Cost of flour

I've been reading people talking about flour prices in another thread:

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/6045/abc-news-wheat-prices-rise

As for yeast, I expect that all of us "loafers", except maybe for sourdough ultra-enthusiasts, buy the 1 or 2 pound packs.  I bought a 2-pound pack of active dry yeast from Smart & Final some time back; I keep it in the freezer.  It lasts a loo-o-o-ong time.

Rosalie

Jeff, I'm a bit surprised with each visit to the store.  I've watched the price of a 5lb. bag of flour spike and think, "It can't go any higher"...but that's only until the next visit to the grocers.

This week I have an inventory of 25 lbs., mixed.  (I use alot of bread flour, not so much AP).  My favored brand is KA, but over this past week I've relented and purchased a few 5lbs., of another brand. 

Yeast, now this is where I finally got smart!  I ordered a pound bag of it and have safely kept it in the fridge in an airtight container.  This was a bit before Thanksgiving and I still have about half a pound left. 

I buy bread flour by the 50 pound bag for around the same price you pay at a grocer's outlet (Cash n' Carry). I bought a 5 lb bag of King Arthur's Whole Wheat flour today for $3.49 at the local grocery store (Fred Meyer). And I buy SAF Yeast by the pound for about $2.50 at Winco.

A 10 kg bag of all-purpose flour is, at the moment, on sale for $10.00 in the local Loblaw's in Montreal.  I buy 10 kg. of unbleached all-purpose flour for $11.99, Robin Hood flour, which I use all the time for breads, cookies, cakes, etc.  I buy the 1 lb. packet of Fleischmann's yeast for $4.99 in the local fruit/health food store, and that's the cheapest I can find.

I purchase 50 lb bag of Kyrol bread flour for 28.00 and I buy the IDY for 2.99 (1lb). Flour  was 23.00 back in November.

...I know people, Canadians, who have and they say it doesn't come close to our Robin Hood flour.  Some people who go down to the States for lengthy summer holidays even go to the trouble of taking RH flour with them because the American flour doesn't measure up.  I've been told that our RH flour, all-purpose, is better for bread making than the KA bread flour, and I've read that Italians refer to the best flour as "Man-ee-to-ba", or Canadian flour.  The only American flour I've ever used is Bob's Red Mill white whole wheat or barley flour.

In France, for a kilo of organic T65, I pay 1,27. It can be as high as 1,60. For regular flour it's about ,90 for good quality. We don't have bread flour like you except one brand called Francine farine à pain but it's got stuff in it, even yeast I think. I don't buy non-organic flour ever, for anything. So, it's pretty expensive!

BUT, a 500g loaf of organic sourdough costs over 3 euros and I make a 900g for less than a euro. That's what's important for me. I just hope prices don't continue going up like gas!

Jane 

Our local chain supermarket, Pick & Save, Has been holding the price on Harvest King Bread flour at $2.19 for 5# bags. It was $2.09 6 months ago and just made that one 10 cent trip north. I bought a 50# bag of All Trumps from a restaurant supply store for $30. 2 weeks ago.

I don't like the higher prices but I'm going to stick with the products I know and those that I can produce high quality products with. I don't see any point in buying cheaper flours that I have no experience with in large volumes. I stopped buying KA AP a long time ago after experimenting with Harvest King. I find it to be a reliable strong bread flour at about half or less of the cost of KA.

Using the All Trumps at $30 per 50#, I'm at about $.65 US for a 1 lb loaf or about $.70 for a 500 gram loaf. That doesn't count the oven heat costs which vary widely depending on what I'm doing that day. 

Eric

KA bread flour is at $3.98 for 5# (was $2.12 in November). Harvest King bread flour is $2.64. These are the local Wal-Mart prices. All KA flours are $5 for 5# at the grocer's. I've switched to Harvest King for my starter. It was too painful to use KA and have to discard so much. I looked at the Robin Hood flours, but only bleached flour is offered.

I switched to Gold Medal AP from KA AP. Still trying to determine if that was a good choice for breads that call for AP. It does make pretty good chocolate chip cookies (what flour doesn't?).

I've had friends check prices at the downstate wholesale clubs, but they don't carry KA. We have two grocery stores in town; the other one carries flour I've never heard of. There are more grocery stores 65 miles away, but I figure it would cost me more to drive there than to pay the piper locally.

I'll stick with KA BF, but probably will experiment with the Harvest King if the prices continue to rise so fast.

I live in Northern Florida, and my sources of flour are limited. I haven't found a source for bulk flour, so buy waht I use in 5# bags. For a number of years I've been using KA, and have been happy with the results. Today, I was in WalMart, and found the price for a 5# bag of KA bread flour was $3.98. Next to it was a flour I hadn't heard of - Gold Medal Harvest King. It was un-bromated, and un-bleached, and the protein content was the same as the KA. I bought a bag at $2.32, and brought it home to check it out.

I mixed 1/2 cup of both KA and the Harvest King with 1/4 cup of water, and checked the consistency of both. (More water absorption - higher gluten content). The Harvest King beat the KA hands down. The Harvest King also, FWIW, had a yellow color, compared to the KA pure white (so much for KA being "unbleached"). The final test will be the end product, but so far KA looks like a loser.
Tom

Here in the Mile High city - at Whole Paycheck (which is now my "neighborhood" grocery store) - King Arthur AP flour is $2.79 for 5 pounds.

I am shocked at the prices I see here.

I guess I should stock up... Or be thankful I live in wheat country...

Happy Baking!

The first thing you need to do is contact your local health department and find out if your kitchen needs to be certified.  There may be other legal requirements involved, as well as compliance with zoning laws, depending on where you live.  It's best to get those technicalities out of the way and avoid any potential legal problems.

Other TFL members have gone down the path you're considering - you can read about their experiences in this section of the TFL forums.  There are a number of interesting threads.

In working on your income/expense margins, you have to remember to consider the elephant in the room:  the tax pig.

Hope it all works out for you!