where to buy: looking for high-gluten bread flour

Hi,

does anyone know where in Chicaogland area that I could purchase large bags of unbleached bread flour? looking for 10lb --25 lb bags. to be use strictly for bread baking.

Thanks for any info.

I'm almost positive I saw gluten flour on Thursday at the Home Economist on Gross Point Rd in Skokie. I don't know what sort of discount they give for quantity purchases, but I'm fairly sure they will sell stuff in bulk.

OTOH, the manager is a strange bird and there's no saying she'd agree to it even if they do it as a matter of course.

Home Economist, 9159 Gross Point Rd, Skokie, IL 60077
(847) 674-7252 fishernuts.com
9159 Gross Point Rd, Skokie, IL 60077

HI,

I believe Costco has bread flour in 10 or 25 pound bags.

Yet the bread flour sold retail is not always as high in protein/gluten as those available commercially. Earlier this year I was at a demonstration for making Walker Brothers apple pancake. While bread flour was used, Steve Katz added one teaspoon additional gluten powder to increase the protein/gluten to the level used at the restaurant. This gluten powder was bought at Whole Foods.

Regards,

Cathy, is that one teaspoon per pancake or for a large batch?

HI,

It was one teaspoon per batch. Two teaspoons for a double batch.

Regards,

Trader Joes carries King Arthur Bread Flour as do many Dominicks and Jewels and likely any other general grocery store. Look for flour made from hard or winter wheat. As has been mentioned, you can always add gluten to regular flour, just go easy or your bread will be really tough.

There is a difference between bread flour (12.5%-13.5% protein) and high-gluten flour (14%-15% protein).

Restaurant Depot has nice bags of unbleached bread flour as well, borrow a card from someone and get as much as you can .
Also Neiman Brothers on Kimball by Addisson has it, their number is 463-3000. You would have to pick it up and pay in cash as they are mostly wholesalers, ask for Bill or Laura Neiman, they own the company.

Cookie Monster wrote:Restaurant Depot has nice bags of unbleached bread flour as well, borrow a card from someone and get as much as you can.

Restaurant Depot is intended for entities who have registered their resale number with tax later paid by the end-customer. If someone knows someone who has access to Restaurant Depot, then get them to buy it for you and pay them for the product and sales tax.

The fine for mis-use of a resale number is $25,000 and up. I learned this from a Costco manager who had a customer who used his resale number for personal items and got caught.

Regards,

Bumping this to see if anyone knows of a store in Chicago that sells high gluten bread flour - not talking King Arthur bread flour . . . want more gluten. King Arthur sells a higher gluten flour, but I'd prefer to find it locally if possible.

Alternatively, if you can't answer the first question but know of a store that sells Bob's Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten, I'd appreciate that info too. (Note: I know many stores sell Bob's Red Mill products, but have not yet looked for this exact product yet).

Thanks for your help.

Whole Foods definately carries the Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten- I just bought a bag of it from them earlier this week. I got it at the store on S Canal street, but I would imagine it is available in any WF. Hope that helps..

Hi,

I bought Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten when Dominick's was closing. If they had it, I think any store that carries a broad range of his products will carry it too. Sunset Foods carries a broad selection, I am not quite sure about Jewel.

My very first purchase of wheat gluten was at Whole Foods in their flour section.

What I have never quite settled in my mind is how much I need to use when I need to up the gluten. I've added it in teaspoon as well as tablespoon quantities. Maybe if I did a side-by-side I might notice the difference. IF you come across some reference on this, please link to it.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:

What I have never quite settled in my mind is how much I need to use when I need to up the gluten. I've added it in teaspoon as well as tablespoon quantities. Maybe if I did a side-by-side I might notice the difference. IF you come across some reference on this, please link to it.

Regards,

Cathy,

Vital wheat gluten is usually about 75% protein by weight. The HG flour I use is about 13% protein. So, if you know the protein content of the non-HG flour, it is a fairly easy calculation to determine how much VWG you need to add.

Bill/SFNM

Bill,

Thanks! Especially knowing I need to take into account 75% protein (gluten) and aiming toward 13% for bread and pizza, I presume.

Regards,

Cathy,

I only use HG flour for bagels.

For your breads and pizzas, the final structure is more than just the amount of protein in the flour. Gluten structure is formed both mechanically by kneading and chemically by water in contact with the proteins over a longer period of time (e.g., the "no-knead" method). Also, the acids created by your starter culture can, over time, break down some of the gluten structure. Other ingredients in the dough can also effect the gluten structure. The only way I know how to get a handle on this is to pick the best baseline you can and make adjustments (one variable at a time) to slowly move the structure towards your ideal.

Thanks everyone. I found the Bob's Red Mill gluten at Whole Foods and that will work out just fine. And Bill/SFNM, I'm making bagels myself . . . only thing I use it for.

And, the finished product, using the wheat gluten to increase the protein percentage from around 12.5% to about 14.5%:






More in this post.

Also Neiman Brothers on Kimball by Addisson has it, their number is 463-3000. You would have to pick it up and pay in cash as they are mostly wholesalers, ask for Bill or Laura Neiman, they own the company.

I was looking for high-gluten bread flour to experiment with in pizza (since I got the Pizza Bible book from Tony Gemignano). I called Nieman Brothers and they were great! Ended up getting 50# of high-gluten bread flour for about $16. I've used it for a few batches of dough and I'm really loving it. Thanks CookieMonster for the info...

thaiobsessed wrote:

Also Neiman Brothers on Kimball by Addisson has it, their number is 463-3000. You would have to pick it up and pay in cash as they are mostly wholesalers, ask for Bill or Laura Neiman, they own the company.

I was looking for high-gluten bread flour to experiment with in pizza (since I got the Pizza Bible book from Tony Gemignano). I called Nieman Brothers and they were great! Ended up getting 50# of high-gluten bread flour for about $16. I've used it for a few batches of dough and I'm really loving it. Thanks CookieMonster for the info...

I doubt that Neiman sells unbleached (and not enriched/bromated) flour, because someone else in IL has monopoly on hard wheat products. Of course, retailers may carry something in small bags, but pros will never touch those

edithpiaf wrote:Whole Foods definately carries the Red Mill Vital Wheat Gluten- I just bought a bag of it from them earlier this week. I got it at the store on S Canal street, but I would imagine it is available in any WF. Hope that helps..

Just as another data point, I was in the Elmhurst Whole Foods last night and noted that they had this there as well.

Hi,

I saw earlier in the thread a recommendation to go to the Home Economist. All those stores shuttered, however a former Home Economist location offers bulk products of the same variety.

I visited there once to buy my favorite product at HE: bulk gelatin.

Certainly, I would call before heading there. If you are going to Katy's Noodles, it cannot be too far away.

Regards,
Cathy2

Bulk Fresh Pantry
Address: 6382 S Cass Ave, Westmont, IL 60559
Phone:(630) 852-0214
Hours:
Friday 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Saturday 9:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Sunday 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Monday 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM
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