC this is a co-op. Same as Weaver Street.
Carolina Ground mill in Asheville, NC (4 hr drive) They carry the following:
Whole Rye Flour, Coarsely Cracked Rye and Crema Rye Flour all of these can be purchased in 2, 4, 10 or 25 pound quantities.
Old Mill of Guilford, Oak Ridge, NC They carry the following:
100% Rye Flour (2 & 5 lb bags), Rye Chops (1 lb), Rye Flakes (2 lbs.)
Lindley Mills, Graham, NC (My neighbors, 2 miles) I buy my bread flour and AP in 25 lb bags and Sprouted Wheat in 2 lb bags. They do carry rye and I need to see if I can get it in smaller quantities than 25 lbs. They have whole rye, light rye, dark rye, rye chops, rye meal and sprouted rye. Don't know if they mill this all the time. Many questions I need to get answered because I love their flour and organic.
Arrowhead Mills, Bob's Red Mill, Hodgson Mills are sold in Whole Foods but I don't normally shop there. Have gotten small quantities of other specialty flour when I needed it. Harris Teeter and Lowe's Foods sells some of the ones that Whole Foods carries but I find that when rye is available it is in small quantities and not a large selection.
Until next time....