Sam's Club Hi Gluten Flour vs Sams Harvest King Bread Flour

[Jackie Tran]

Thats the thing that is a real bummer.  The shipping cost.  The cost to ship 5lbs of this SC HG flour can cost as much as 1/3 of what you can buy the 50lb sack for.   But if you buy the 50lb sack and don't like the flour then what?  Pitch it?  I hate being wasteful. 

[scott123]

Shipping really does ruin it.  If you can find a few members in your area who want to go in on a bag, that would be ideal, but, let's face it, there's just not enough of us- yet 

[Jackie Tran]

I had time to make a trip to SC and Costco this afternoon.  They are right next door to one another.  The 1 SC's I visited stop carrying flour completely.  The Costco across the street had Conagra harvest BF and the Minn Girl Baker's Flour.   

Both had the same identical ingredients list: bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine, mononitrate, riboflavin, and folic acid.

Only the CA Harvest BF had a nutrtional label stating 4gm of protein per 1/4 cup serving (30gm).  ~13.3 gm ?  I've also been told these labels are not accurate and not to be trusted.

Scott if it is indeed 13.3 gm protein, then I don't have any problems believing the SC baker's and chef's HG flour is the same at 13.3 gm with the addition of bromate.  It certainly acts like a 13-14% protein flour. 

If I get a chance in the next couple of days, I'll go across town and see if I can glean anything for the HG label if they are still selling it.

Chau

[Jackie Tran]

Scotty, I finally got a chance to stop by the SC that sells the HG flour.  The ingredient label is almost identical to the other 2 I posted earlier with the addition of bromate to the list. 

Also interesting is the protein content is also 4gm per 1/4 cup serving (30gm) making that 13.3gm protein.   If i had to guess, I would say most of the con agra mills flours are the same just rebadged. 

[scott123]

Chau, with the rounding that manufacturers are allowed to do, '4 grams' could theoretically be 3.51 grams- which would translate into 11.7% protein OR it could be 4.49 and be 14.9%. The label is pretty much meaningless.

I think that your gut feeling that it acts in the 13% range is a good one. I also think that not knowing the exact protein percentage is probably not the end of the world. If it bugs you, and you have the capability of shooting a video, film the mixing process.  Like I did with Paul, I can confirm if it's 14% or not by watching it mix- even by hand.

[Jackie Tran]

Thx Scott.  If I decide down the road that it is my flour of choice then I'll shoot a video. As it is, I'm still experimenting with different flours and mixing techniques.

Chau

[Jackie Tran]

Well I have been working with this flour a couple of times a week for over a year now and I just wanted to update this thread.  I picked up another 50lb bag of this HG bleached and broamted flour.  The price is now $23 and change compared to last years $16 plus.  It was still $16 something 4 months ago when I bought my previous bag.  No big deal since I like this flour so much for making bread and pizza.  

This flour is great for bread and NY style pizza.  

Chau

[chickenparm]

Hi Chau,

Have you used this flour recently in full strength for a pie,or are you mixing it with AP or another flour?

I was just curious if you had any new experiments with it,since you also have a new oven to bake it with.

I wanted to tell ya,I still use Bouncer HG flour at times.I get A lot more bubbles with this flour,compared to say,a KA BF,or an AP flour dough.Have you noticed that as well or different?I have also been mixing mine with other flours and having nice results too.

Thanks.

[Jackie Tran]

Bill I have used this flour by itself for bread and pizza and I have also mixed in every combination and percentage that I could think of with caputo, AP, and BF.   I have also mixed it with other HG flours such as All Trumps as well.  I have also gotten really great results with it by itself along with mixing it in differing % with other flours.  The key to success IMO is a balance of technique and flour with an emphasis on technique.  If the balance is off the resuts are not optimal.  Technique can make up for an inferior flour to a certain extent, but without good technique, even the best flours can result in mediocrity.

IMO, it's just a great flour and makes my life so much easier.  Recently, when I ran out, I bought a bag of Con Agra Bakers and Chefs bleached and enriched BF from SAMs club to try for bread making.  Night and day difference compared to their HG bleached and bromated flour.   The bread flour was significantly weaker and produced an inferior bread loaf.  It was only after I mixed in 50% of the bromated HG flour did I get a decent loaf.  Pizzawise, their BF made for a great crust.

Tonight, I made 2 really good pies using 100% of this HG flour in the LBE, I'll post pictures later tonight or tomorrow.

[c0mpl3x]

i use sams bread flour (red bag) for pretty much everything.  it bakes wonderful up past 450º, i've used it at 625º before with no problems.

plenty of chew, and likes a higher hydration (around 63-67%), oil hydration excluded.

[Jackie Tran]

Complex thanks for your notes.  I just started using the SCBF and getting great results.  Through some trial and error, I'm also using about a 66% hydration for this flour for pizza.  Good stuff!

[Bill 001]

I'm thinking about trying one of the 2.  Any thoughts or experiences with either?  I'm leaning towards the hi gluten bleached and bromated flour. 

 Shamrock Foodservice Warehouse, 1221 S Renaissance Blvd NE.  Have you looked into this source for flour?  I know they are the distributor for Caputo, but I have NOT been able to get an answer to whether they can get Rinforzato.  I'm using Pizzeria right now but would love to try Rinforzato.

If you have time check out what other flour they carry and post it for us New Mexicans.

And yes, I usually put some fire roasted green chiles on my Pizza.

Bill

[Jackie Tran]

Hi Bill, nice to see another NM in the mix.  Yes, I buy my caputo pizzeria 00, mozz.  If they don't carry something, try to get a hold of a manager and see if they will order it for you.  They'll keep it there until you ready to pick up. 

From memory, they carry...
KA Sir Ghalahad (AP) flour in 50lb bags
El Denrado flour
High Power? HG flour
caputo pizzeria flour
Minnesota girl flour

I'll see if I can take some pictures of their flours next time I'm there.  No Rinforzato though.  You might get close by mixing pizzeria flour with a small bit of a stronger american flour if you can't source rinforzato. 

Across the street at Sam's Club, you can get SCBF.  Costco around the corner carries the Harvest King BF, Minnesota Girl Baker's flour, Baker's and Chef Hotel and Restaurant AP flour. 

To get Sam's Club HG bleach and bromated flour, you'll have to go to the Sam's club on Eubank and Lomas.   Between all the stores, you can probably stock up an a variety of different flours.   Costco also has the 2 (1 lb) blocks of Fleischmanns' IDY and the Tuscan EVOO.  Lots and lots of pizza stuff between all the stores.  Well worth the trip.