Bread flour: I am stoked.

11 years ago

I like to bake bread, rolls and pizza and often use bread flour. I also like to save money and have been using Con-Agra bread flour from COSTCO that some of you have avoided. I havenÃ¢ÂÂt used King ArthurÃ¢ÂÂs due to the expense although I should have at least tried it, being research minded.

Eight years ago we moved to a semi rural area of central North Carolina 10 miles from town. I live near a main state route but I enjoy exploring the more direct but narrower back country roads near our house. That straight route directly toward Burlington changes names three times as it intersects moderately main roads and becomes Lindley Mill Road and not surprisingly passes by Lindley Mills which is a series of large silos etc. out in the middle of nowhere. While it appeared fairly modern it seemed deserted to me and I assumed it was shut down like most fabric mills in the state. Perhaps it was the weekend.

On Friday, I found a rustic bread website that said Lindley Mills is very much functioning, producing organic flour of many sorts including bread flours and it would accept phone pre-orders for walk in retail sale when they had time. SO I am stoked. I have ordered a 25# bag of their organic white flour for pick up Monday. I suspect that the walk in business is small because they suggested it would be wise to bring some ones because they sometimes ran out of singles and the charge would be $16. I asked the person who answered the phone that there was a rumor that they supplied the flour for King Arthur. She said no, they only supply KAÃ¢ÂÂs Organic flours since they only produce organic materials. So, on Monday, I will get to drive straight up the road for eight miles to my almost personal mill to pick up flour that is presumably fresher than what KA receives. Did I say IÃ¢ÂÂm stoked?

By the way, from the Lindley Mills website:
The mill was established in 1755 by Thomas Lindley at its present location on Cane Creek in Graham, North Carolina. Near the end of the Revolutionary War, the mill was the site of the Battle of LindleyÃ¢ÂÂs Mill. The Governor of North Carolina, his cabinet, and approximately 1,000 men were involved in the battle, which is the subject of several historical writings and books.
Earlier, British General Lord Cornwallis visited the mill to Ã¢ÂÂpurchaseÃ¢ÂÂ flour for his army.
The Lindley family owned the mill for approximately 100 years. Two hundred and twenty years after its inception direct descendants of Thomas Lindley began efforts to restore the mill and produce flour again. For the past 35 years the mill has been grinding organically grown grain and is operated by ninth-generation Lindleys.

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (10)

teresa_nc7
11 years ago
Hi Neighbor!
I live in Burlington and often go to Lindley Mills to pick up both all purpose white flour and whole wheat flour they sell. The price is right, the flour is wonderful, and the people friendly. I would go more frequently, but their hours and my work schedule just don't often mesh. When I can make the trip, I always call ahead to be sure they are open as they sometimes close on a whim.

It is possible the 9th Street Bakery in Durham also uses Lindley Mills flour. I can get it at the Co-op here in town, but then I have to pay their higher price.

