New flour
Hi,
I recently got this flour from Azure Standard online, the website description says: this hard red spring wheat has the highest concentration of protein of any flour you can find in the U.S. At <16 percent, it’s got plenty of gluten. This unbleached flour has been sifted to remove the largest particles from the whole grain Unifine flour meaning that the larger sharp-edged bits of bran are removed.
now I tried baking my usual sourdough recipe (80% hydration) with it and my bread turned flat! I never actually baked a flat loaf before so I’m not sure if there is something that I need to tweak or did my starter got weakened (it does live in the fridge: I feed it once before I use it). Or could be my starter is not used to this flour and needs some feeds to get used to it? I used to bake with King Arthur bread flour but since the covid19 this became a luxury hard to find. Any advice?
Welcome to TFL! That's great that you found some flour.
Can you give a link to the exact product that you purchased?
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Here's what I'm thinking....
What is the ash% and/or extraction % of this flour? It sounds like it is not a "white flour" (refined, branless, germless) like KA bread flour.
You wrote: "... has been sifted to remove the largest particles from the whole grain Unifine flour meaning that the larger sharp-edged bits of bran are removed. "
King Arthur Bread flour is roller-milled and has (just about) _all_ the bran removed. This sounds like it only has _some_ (only the "larger" pieces) of bran removed.
And... "Whole grain Unifine" is a term that is used for "impact milling", which creates whole wheat flour. Whole grain = whole wheat. So, with only "some" sifting, what you end up with is a flour that is somewhere in between "white" bread flour, and "whole wheat flour." Not totally white flour, but not totally whole wheat either. (And that is not a bad thing, unless you treated it as white flour.)
It sounds like you used a flour that is the equivalent of over 50% whole wheat with a recipe that was intended for 100% white flour. Did you change your recipe to account for this "partially" whole wheat flour?
Plenty of bakers make bread with 50% or more whole wheat. It's a good thing.
It sounds like you just need a new recipe to match this partial-whole-wheat flour, also called "high extraction flour." Once we know the "specs" of this flour, I'm sure there are recipes out there that can be a good match for it, and you'll get hooked up.
So... welcome to the "whole wheat club".
I was interested in this, so I tracked it down for you.
I believe this is it https://www.azurestandard.com/shop/product/food/flour/white/wheat/unbleached-bread-flour-ultra-unifine-organic/20260?package=FL403 OP can confirm.
Sounds like a good product!
Thanks Mike; good sleuthing there!
The page doesn't specifically say "impact mill", but that is what the Unifine process is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unifine_mill
The wiki page even mentions Azure Standard.
www.WheatMontana.com is another grower/mill that uses impact milling.
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The Azure page says 10% of the bran is removed, so it sounds like it is mostly whole wheat anyway. Assuming bran is 14% of the wheat berry, ( http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/62457/bran-germ-endosperm-gluten )
then this product would be at least 98% extraction. Which is "close enough" to whole wheat. 100% whole wheat = 100% extraction.
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So, Scorchia, I think there is your answer: treat this flour as "whole wheat flour".
However.... just one more point.... this flour has very small particle sizes, more "finely ground" than "regular" store-bought whole wheat, and especially more fine than stone-ground. So, whatever recipe you choose will likely have to be adapted to the "fine grind" nature of this flour.
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And thanks again to Mike.
I knew that Wheat Montana was using an impact mill but I didn't realize that it was that uncommon among the millers of commercial flour. The Wonder Mill and Nutrimill use a similar mechanism for home milling. I wonder how Wheat Montana removes the bran to make white flour if it is all blasted to smithereens. Sifting obviously, but it is not the same as removing it in stages like a roller mill.
I have been forced to use different flours and I found this one called Big J Golden Loaf in the local markets. It was 8 bucks for a 25 pound sack, which was a bargain. It is not as strong as KABF and is quite sticky but it has a nice flavor and bakes up pretty well. I wish I knew more about the additives such as the one listed as a maturing agent
Yes!
Your answer made so much sense! Thanks a million. Would you recommend some good WW sourdough recipes I can try?
"Would you recommend some good WW sourdough recipes I can try?"
Oh, my, where to start. Here's what the TFL Search Box brings up:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/search/node/100%25+whole+wheat
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Here's a pan loaf for 100% WW that people have raved about, called "The Approachable Loaf": http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/62486/community-bake-approachable-loaf-bread-lab
The OP (original posting) gives 3 options: 1) commercial yeast only, 2) sourdough only, 3) combination of commercial yeast and sourdough.
It was a "community bake" with other people joining in and sharing their results, and some of their own variations, including using some white flour.
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The main thing to watch out for with whole wheat, is that it ferments a lot faster than white flour. So be careful to follow instructions.
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Personally, I don't think I've done 100% WW sourdough. I've gone up to 90%. And I use home-milled, which in my case is kind of coarse, since I use a Vitamix blender as the last step in my 2-step millling process. (I use a grain "cracker" as the first step.)
Thank you idaveindy:)
I will search some more ideas on the website but thanks for the tip on watching for quicker fermentation
Thank you so much for all your replies! Yes indeed, the link someone posted is the flour I got. Thank you so much for clarifying to me that that’s in fact a whole wheat flour. Truly I was treating it as I treat the KA bread flour. This is a completely different flour, color, flavor etc. and that is probably why my usual recipe isn’t working. Would you recommend I try mixing 50/50 KA all purpose+the new flour and try that? Or is there a better recipe you advise me to follow? The flat mess of a bread I made tastes divine, this flour is just scrumptious! I would want ideally to be able to find a recipe where I can utilize this flour exclusively but I’m willing to experiment until I achieve sourdough perfection:)
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