Where is the best place to buy high gluten flour?

[eric22]

Amazon has it.  50lbs, $50.

here too.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/landing.jsp?go=DetailDefault&id=3332


http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/3117/king-arthur-sir-lancelot-flour

?

[Pete-zza]

Is there a particular brand you are looking for (e.g., King Arthur Sir Lancelot, All Trumps, etc.), and are you looking for only a small quantity (a few pounds) or a 50-lb. bag? It might also help to know where you live if you are interested in the large bags, since shipping costs and other factors come into play.

Peter

[enchant]

It might be worth your while to do a little research on the area where you live for restaurant supply houses.  I don't know if pizza joints would be thrilled in telling you where they get their ingredients, but maybe if you lie - tell them that you're trying to find a local outlet for Queen Guenevere cake flour, and where do they get theirs?

A place down the street from me sells All Trumps for about $17/50 lb.

[pizzoid]

I get 50 lb bags of Sir Lancelot for $25 from a a local bakery in a smaller supermarket, known for it's breads. Try talking to one of the bakers at a similar place near you.

Food service price is supposedly ~$15, but I can't meet minimums for delivery, and it isn't stocked at any cash & carry I've found in SE Massachusetts.

- Al

[enchant]

Food service price is supposedly ~$15, but I can't meet minimums for delivery, and it isn't stocked at any cash & carry I've found in SE Massachusetts.

Al,

Have you checked Cirelli in Middleboro?  They carried it at one time.  Twice I went in to pick some up, and they said they were out.  I finally gave up and bought All Trumps at a place in Pembroke.  If you live near Pembroke, call East Coast Food & Paper (formerly Pembroke Food & Paper).  They don't carry KASL, but they do carry KA all purpose, and they're pretty nice in there.  They might special order it for you.

[pizzoid]

Al,

Have you checked Cirelli in Middleboro?  They carried it at one time.  Twice I went in to pick some up, and they said they were out.  I finally gave up and bought All Trumps at a place in Pembroke.  If you live near Pembroke, call East Coast Food & Paper (formerly Pembroke Food & Paper).  They don't carry KASL, but they do carry KA all purpose, and they're pretty nice in there.  They might special order it for you.

I did a few months back. While their delivery division could order it for delivery, they didn't have it at the Marketplace. I haven't been back in there to ask again. I also haven't asked if they could get a bag, and have it waiting for me at the Marketplace. That day it felt like one of those places where if you asked one person you'd get a different answer than the next one you asked!

- Al

[enchant]

That day it felt like one of those place where if you asked one person you'd get a different answer than the next one you asked!

Ok, so we're definitely talking about the same place. 

What you said about them having it available for delivery only sounds familiar.

[scott r]

Guys, if you go up to a manager (behind the desk at Cirelli's) he will go to the delivery side and get you whatever you want from the online product catalog.   Unfortunately KASL is not an item they carry, but you can get other goodies not on the retail shelves that way (like escalon 6 in 1's).

The nearby AGAR supply and Hallsmith Sysco in Taunton also do cash and carry. If I remember correctly one of them have KASL.

[pizzoid]

The nearby AGAR supply and Hallsmith Sysco in Taunton also do cash and carry. If I remember correctly one of them have KASL.

AGAR does not have cash & carry. If you have an account, you can pick stuff up.

Sysco has one open 7-5 M-F at 380 South Worcester St. in Norton. Their web site claims to have KASL, But since they don't admit to having any Grande, Stanislaus, or Escalon stuff, it's not worth my time & money to drive that far.

- Al

[scott r]

I guess i got lucky with AGAR,  I just showed up and they sold to me.

[pizzoid]

I guess i got lucky with AGAR,  I just showed up and they sold to me.

Them & Sonja at Samos. How do you DO this? I just get grumpy women on the phone who don't want to sell me anything!

- Al

[enchant]

"scott r" is just his pizzamaking.com alias.  In real life, he's George Clooney, and the women give him WHATEVER he wants.

[scott r]

this is all true!