Teresa
westsider40
11 years ago
That is very cool. I would also be stoked to have an organic flour mill in my backyard. I think I am obsessed about bread making. Nice price, too.
Related Discussions
Grinding flour for bread
Q
Comments (22)
I have a Golden Grain Grinder that is 30+ years old...my dad gave it to me about 15 years ago. I really like it. It has 2 stones that grind the grains and you can adjust it from coarse to cake-flour fine. All of you that are grinding wheat, can you tell me what is the whitest wheat? We have several Amish and Mennonite communities near us and I have bought several wheat and flours from them, but they all have their own name for them. Some call it "naturally" white wheat...is that whole wheat, or just unbleached? Last week I bought 3 lbs of "hard spring white wheat" to grind, and it does seem to be whiter than a lot of wheats.
...See More
Grinding your own flours and subbing in bread recipes
Q
Comments (4)
I have a dozen different substitute flours from a holiday experiment. Not a single favorite tried-n-true recipe responded well despite the package claim. I just needed to fuss it a bit. AND write down what i was doing, lol. "it worked!...now what did i do?" hmmm DH is the baker in the home and got totally fed up. I carried on and sort of enjoyed it. The only thing that seemed to help was to add a gluten-free purchased 'mix' offered by so many now. Just a 1/2 cup to anything i was attempting. Not really a good answer to your need but what worked for me. Though Eincorn does contain gluten and is a wheat like your recipe requires, it should do well unlike other substitute 'flours'. To give it an honorable tolerance test it should be used alone me thinks. All our bread baking is done in a heavy lidded enameled cast iron or the french loaf crockery thing. Gives the heavier grains a chance to 'loft' and retain moisture.
...See More
Bread not rising - what am I doing wrong?
Q
Comments (18)
Bejay- "Best method" is subjective. It's more important to understand what characteristics each method brings to your bread and let you decide "best". As Shirley Corriher says in her excellent book "CookWise", "Give ten bakers the same flour, yeast, salt, and water and have them make bread with just these ingredients and they will make ten different loaves of bread." There are three basic methods of breadmaking: -Straight or direct-mix method (relatively fast method most often used today) -Sponge Method (all of the liquid, yeast, and part of the flour are beaten together and allowed to ferment - anywhere from 30-minutes to 12-24 hours) -Naturally-leavened (sourdough or starter) As a bonus not normally lumped into these standard bread methods, I'll add the No-Knead Bread Method - a modern version of the sponge method made by retarding the mixture in the refrigerator. Each of these methods impart their own "stamp" on breads. If I want to make light, high-rising loaves of 100% Whole Wheat Flour Bread, and avoid those whole wheat "bricks", I'll use a sponge method which is better suited for this type of bread than using the straight-dough method. Even as little as a 30-minute sponge will improve your bread. "Experts" say the optimum amount is 2-1/2 hours for a sponge. For whole wheat bread I prefer an overnight sponge, but 2-1/2-hours works well enough. When dough is chilled (retarding the dough), it influences the dough in three ways: -Enhances the flavor (the yeast goes into dormancy so it no longer consumes all the available sugar and the bacteria present can feed and produce flavorful acids. -Reduces ovenspring and loaf volume -Opens texture slightly There are those wonderful recipes for Cool Rise Bread that helped the busy homemaker in the 1950's. The recipe from Kitchen Aid for "Quick Mix Cool Rise Bread" was very popular. When it comes to the sourness of your starter, that can determined by the amount of hydration in your mixture. It gets more acidic the less water is in the mix. Once the yeast has consumed the sugar, the yeasts die off. The bacteria have a chance to develop that "sour" taste and will consume the dead yeast and produce lactic acid - the same souring acid found in yogurt and kefir. Adding yogurt is a modern adaptation, but when it comes to starter, they are about as varied as the people making them ;-). In my grandmother's day, they used starter all the time and never called the bread "sourdough". When the bread took on an acidic flavor we think of as "sourdough" bread, they did what was called "sweetening the pot". They took a tablespoon of the starter, and with consecutive feedings, developed that small into their usual amount of starter for the typical mild-flavored breads they made back then. Before the advent of fresh and dried yeast products, there were any number of methods for making naturally-leavened bread. "Old dough" (a lump of dough packed into flour and kept cool until the next baking day when it was used to make a starter), homemade yeast products made with hops and cornmeal, dry homemade yeast as well as liquid homemade yeast and starter.... I can make a naturally-leavened bread by using my homemade kefir + flour for the starter. There are lots of friendly bacteria in the kefir and lots of yeast in the whole wheat flour - more than enough to make bread rise. -Grainlady
...See More
Flours: cake vs. bread vs.AP in cookies
Q
Comments (13)
The original recipe on the ny times website has the flour listed in weight. No need to convert. The website you used appears to have removed the weights. I love this recipe and usually have a batch in the freezer. Chocolate chip recipe Published: July 9, 2008 Adapted from Jacques Torres Related Perfection? Hint: It’s Warm and Has a Secret (July 9, 2008) Time: 45 minutes (for 1 6-cookie batch), plus at least 24 hours’ chilling 2 cups minus 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) cake flour 1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt 2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter 1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar 2 large eggs 2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract 1 1/4 pounds bittersweet chocolate disks or fèves, at least 60 percent cacao content (see note) Sea salt. 1. Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside. 2. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.
...See More
westsider40
11 years ago
That is very cool. I would also be stoked to have an organic flour mill in my backyard. I think I am obsessed about bread making. Nice price, too.
grainlady_ks
11 years ago
I can identify with you, and feel so fortunate to have a stone mill just outside of town. They mill King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour for this region. I purchase the same hard white winter wheat they use - 50# of wheat for $20 - and mill my own flour (fresh is best :-).

