Hi Guys,
I have just joined the forum. I am baking bread for the last 5 years and developed 3 nice recipes to bake in my oven on top of a Redrock baking stone. Things are going well but I would like to move away from commercial yeast and ascorbic acid. I have Oregon Trail sourdough culture from Carl's Friends and other two that I have produced (they are not named yet :-) ) using cheese whey and other lactic acid and yeast bacteria from kefir. I am also a home cheese maker so no shortage of bacteria in my freezer.
I am using Weston Mills 20 KG bags white baker's flour. I think this flour is adulterated in a way for commercial bakers. Whenever I try to produce or feed my sourdough cultures, it does not work as good as organic rye or wholemeal (as you would imagine).
I am making the dough in my BBM600 and the dough setting goes for 1:30 hours. I think this is too much as the gluten structure is later collapses during the last proofing in my oven. I bought a mixer to get rid of BBM600 but I need more experience on that to amend the recipe and making to suit mixer. I am working on that.
But first thing first, I feel like I need to change my flour. Kiala's Organic White Unbleached Plain Flour in 20Kg bags is close to my heart but nearest seller is in Bega that is 3 hours of ride from Canberra.
What other Canberrans are doing? What flour are you using and where do you get it from?
Replies
Welcome Gurkan Yeniceri !
It sounds like you will be bringing a lot of experience to the forum.
It's amazing how much different brands of flour can have on a bread recipe. I'm in California so I can't help you much on your search in NSW but wanted to say hello and welcome.
I have used allied milling perfection flour and bakers flour from Laucke this is available as “wallaby” in supermarkets.
Rye and Triticale will give a very active sour
Thanks very much Shasta.
Petanque, where do you get triticale flour? Health shops?
After numerous phone calls to suppliers and e-mails to Kialla, I found some sellers for 20KG bags. Once you want something, you make it happen (yeah universe sucked on that end).
As Nature Intended in Belconnen Fresh Fruit Market sells Kialla, this one cheapest so far. They don't answer the phone so I had to call persistently.
ANU Food Corp is also selling but expensive though the guy there didn't know the exact price, he said $4 per KG. I will call them back on Monday as the the guy ordering staff works on Mondays.
Mountain Creek in Griffith can also order for you. Not sure about the price.
As soon as I finish Weston Mills bag I have at home, I will switch.
Good to hear of another baker in Canberra.
If you are set on Kialla I think you have coverd the most likely people in Canberra who can help you. However the other healthfood shop at Belconnon markets sells the Weston milling range including some of their organic flours. I would think that feeding your starter with the Weston Milling organic wholemeal would work well.
If you become a member of the Co-op the prices will come down.
Personally I use Mildara bakers flour for feeding and mix in 10% wholemeal for baking. It is not that our flours areadulterated but rather they are excessively white. This choice is based on cost and that while Mildara is not really local they are as close as we can get as they do buy wheat from the Boroowa area.
You can see one of my early bread events at: http://sourdough.com/forum/bread-stamps
Regards,
Chow
Gurkan is also a talented cheesemaker. Welcome.
Margaret (in Armidale, NSW)
Chow, thanks very much.I will look into Mildara flours. I didn't know that Weston Milling has organic flours. I will check that as well.
Margaret, thanks. :-))
I live 25km out of Bega Gurkan, and I haven't seen Kialla flour - although it may be sold in bulk, we have two very good wholefood shops down here.
Demeter Mills flour is available though, and although expensive (organic) they also do spelt, a grain mix and rye berries, it is very good quality - this may be available in Canberra.
If you are into cheesemaking, see if you can get hold of some ABC Dairy Tilba unhomogenised milk - I made some paneer cheese with this last week, it's sensational!
Sarnia
Hi ya Gurkan, can't help you with Canberra but picked up on the whey used in breadmaking comment. I also make my own cheese and tend to have a bit of whey to utalise. In breadmaking do you just exchange the water with the whey and what sort of difference would i notice. I bake sourdough full Rye. And as its my first post after lurking a lot "hello to anyone who is reading". Gurkan, i would be interested in a chat about your cheese making, probably not best on a bread site though. Peter
Hi Sarnia, I am finally getting Kialla from Sydney this week. Thanks for the milk tip. I will se if I can get it in Canberra.
Hi Peter, I replace the water with whey one to one. It raises faster and you would be introducing a lot of lactic acid bacteria with it. Add me on FB from https://www.facebook.com/gyeniceri then we can talk about cheese.
Hi Ya Gurkan, used some fresh whey from yesterdays cheese making [organic fresh cows milk] in my sourdough Rye bread baked last night. Straight swap for usual water needs and i am impressed. Sourdough Rye looks like it enjoys whey in the mix. Bread rose very nice, coloured up quicker in the oven and this morning tasted maybe sweeter although a sour bread, noticed texture of the bread seemed tougher or stronger. Also this morning it was added to starter instead of water..Well that is another tick in the box, i am now useing a waste product from cheese to improve my bread product.
Don't do Face book ot twitter.
Happy cheeseing and breading...peter
Peter and Gurkan, would love to hear of your cheesemaking experiences, I've just started making my own cheese - interesting about using the whey, I use it on plants! :-)
Hi ya Sarniagirl, you can email me if you wish, no face book or twitter...See ya peter
Sarnia
Make sure the acidity of whey does not go below pH 5.0, otherwise it disolves lead which is dormant in soil and below 4.5 it disolves aluminium which is then taken up by the plants and not so good for human eating those plants.
It is safe to pour into your compost bin or worm farm and when you are using the worm juice, dilute it just in case.