Today I am going to share some information with you about flour. Yes flour! You know that white stuff that gets all over your clothes and flies out of the Kitchen Aid mixer to cover your countertop and cupboards.
Since I am a baker, flour is obviously one of my most important ingredients, afterall, the gluten in the flour is important on how well my bread bakes or how chewy my cookies turn out. In the past couple of years we have seen the explosion of eating gluten free and the different types of flour that is available now. I do not bake gluten free but have become interested in the new and different types of flour products on the market, and after doing some research, I became interested in using better types of flour for my baking beside the usual all-purpose, cake flour or bread flour.
I am no authority on flour but this is what I have come to realize, and that is, basic AP flour is causing most people problems with their health. Even though my family is not experiencing problems I started learning about and trying different flours.
Most of the wheat grown today has been either been genetically engineered (gmo) or hybridized, and I am not a fan of eating this type of food. Just my opinion, but I don’t feel anything genetically modified is good for me. Wheat is an ancient grain and we have been consuming it for years. However, why then, in the last ten years have more and more people been diagnosed with celiac disease or just find wheat products intolerable to eat? Common sense points to the new types of so called “modern wheat.”
I found two flour products that I have researched and love to bake with. Please note, I am not being paid from either company, it’s just what I like to use and want to share with you . The first one that I truly love is einkorn flour. I buy this online from a company called Jovial. Here is their site that has a great explanation of einkorn flour – Jovial Einkorn Flour
According to Jovial, einkorn is the worlds most ancient wheat and has never been hybridized. ” Einkorn means “one grain” in German. That’s because einkorn only has one grain attached to the stem, while other wheats have groups of four grains.”
Here are some pictures from the Jovial site showing the different wheat. It is really interesting the difference between the two stems.
So why do I like this einkorn flour so much? It actually has a rich flavor to it, a bit nutty, but nothing overwhelming. This flavor really comes through in my baked products. You will notice in my photo below, that einkorn flour is a pale yellow color. The reason for this is it contains higher amounts tocotrienols, (vitamin E), and beta carotene lutein than modern flour; both of these compounds are important nutrients. I feel using the einkorn flour is more natural then the modern AP flour and is better digested. According to their site, einkorn flour is more nutritious and has a different gluten makeup. Noted from their site: “It appears that the improved digestibility of einkorn is because of its starch structure.” It is also unbromated. Bromtated flour has been treated with potassium bromate with is a potential carcinogen, something I just don’t need to be adding to my food. I know my end products; cookies, biscuits, breads, etc. all have a better, fresher taste to them then when I use the regular AP flour.
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| 2 lb bag of Jovial einkorn flour |
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| Battle of the dough’s using einkorn vs. all-purpose |
I made some scones for comparisons just to see the color difference between using the einkorn flour and Gold Medal flour. You can see the dough on the left is the yellowish color that comes from the einkorn flour.
When using the einkorn flour I do have to adjust some of my recipes since this flour does not absorb as much liquid as the AP flour. I start with the amount of flour my recipe calls for, and if needed, add some extra flour to make the batter look right. For many of my recipes I do not have to adjust the amount of flour, but you may have to play around with your batters and dough to get them right.
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| From left to right: Gold Medal flour, Wheat Montana flour, Jovial einkorn flour |
I know, I know, I’m not a great photographer. I was trying to get a shot of the different types of flour so you could see the difference between the three. The major difference is the einkorn flour is a nice pale yellow color. The other two flours do not have much difference, but I noticed the Gold Medal flour is really white compared to the others.
The other flour I like to use is called Wheat Montana Natural White flour. This is an unbleached, unbromated AP flour that I like. Wheat Montana is a family owned business and their products are also non-GMO and chemical free. I just feel with this flour I am getting a fresher and healthier product. This flour can be found at Wal-Mart, so no ordering online which makes me happy. Here is their site; they have in incredible history about their farm and products. Check out their website for their amazing story – Wheat Montana history
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| 5lb bag of Wheat Montana AP flour |
At first I was concerned about the cost of the flour considering how much I use it. Here is my breakdown of my flour purchases.
Gold Medal AP flour
$2.00 per bag
.025 per oz
Found at Target
Wheat Montana Natural White AP flour
5lb/80 oz
$3.76 per bag
.047 per oz.
Found at Wal-Mart
Jovial einkorn flour
2lb/32 oz (bought 3 bags) 96 oz
$6.99 per bag/$20.97 (3 bags)
$4.99 shipping
.27 per oz.
Purchased online
Here is an idea of how much the flour cost to make a batch of chocolate chip cookie that calls for 2 cups of flour which is about 8.8 oz. When you figure out the cost of using any of the flours this really puts the price into perspective. Even with the high price of the einkorn flour it is still my first choice when baking most items. When I’m using yeast I reach for the Wheat Montana flour as I can control the moisture level for a better rise.
Gold Medal = .21
Wheat Montana = .40
Jovial Einkorn = 2.30
I know this has been a long post, but I do hope you found the information useful for your baking. Let me know if you tried the einkorn flour and what you think.
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