Seriously, though, I think Agar will sell, you just don't ask over the phone. The same thing goes for most of these places.  Accardi Foods where I buy my caputo flour even has a sign on the door that says "no cash and carry", but if you go in with a big smile and order more than just a bag of flour they seem very happy to sell their goods.  Also telling them that I am planning on opening a pizzeria some day helps a lot.

[eric22]

Restaurant supplies in the yellow pages had nothing but metal kitchen supplies.  You need to look in bakery supplies i think.

Found 'WHEAT GLUTEN' at Whole foods grocery store in a little bag.  Think 20% protein.  Need to add to AP flour.

Other than that.  ZERO success.

I am thinking there is a conspiracy to hold High gluten flour off the market.  Seriously.

[derbow]

Hey Guys,

I checked with one of the local food distributes here in the Atlanta, GA area for KASL.  One place I called near me does not do cash and carry, but the lady was very happy to tell me about a bakery that they sell to.  Turn out the place is awesome.  The baker is from France and his croissants made from KASL are tremendous.  The best croissants I have ever had in the States, but they do not compare to the ones I used to get at my Grandpa's house in Nice, France.

Anyway, I called the place up and asked if he would be willing to sell me some KASL for making Pizza.  He sold me 5lb for $1.50 and already had it bagged up for me when I got there.  It would take me a good long time to use 50lb, and this place is not that for from my house, so I am happy to pay that price.  The KABF I get from my grocery store is $2.79 for 5 lb, so in my opinion the KASL from this guy is a steal.

I am hoping to get to stick around one day and watch him make the croissants.

So, Saturday night will be Pizza night this week.  I am going to make one pizza my old way, and one with the KASL just for a comparison taste test.  I might post pics in another thread.

Derrick

[wayno]

Derrick,

I agree that $1.50 is a pretty good price.  That's 30 cents a pound!  I think you have made a really good connection.

That's less than the sale price (40 cents a lb) for regular King Arthur flours at my local grocery.

I think you will find the KASL makes a big difference!

Wayno

[Pete-zza]

I am thinking there is a conspiracy to hold High gluten flour off the market.  Seriously.

At one time, I thought so too. That was until I had a chat a few years ago with a technical employee of Bay State Milling about supplementing bread flour or all-purpose flour with vital wheat gluten to increase the protein content to the high-gluten flour level. During the course of our conversation, I asked him why high-gluten flour wasn't sold at retail like all-purpose and bread flours. He laughed and said that professional bakers wouldn't be buying their flour in "little bags" at retail prices, so that left only ordinary home users to buy the flour, and there wasn't strong enough demand from home users to warrant stocking the flour. When you think about it, there are far fewer uses for high-gluten flour than either all-purpose flour or bread flour. High-gluten flour is good for making bagels and pizza dough (mainly for NY style pizzas), but the other flours are good enough for most home bakers for just about everything else. I know very few people off of this forum who make bagels or pizzas at home, whether using high-gluten or any other flour. If anyone were to offer high-gluten flour for resale at the retail level, I think it would be General Mills, since they are already in the retail sector and they have shown a willingness to introduce new flours for the home consumer like the Harvest King and some organic flours. Maybe some day they will offer a retail high-gluten flour. But I'm not holding my breath.

Pete

[eric22]

Interesting comments.

[scott r]

Anyway, I called the place up and asked if he would be willing to sell me some KASL for making Pizza.  He sold me 5lb for $1.50 and already had it bagged up for me when I got there.  It would take me a good long time to use 50lb, and this place is not that for from my house, so I am happy to pay that price.  The KABF I get from my grocery store is $2.79 for 5 lb, so in my opinion the KASL from this guy is a steal.

I think this sums up the answer to the title of this thread.  The best place to buy high gluten flour is from your friendly local pizzeria.  If you can get into a conversation with the owners of a pizzeria and discuss your passion with them you might be surprised with their reaction.  It is definitely not uncommon for these people to send you home with some pizza supplies for free!  Most of the time the seem to charge what they pay for ingredients, and that is amazing low compared to retail stores.

This is really a great hobby because most of the people interested are very intelligent and helpful.