Bread Flour Shortage?

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noboundaries

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Sep 7, 2013
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Roseville, CA, a suburb of Sacramento
Hmm. My preferred grocer has been out of bread flour for the last three weeks. Plenty of AP and whole wheat, but no bread flour. I go through 5 lbs each of AP/bread/whole wheat flour about every 6-10 weeks. Checked online and the shortage has been blamed on the war in Ukraine, which supplied 30% of the world's wheat.

There's bread flour at other grocers for twice what I'm willing to pay (75 cents to $1/lb). I want only milled, unbleached flour in the bag; not vitamins and unpronouceable words. I found bread flour in the bulk section with vitamins and long words at 58 cents/lb, so only bought enough for the next week. Time to start milling my own again.

For you bread bakers, is there a bread flour shortage in your area?

Thanks,

Ray
 
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I have not heard that yet . Semolina is flying off the shelf because everyone is a pasta maker now . My Son works in a grocery store and he usually gets a heads up so he can make his orders . He hasn't said anything .
 
Ray

There was during covid, but now there is plenty.

Joe

I have not heard that yet . Semolina is flying off the shelf because everyone is a pasta maker now . My Son works in a grocery store and he usually gets a heads up so he can make his orders . He hasn't said anything .

We have KA BF here at Kroger.
Glad I vac sealed 75 lbs.

Thanks, guys. Several grocers have KA BF in my area but are charging $9 for a 5 lb bag. That's a price I won't pay. A year ago I was paying $3.78 for 5 lbs.

Maybe those vitamins and big words aren't so bad 😭.
 
I often add vital wheat gluten (VWG) to my bread when I add a portion of AP flour and non-gluten ingredients like seeds, oat flour, flax meal, etc. I just looked up how to turn AP flour to bread flour. Simple answer is add 5 grams VWG to each 115g of AP flour.

Problem solved.
 
Apparently a lot of it is regional, like with eggs. Like mentioned above, we never had a shortage around here except during covid. Even then there was no shortage of generic AP. Funny, but when the Ukraine thing started King Arthur immediately jumped up $2 for a 5# bag, but not the other brands for a while (?). I paid $5.69 for a 5#bag of Whole Wheat KA this morning and their bread flour was on sale for $4.99. Plenty on hand.
It might be that store's restocking regimen. I've noticed that if Meijer runs out of something they'll be out of it for 2 or 3 weeks, but Kroger seems to restock more often.
flour aisle.jpg bread flour.jpg
flour.jpg
eggs.jpg I keep hearing about the high cost of eggs but they're around $2.99 to $3.69 around here (for non "organic") and plenty of them...
 
I buy all my meat at Gordon's food service . In my search for semolina a few weeks ago I figured I would check and see if they had any . No luck , but they had a 50 lb. bag of
" Primo Gusto " pizza crust and bread flour for 28 bucks . I thought to myself that's an --- load of flour . Then realized when I got home that I have 25 lbs. of AP and BF combined , and 3 3 lb. bags of 00 pizza flour . So if there is a good way to vac it up and keep it fresh just might be worth . Only draw back is , if you don't like it .
 
Apparently a lot of it is regional, like with eggs. Like mentioned above, we never had a shortage around here except during covid. Even then there was no shortage of generic AP. Funny, but when the Ukraine thing started King Arthur immediately jumped up $2 for a 5# bag, but not the other brands for a while (?). I paid $5.69 for a 5#bag of Whole Wheat KA this morning and their bread flour was on sale for $4.99. Plenty on hand.
It might be that store's restocking regimen. I've noticed that if Meijer runs out of something they'll be out of it for 2 or 3 weeks, but Kroger seems to restock more often.
View attachment 658629View attachment 658630
View attachment 658631
View attachment 658632 I keep hearing about the high cost of eggs but they're around $2.99 to $3.69 around here (for non "organic") and plenty of them...
Eggs are double that in the mountain west. We keep chickens and sell eggs for $5 a dozen to our neighbors who are happy to take them off our hands.
 
Ray

I get the whole higher protien for bread flour, but lately I have been Using KA AP. I get a 12 bag at BJ's for $8.

Bread Flour yields a softer crust, the AP gets more texture. I usually use the bread flour for things like Pizza Dough( 50% bread flour 50% 00), and brioche.

Joe
 
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Yeah, Joe, I was surprised when reviewing bread recipes on the KA website that AP is used a lot. Their AP flour has a higher protein content than a lot of other AP flours: 11.7% vs as low as 10% with other brands.

12 lbs for $8? Yeah, I'd make that switch too!

Ray
 
Thanks, guys. Several grocers have KA BF in my area but are charging $9 for a 5 lb bag. That's a price I won't pay. A year ago I was paying $3.78 for 5 lbs.

Maybe those vitamins and big words aren't so bad 😭.
you can join KA flour online. $6.95/5lb. Free shipping orders over $75 I think. I love their products. If you are into chocolate chip cookies try their Caramel chip blend, semisweet, white chocolate and salted caramel chips. Makes an amazing cookie. I spend way to much money with KA.
 
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Thanks, guys. Several grocers have KA BF in my area but are charging $9 for a 5 lb bag. That's a price I won't pay. A year ago I was paying $3.78 for 5 lbs.

Maybe those vitamins and big words aren't so bad 😭.
KA BF was difficult to find during Covid, but has been more available in the past year or so. A few months ago, I could find it for $3.69 for 5#. Now it's still on the shelves, but it's gone up to $9.99!

What I find shocking is the price of chocolate chips. Over $5 lb here.
And I decided to try Jeff's Dump Cake recipe the other day. A 20 oz. can of pie filling is $5 or more? WTH?
 
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Bread flour if I am not mistaken, just has a higher gluten content for using winter wheat. Just buy some gluten from the bulk store and add some. Im sure there is a formula online for adding it somewhere.
 
There's no shortage of any kind , we grow loads of flour right here in the USA. It's called capitalism, supply and demand. You don't get things both ways. You can't crybaby about government controls out of one side of your mouth, and then whine there's too much out of the other side. Vote, it's what we do to bring about change in America
 
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