This mill is also a part of Farmer Direct Foods and the baking scientist happen to be at the mill for the King Arthur wheat tour (see link below) and she talked me into buying 50# of "Handcrafters Flour" ($20) milled from hard white wheat with a protein level of 12% to 12.3%.

This flour has a higher ash content. The ash is the mineral content, which is located just under the bran, and those minerals are important in yeast breads. It has a creamy color, slightly sweet flavor because it's milled from white wheat, is great for open crumb texture of artisan breads, and a great crust that is hard, not tough. I've been spreading the word about this flour to breadmakers at fairs where I judge foods because it is a superior flour for artisan breads. I gave my niece 40# of this flour, since I prefer milling my own, and now she's hooked on it.

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: KAF - Wheat Tour
agmss15
11 years ago
Great find!

In Skowhegan (the nearest 'big' town to me) there has been an amazing set of developments. First came the Kneading Conference - which has developed into a fairly large event in a few years. Then two local people bought the former jail and raised the money to build a gristmill - now up and running. They are producing rolled oats and several flours. So far all I have made with the whole wheat flour is pita and pizza. Fresh is better!

Here is a link that might be useful: Kneading Conference
bellsmom
11 years ago
Wonderful find. I wish there was a local mill near me! That would be SO much fun. My best bet right now seems to be Meijer's when flour is on sale. Then it is KA cheaper than from the KA website by a good bit--and no shipping!

I wonder if you can tour the mill?
chas045
Original Author
11 years ago
Teresa, I was thinking about you and had wondered if you used "my" uh our mill for your farmers market baked goods etc. Thanks for the warning about their hours. It may be frozen in on Monday morning (it has been snowing ALL day which is almost unheard of here) and they might be in late?

Bellsmom, my wife wants to come with me and see if we could get a tour. I suspect that they are too busy for that sort of thing, but who knows. I suspect the wife is more interested in hunting for ghosts (1755!) or something, but she said I should try to get some AP flour for her, so maybe she wants to see how it is made.

agmss, what fun to have great educational classes so close.

and grainlady, I can't actually imagine how you grind flour at home. Can you actually make white flour and other derivatives, or do you only get whole wheat?
mustangs81
11 years ago
I was hoping Teresa would see this. Knowing Teresa, I was sure she would be familiar with Lindley Mills, Teresa knows everything! Sounds fun.
chas045
Original Author
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago
I thought I should bring this thread back up because I just returned from the mill with my second 25# bag of Whole Wheat Bread Flour (certified organically grown wheat), ground on 01/19/2018. It is therefore less than a week old; too old for grainlady if she were here (and eating wheat) but it impresses me. I will freeze most of it to keep it fresh. Like the White Flour in 2013, the bag cost less than $16.

In my initial post, I had suggested that I had heard that King Arthur used Lindley Mills to produce its Organic White Flour, but I wasn't sure. Back in 2013, bellsmom wondered if touring was possible. From a sign in the door of the very small office (where I picked up my bag of flour) that led to part of their plant which read 'No Cell Phones or Cameras Beyond this Point', I gather that there are no tours. However, the door was partially glass and I could see lots of pallets of 5 and 25 pound bags of flours including four pallets of almost completely red 5# King Arthur Flour packages. They were too far to read, but from package pictures on KA's site, they were the Organic All Purpose White as I had heard was possible in 2013.
annie1992
6 years ago
Chas, I wish I could find a mill close to me, you'd think there'd be one out here in the middle of farm country, wouldn't you? Instead I buy wheat berries from the Amish store and grind my own.

Just as well, I don't have enough freezer space to start storing 25 pounds of flour, LOL.

Good detective work, BTW.

Annie

Bread flour: I am stoked.

Comments (10)

teresa_nc7

westsider40

Related Discussions

westsider40

grainlady_ks

agmss15

bellsmom

chas045
Original Author

mustangs81

chas045
Original Author

annie1992

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Bread flour: I am stoked.

Comments (10)

Related Discussions

chas045Original Author

chas045Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

chas045
Original Author

chas045
Original Author