Stafford County Hudson Cream Flour - Dollar Tree 4 Pound Bag

This is a non-professional, occasional weekend home baker, review of a flour that appears at Dollar Tree around the holidays.  It is a 4 pound bag labeled Stafford County Hudson Cream All Purpose Flour.  Based upon the label’s protein content, and the feel of the dough when mixing and handling, this flour performs more like a United States bread flour, despite its all-purpose designation.  The flour costs $1 a bag, so that is 25 cents a pound, which is a good price for flour.  The expiration date is March, 2020, which is about 16 months from purchase date.  It is bleached, so that may turn some people off.  But for bargain hunters that do not have interest in buying or storing a 50 pound bag of flour that want to get the 25 cents a pound price, this flour may fit the bill.

Also, rather than adding malted barley and citric acid as is typical for some bread flours, this flour had added enzymes under the name doh-tone, as listed in the ingredients.  Despite some searching on the interest, I was unable to identify any other supermarket type flour that listed doh-tone as an ingredient.  Doh-tone appears to be an additive sold to commercial bakers.

To test the flour, I baked two loaves of sourdough and two loaves with yeast.  I followed my typical process for both loaves, although the yeast bread bulk fermented in the frig for an extra 24 hours as I didn’t want four fresh loaves on the same day.  And the sourdough ended up close to 80% hydration due to my error, I forgot to add 5% rye, resulting in my formula hydration of 75% ending up closer to 80%. 

Here are pictures of the bag.

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Here is the sourdough:

For 2 loaves:

Ingredients (by formula, this is 75% hydration, but my loaves were closer to 80% due to the failure to add the rye) for two about 2-pound loaves:

875g white flour

50g rye (I forget to add the rye)

50g white wheat flour

700g water

20g salt

200g starter (50/50 by weight)

Process:

Spoon mix. Rest 30 minutes. 4 stretch and folds over 4 hours. Ball and basket for 16 hours in frig.  Move to kitchen counter for 3 hours. Bake in pre-heated Dutch oven at 450f for 20 minutes covered, 400f for 20 minutes uncovered.  The crumb shot below was still warm when cut. 

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Here is the yeast bread:

Ingredients (by formula, 70% hydration) for two about 2-pound loaves:

1000g white flour

50g white wheat flour

735g water

20g salt

5.2g IDY (about 0.5%)

Process:

Spoon mix.  Rest 30 minutes. 2 stretch and folds over 1 hour.  Bulk ferment in frig 12-48 hours depending on schedule (this one was 48 hours, I usually do 12 to 24 hours).  Ball, basket and proof on kitchen counter for 3 hours.  Bake in pre-heated Dutch oven at 450f for 20 minutes covered, 425f for 20 minutes uncovered.

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In sum, the flour performs fine, and makes good bread.  Thanks.