November 22, 2019 - 11:54am
Flour
Has anyone used the Bay State Heritage Spring Patent flour? I am currently into Sourdough & Yeast breads. If so what were your thoughts on this flour. Trying to complete my research before buying a 50 lb bag.
Here is what I found from Bay State Milling Site:
Spring Patent...A premium quality flour milled from hard wheat. Excellent fermentation, mixing and machine tolerance. Very strong flour with considerable carrying power. Perfect for pan breads, buns, rolls, hearth and Italian breads and pizza crusts.
Brands: Winona®, Heritage® Spring Patent Artisan, Rocky Mountain Finest
Thanks for any and all info!
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I've been using that exact flour for my sourdough and I love it. Very strong, lots of gluten, wonderful aroma and flavor. Very impressed with it and will be getting a second 50 lb bag.
The description from their website is as follows: Heritage® Spring Patent 12.5% protein* A high protein patent flour with exceptional fermentation and mixing tolerance. Great for pan breads, rolls, Italian and other hearth breads, buns, pizza, all-around use.
Where can this be bought?
I bought it from my local bakery supply place in Pittsburgh, PA for about $17 plus shipping (link below). I believe they can ship anywhere in the country. It's hard to find good flour in the stores now with the pandemic, but they are fully stocked up.
https://stovercompany.com/
Thank you, very much. I will check it out.
I’m curious whether the sourdoughs that you’ve been using Bay State’s spring patent flour with contain any whole-grain flour? I typically mill around 20-40% of whole winter wheat. I hydrate at about 80%. 20% liquid levain. Dough at ~ 72 F. I hand mix and do around six stretch and folds over about 3 hours, depending on the dough’s development. It consistently pools out flat. I can definitely develop strength and get a windowpane in bulk, but the dough still never holds together. i warm proof at ~ 74 F in bannetons. Whether I proof to full, retard cold, or under proof slightly to combat the week dough, I still get a very flat dough. It has the appearance of a dough where the gluten has broken down, even though it has not upon testing. It bakes much flatter than the commercial flours I’ve used for over 20 years.
Since this flour is one of the few available to me now, I’m happy to hear of your success. I will keep trying a few different things making adjustments with hydration and maybe a shorter/warmer bulk fermentation. Thanks for posting this, as I have been ready to give up on this particular flour and start blending others to get what I need.
I don't believe it contains any whole grains, it's just a non-bleached white flour. I don't have any whole wheat available right now to mix with it, although I'd certainly like to try. I found a wheat farm nearby that has some organic whole wheats and rye available so once I try it I will let you know how it turns out. But it does sound like a stronger base flour will help in your situation. I find this dough toughens up very quickly, and it easily builds gluten. Do you autolyse? That might help.