Cost of bread flour
I can't remember if this has been addressed before. I use enough bread flour that it is much more beneficial for me to buy it in larger units. For some reason, unknown to me, the cost of bread flour is much cheaper in Sam's Club than any other place I have looked. Whether in brick and mortar stores, or online, I have not found a better price. For 25 lbs of "Members Mark" bread flour it costs roughly $9.00. The lowest comparable price I have seen is around $15.00.
I bring this up because I was running very low on flour and went to Sam's to pick up 50 lbs. And... they were out! What??? How could this be???? Now, I am scrambling around to find a substitute source.
Yes, I know a lot of grocery stores and supermarkets carry 5 or even 10 lb bags. I guess it's not big of a matter. My main concern is why is it less expensive to buy bread flour at Sam's than, say, Costco? Well, mostly because, as of this posting Costco does not carry bread flour.
Hopefully Sam's will begin carrying it again, soon. My alternate option will be to incorporate some VWG into All Purpose flour, hoping that I get the ratio correct. Thanks, all for listening to me rant!
You can talk to store managers and ask them about carrying products
Yes, I probably could discuss this with store managers. I have done so in the past (not about bread flour, though). I have discovered that most stores that do not normally carry larger units of a product (in this case, bread flour in 25# bags) shy away from doing so. I'm sure it is about either corporate policy or being responsible if this product does not sell.
Sam's Club, on the other hand, cannot make these decisions, because they do not order supplies for their stores. Some algorithm somewhere decides on what and when a product is ordered. This I have discussed with their store managers. They can not even say when and if a normally stocked item will be replenished. The only time they know is when the trucks are at their loading docks. But, that was a great suggestion.
I trust you know better than I.. I'm not an American and don't use club stores. Usually in this kind of situation I escalate to whoever does have authority to find the point of influence.
In the past I have even communicated with a president or two and had things turned around for me if I cared about it. I learned a lot from my father who was always arguing with floor staff who had no power or interest and he was never getting anywhere :)
I suppose it might be easier to find a baking friend nearby and split a bag.
There is a VWG calculator available online:
https://instacalc.com/52460 (Gluten Enrichment Calculator)
I have used this several times for preparing bread flour or high-gluten flour substitutes.
I read your post a couple of times and I still don't get what are you complaining about. You can't find bread flour at Sam's? You want to buy cheap bread flour at Sam's? You only want a 25 lb bag of bread flour from Sam's and nothing else? You are pissed off because you can't find cheap bread flour? Jesus Christ go buy some from other supermarkets as life is too short to get your blood boiling over stuff like that. I would give you some if you were close by.
TFL members were kind and patient helping you... please show the same for others. Thanks.
Thank you for your comment. The best thing about TFL is the helpful and kind attitude of members—even more important than the advice. TFL is unique in that respect.
I have visited other hobby site forums where I have been treated with disdain, and I have watched conversations devolve into discussions of politics, etc., when there was no reason for it.
WTH? I offered him/her flour, if that is not kind enough I don't know what is. Peace!
Suggestion - look online. They have a website and I'd bet you can order and pickup at your local store. Walmart does it, and Sam's is Walmart so odds are good it can be done. Enjoy!
I got 25 lbs. of Grain Craft Morbread yesterday at the local US Foods Chef's Store (formerly Cash and Carry). $12.
You have three locations just down the road from you in Charleston so it might be worth a look. I like them because there is no membership nonsense and usually no lines so I can be in and out in 5-10 minutes.
Is it also possible that your Sam's was just out of stock?
Grain Craft Morbread looks like a pretty good flour. https://www.graincraft.com/products/morbread/
When it comes to Sam's Club, I think product varies depending on the area you're in. My local Club only carries AP flours that are bleached/bromated.
Dave
Morbread rocks. It's three quarters of my flour consumption.
As one comment mentioned, Sam's Club is ruled by computer software. I suspect the software follows a basic business policy of retail sales: If a product stays on the shelf longer than some number of days (probably days) it will be put on a discount shelf and not re-ordered. To earn a satisfactory profit in retail, inventory has to turn over.
If your bread flour is insufficiently popular with the body of shoppers using that store, the software won't re-stock it. The store manager may be able to special order it for you, though. If so, the price may not be the same as when you could count on finding it on the shelf. Alternatively, web searching will turn up many suppliers of bread flour and other flour types. It's likely that a search on thefreshloaf.com for "flour suppliers" will point you to some good sources.
One idea is to go to the Chefs Store formerly Cash I Carry. I use to by a lot of flour there years ago. Smart & Final is another restaurant supply. There may be other big supply stores you can buy from. They usually have a wide variety. The prices are often scary low. I would also go to Walmart. I purchased from a Winco in Portland a 10 lb bag of Bronze Chief 100% WW flour and it was delicious and smelled wonderful. From wheat Montana. Went I back none. Not surprised. Called company they said try Walmart. No again. But they did have Wheat Montana all purpose with a high protein count 5 per 1/4 cup. I no that’s not the only indicator of gluten activity so I thought what the heck. It was a good price. Haven’t used it yet but the company said it should make a good loaf. Everything is going up in price flour is only one item. Our Costco has only AP organic. A lot of BBA recipes call for AP. This might be a good time to try something new that you never would think of doing otherwise. Shop around and talk to the managers. You will learn very interesting things and be a lot less frustrated and nervous about your bread making flour.
Oh one more thing. I ended up buying Shepards Grain 5# for $2.00. Used it. Wonderful flour. Smells good & made wonderful bread. My experience with using AP when bread flour is called for is that the hydration is more, more than I like & more than I can handle. Or dry. What fun we have. Good luck on you search.
Wheat Montana produces some really nice flour. I was able to get their AP (12.25% protein) and Bronze Chief at Walmart for a while but haven't seen it for a few months. The Bronze Chief is fine ground WW very much like KAWW.
Spec sheets for anyone interested.
https://www.wheatmontana.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/Natural%20White%20Flour%20.pdf
https://www.wheatmontana.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/Bronze%20Chief%20Flour.pdf
I know they also offer a bread flour now but haven't seen it anywhere and can't find a spec sheet on it.
Dave
A couple of days ago Walmart had many bags of Wheat Montana AP flour. A few days earlier none. I called the company and they said they did no have a bread flour. I’m still interested in an inexpensive local source. Local to Portland Oregon.
bty please excuse the spelling & grammar errors. I notice so many more errors when I am using my pad vs my computer. A finger slides over a letter & autocorrect puts me doing an Irish jig in the middle of a previously corrected sentence. The print is small and with my macular going black sometimes I have to reread several times. Amen the end. Thanks for the understanding. Funny just the other day I was telling someone how wonderful the people on Freshloaf are. Quite amazing really. But that’s bakers for you.
And then we in Australia have many dieeferent spallings and meenings for lats of werds. As leng as you can understind whot the auther meens, it's gooood.
Link to Wheat Montana Bread Flour at Walmart.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Wheat-Montana-Natural-White-Premium-Bread-Flour-5-Lb/481083085
Dave