What's your take on the flour shortage?
l pinkmountain
4 years ago
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
4 years agosleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
4 years agoRelated Discussions
Flour is No-No What for Mustard Pickles?
Comments (23)kayskats - Yes, the "police" do show up at farmer's markets and farm stands, the state Dept of Ag can show up anytime (and have for several other vendors) to do a "surprise" inspection at your home kitchen, and yes, I do have to show my certification before I can sell at my quite small market (less than 30 vendors on any Saturday). The state also shows up to ensure that weighing scales have been calibrated within the last year, but that is another story. If you are caught selling BWB canned acidified foods when you do not have the cert. or are selling other stuff you shouldn't be (low acid, pressure canned, refrigerated, etc.), the Dept of Ag and the FDA could inflict very severe penalties on you and your market. We homegrown sellers have to follow pretty much what the rules are for commercial operations. One size fits all, US wide, but some states have lesser rules for farm stands and farmer's markets than my state does. Best to check with your Cooperative Extension office in your county and if they don't know, go on to your State Dept. of Ag. One comment one of my co-student's made was that if he didn't know what the rules were he would be safe from penalties. I don't think I'd buy anything from him, would you? Yes, please ask the sellers HOW their stuff was processed and if their kitchen was inspected, etc. We are consumers and should protect ourselves from bad stuff we might ingest. I even walk out of restaurants with a food grade less than "A". ksrogers - I think dry cured meats are regulated by another mega agency, the USDA. One of the vendors at my market raises cattle and hogs for cuts of meat he sells. He threw up his hands at the regs for slaughtering, curing, and/or freezing and now has a co-packer do it for him and THEY have to handle the USDA inspections and process filings which are really intense. >>I wouldn't go so far as to say that cured meat has no safety issues, because they do!Yes, I know, I make regular strawberry jam that is heated, but sadly it is not nearly as tasty as freezer jam. Horseradish, a low acid food, is not exactly stable and the pH acidification cannot be measured outside a food science lab according to my instructor, and that is why I can't sell it. It is not heated or pasteurized to eliminate bacterias, molds, and toxins, and "sealing" only means screwing on the cap. Refrigeration and acidification keep it stable and unable to grow the bad stuff because of refrigeration. That is also why it is sold refrigerated and you are admonished on the label to keep it refrigerated after opening. Commercial processors ship in refrigerated trucks from refrigerated manufacturing and storage facilities, and they go directly to the refrigerated section of the grocery store. That is something that can't be duplicated in a home processing environment or at an open-air market. Also, adding more vinegar doesn't necessarily make it safer because we can't measure the pH of the horseradish's vegetable interior at home, and with pH meters and test strips all we are doing is measuring the vinegar's pH. BTW - shelf stable jams and jellies are exempt from these regs because they have low water activity and a low pH. Since they are also packed at high temperatures, they are not likely to harbor harmful food borne illness organisms. Molds are the most likely bad thing to form but that is usually from not having sterilized the jars or not heating the lids enough (or, dirty hands packing them, airborne dust in a room with a fan, using overly ripe or moldy fruit, etc. etc.). I can sell as many variations of jelly and jam as I want at market. Without a cert. but with a kitchen inspection. Nancy...See MoreCorn Flour vs Brown Rice Flour
Comments (14)Oh, no! Bad sentence on my part. Southern California. We had a wonderful Syrian bakery that made brilliant pita. I still miss them. My heart breaks for what has happened there, but I've never been to Syria. You haven't said why you're eschewing "enriched flour" and don't need to, but white flour products are required by law to use vitamin enriched flour, and even most home baking white flour (bleached or unbleached) is enriched and has a little malted barley flour in it as well, which has a lot of an enzyme that's needed for rising. Unless you have a specific problem with one or more of the vitamins or the barley, the enrichment shouldn't be a problem. Maybe you're just concerned that there's white flour in there. White flour is often added to whole wheat flour to make the rise spongier. Sometimes vital wheat gluten is added to strengthen the gluten (the bran in the whole wheat can weaken or cut it). Wheat gluten can be isolated by hand by washing the wheat and kneading out the starch, and has been done for centuries, so it's not a weird industrial product. Anything that's made with white flour in the U.S. uses enriched flour. There may be some places that mill and sift their own flours that do not, but that's an extremely rare exception. Therefore, I would guarantee that the Lebanese pita are made with enriched flour. The thinner thing is probably a lack of leavening. Even in the Middle East, nowadays, the pita have leavening and are a bit spongy. That's not traditional. :) I haven't seen Kontos, and I'd guess it's an East Coast brand. I don't doubt that it's good! Whole Foods might be a better place to get 100% whole wheat, however, unless you can find a Middle Eastern or halal store where people are into the "new" kind of dietary laws (no white flour, pasture raise livestock, etc.). Maybe try stores near the colleges? College kids tend to be into better eating. Turlock is from California. I know they freeze to ship it to avoid preservatives, so you might find it there, but more likely the Whole Foods have something local. Good luck on your quest....See MoreHow Will the Current Shortages Affect your Future Shopping Behavior
Comments (92)I'm doing limited shopping. Costco twice in 6 months, Target only curbside, food co-op every six weeks, Farmer's Market every 2 weeks and Trader Joes every 2 or 3 weeks. A local high-end grocery every 10 days or so. Haven't found paper products that I prefer, because I used to buy them at Target but they won't deliver or do curbside and I'm not going inside. Someone posted (here?) about Staples having TP, so I looked at they had the Scott 1 ply I need for my septic, but they had their own house brand that looks identical for much less $$, so I bought 2 packs of 20 rolls. Delivered in 1 day for free. They also had some sanitizing wipes (their brand) and a free hand sanitizer if you spent more than $30. I have NEVER been able to make their website work for me, so I ended up in a chat, then a phone convo, but it all worked out. I should be good for many months....See MoreSubstituting AP Flour for Whole Wheat Flour
Comments (4)Muffins just came out of the oven and we like them! It is my first time ever to taste Morning Glory Muffins. With my substitutions, they should probably be called Not-Quite Morning Glory Muffins. Not only did I substitute the flour, but I had to substitute the oil too. I’m almost out of canola oil. I had enough coconut oil to get close to 3/4 cup, so I used that and topped it off with a dab of canola oil to equal 3/4 cup. The recipe called for orange zest. I’m out of oranges, so I added 1 Tblsp of Cointreau. I also omitted the nuts. Although I have nuts in the freezer, I don’t really care for them. So now that forlorn little apple that has been setting on the counter longer than I’m willing to admit has been put to good use. btw, it was a substitution also. The recipe calls for Granny Smith, but I used Honeycrisp. Plllog, thanks for the tip, but no unsweetened bran cereal in the house....See Moresleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
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