Canadian Bread Flour - anyone used it?

Justamum

Angelina-M wrote: »

I buy wheat as I grind my own flour for breadmaking. Canadian wheat is great as it makes the bread rise more and is lighter. However last years british crop of wheat was very good (due to an exceptional summer!) so im using that for now and it is just as good.

I recently went to a talk given by Andrew Whitley (who founded The Village Bakery). He even grew his own wheat at one stage! Very enlightening talk about bread production btw. I'm getting his book Bread Matters, for my birthday (if it arrives before next week - otherwise I'll have no presents on my birthday!). After his talk I decided not to buy local Manx flour any more, so I have been buying Doves or Allinsons. I might buy some of the Canadian flour when I do my shopping today.

Back to your wheat - how do you grind it? Don't you need fancy equipment? Where would you buy the wheat for grinding? Does it work out cheaper?

angelavdavis

Thanks everyone for the input.

My neighbour says that the flour they got from Waitrose was the best they have ever used for their breadmaker.

I don't like cooking my loaves in the breadmaker - they don't seem to rise that much and I don't like the finished result.

I just use it for the kneading and proving, then I take it out, shape into a loaf or rolls and cook in my oven.

I wondered what people's opinions were before I invested. Interesting reading about the selenium content - something else to drive my OH about in the supermarket next time!:D

skinnygirlnot

Never thought about where my flour comes from. I use Carrs and get good results (I think as I can't compare it). Does anyone else use Carrs or know if it's Canadian- I don't have the bag as I keep my flour in a tupperware thingy?

Thanks

Edited as I decided to see if Carrs have a website. They do and apparently the white flour is Canadian.
Great! :j No special trip to Waitrose now.

morganlefay

I've tried lots of different flours in my Panny but found the Waitrose Canadian ones (white and wholemeal) made much better bread. It rises hugely and tastes really good. But I do think it's a very subjective thing !

Angelina-M

Justamum wrote: »

I recently went to a talk given by Andrew Whitley (who founded The Village Bakery). He even grew his own wheat at one stage! Very enlightening talk about bread production btw. I'm getting his book Bread Matters, for my birthday (if it arrives before next week - otherwise I'll have no presents on my birthday!). After his talk I decided not to buy local Manx flour any more, so I have been buying Doves or Allinsons. I might buy some of the Canadian flour when I do my shopping today.

Back to your wheat - how do you grind it? Don't you need fancy equipment? Where would you buy the wheat for grinding? Does it work out cheaper?

Yes I have a flour mill and that grinds it down nice and fine to make good bread. It was expensive but worth it to me to have wonderfully fresh flour to start off with (plus im a gadget freak and I have to have everything with a plug!)

The wheat is very cheap, I buy a huge sack for about £12 and that lasts me a good year. Before that I would buy the most expensive bread flour at over a pound a bag so I save a fortune this way.

I use the freshly ground flour in everything, including cheese/white sauce. It gives a rustic look and the flavour is wonderful.

Justamum

Angelina-M - it sounds like it's very money saving grinding your own flour. £1 a month for bread is very cheap! Where do you buy wheat from?

Angelina-M

Justamum wrote: »

Angelina-M - it sounds like it's very money saving grinding your own flour. £1 a month for bread is very cheap! Where do you buy wheat from?

Well I did spend about £300 for the mill, however I always go for the most expensive gadget :eek: They can be bought far more cheaply (I think the add on for a kenwood chef is about £59)

Once thats bought the wheat is really cheap. And it does make a gorgeous bread. I wouldnt be without mine now. It can also be used to crack oats for porridge etc. And of course oat groats are really cheap too so you get lovely fresh products really cheaply! :T

liz545

kittie wrote: »

You don`t need strong flour if using sour dough. I activate my starter with 00 flour and it gets very lively. I then gently mix in whatever flour I have handy and the last lot was spelt with a bit of strong wholemeal. You have the dough quite wet and prove over a few hours, every hour or so I sprinkle a bit of spelt and paddle down with fingertips and do a 2x2 fold. NO kneading at all and a beautiful risen loaf as well, done in a metal casserole dish

Canadian strong is the best for normal yeast with the usual pounding to activate the gluten and lengthen the fibres

Hi Kittie,

I've been making sourdough for a few months now, and I'm really liking it, but the amount of strong flour I'm getting through is a bit of a pain! Can I refresh the starter with plain flour, as that's cheaper, or is the gluten content important and so I should stick with strong? Today I'm making the white leaven bread from Dan Lepard's The Handmade Loaf and I hope it's good because it's a very slow, drawn-out process! :rolleyes:

deep_miser

Hi Angelina

Please would you indicate where to purchase the Wheat from.

Which milling machine do you use as I intend to buy one and your views would guide me in the right direction

Regards
Deep

Angelina-M wrote: »

Well I did spend about £300 for the mill, however I always go for the most expensive gadget :eek: They can be bought far more cheaply (I think the add on for a kenwood chef is about £59)

Once thats bought the wheat is really cheap. And it does make a gorgeous bread. I wouldnt be without mine now. It can also be used to crack oats for porridge etc. And of course oat groats are really cheap too so you get lovely fresh products really cheaply! :T

4Chickens

Hi All of you bakers(or cheaters with breakmakers)

I have just ordered 16kg of Canadian Strong White Bread Flour from Shipton Mill.
So far I have used Allinsons and Tesco own brand (in my breadmaker). Since Boxing day I have used about 4 kilos so I think buying in bulk is a good idea.

However, to the point. I used to work for a frozen sandwich manufacturer and we only ever used bread that was made with Canadian flour and it was the best white bread I have ever tasted, didn't crumb and didn't go stale too quick either.

Have any of you used this Canadian flour in your breadmakers and what results did you get?