Cheap source for unusual flours

January 16, 2006 7:54 AM

I'm looking for an economical source for small quantities of various flours, online or brick and mortar in the Boston area.

I've recently gotten quite seriously into baking, and in a lot of applications, the usual King Arthur all-purpose and bread flours (available at the supermarket) just aren't cutting it. I dropped $20 to buy some Sir Lancelot high-gluten and European-Style "artisan" flour at KA's Baker's Catalogue online. The flour is of an OK price for 3-pound bags, but shipping really kills it. Nearly $2/lb for flour seems excessive.

In the interest of flavor and texture, I need a good source for things like clear flour, rye flour, and high-gluten flour. Ideally, the flour would cost no more than about $0.90/lb. The other problem is that I don't want to take delivery of 50-pound bags. Maybe 15 pounds at a time, maximum?

I'm in the Boston area and would drive a little bit to find a place that retails these relatively small quantities... or is there a cheap online source for these types of flour?

posted by rxrfrx to food & drink (19 comments total)

Have you tried Whole Foods or the Harvest Co-op in Central Square? Most upscale healthy/organic places have flours you can buy in bulk, which means you get to choose how much you want.

It's been a while since I lived there, though, so I'm not positive either place has exactly what you're looking for. But they may be worth calling.
posted by occhiblu at 8:04 AM on January 16, 2006

Ideally what you'd want is a bulk food store, but I've never seen one in Boston and people I've asked don't even know what I'm talking about. You might check your local phone book or google local for bulk stores.
posted by duck at 8:22 AM on January 16, 2006

$8.33 for a pound of flour? At that price, your bread better be baking itself. "Artisinal" flour is, IMO, a load of crap.

Any half-decent health food store will have bulk flour.
posted by mkultra at 8:35 AM on January 16, 2006

I'm not sure where you're getting that $8.33/lb figure from. The BC flours are about $2/lb shipped, at which price you're paying for the fun of baking the bread yourself, because you aren't saving a significant amount of money vs. going to a good bakery.
posted by rxrfrx at 8:38 AM on January 16, 2006

Wild Oats sells bulk flours and also has a wide variety of niche flours unavailable at the usual supermarket.
posted by MasonDixon at 8:41 AM on January 16, 2006

Bostonite here. Whole Foods does carry some varieties of flours, but call around to the various stores before going; different stores have different things, and none may quite have what you're looking for.

As an alternate source--what about calling up some of the bakeries in the area and seeing if they'd agree to sell you a few pounds of their flour? Clear Flour Bread might be a good place to start; haven't been there so can't comment on their friendliness but can't hurt.
posted by fuzzbean at 9:22 AM on January 16, 2006

I don't live in Boston, but I do bake a good deal and almost only buy King Arthur flours. I found the regular KA flours you mention in the normal bread flour aisle of two chains, and then in the organic section of one of them found the Sir Lancelot. You might scour the stores where you found the KA and check for an organic or specialty section, away from the regular flour aisle.

If you strike out, you might ask a manager at a large one to order in the specialty KA flours for you, they've certainly ordered weirder things.
posted by GaelFC at 9:28 AM on January 16, 2006

Whole Foods has been very good about ordering unusual items for my friends and family in the past.
posted by cali at 10:41 AM on January 16, 2006

An email to [e-mail] yielded this quick response:

---

Dear Fellow Baker,

Thank you for writing. At this time we do not offer rye, clear or
Sir Lancelot flour in retail stores. We hope this will change in
the future. In some areas we do offer King Arthur Organic
Artisan Flour. I do not have a listing where you would find this
but ask you grocery manager if he can stock it for you.

---

It seems that these flours are only available in the 50-lb bags sold to distributors, and as the 2- and 3-lb brown paper bags you can order from the Baker's Catalogue. The search is on, then, for a store or bakery who will sell me a portion of their flour as bulk.
posted by rxrfrx at 12:07 PM on January 16, 2006

But aren't there other producers?
posted by occhiblu at 12:13 PM on January 16, 2006

Yes, there are other producers, though I'm not familiar with any other producer who sells flour in the Northeast and has these particular flours. I do know that Pillsbury sells a high-gluten flour called All-Trumps, and that it may be available in huge bags at select Costco locations. I would definitely be interested in any information regarding other producers.
posted by rxrfrx at 12:15 PM on January 16, 2006

Oh, and in response to mkultura's earlier comment, the "artisanal" tag used by KA refers to a European-style flour that has a fairly low protein content, yet produces a chewy, crisp-crusted bread.
posted by rxrfrx at 12:17 PM on January 16, 2006

Most stores that sell in bulk don't carry one particular brand, in my experience. I meant that just since one manufacturer didn't produce home-cook-friendly portions, didn't mean you were out of luck. The health food stores around here all carry nine-thousand different types of flour (and salt, and rice, and sugar, etc.), many of which are from different producers.

I've emailed the Harvest Co-Op for you; I'll let you know if they turn up anything.
posted by occhiblu at 12:21 PM on January 16, 2006

Don't buy flour or anything that isn't well-sealed from Harvest Co-op. I have a friend who worked there for several years and their mouse problem is completely out of control. Word is they're too hippy-dippy to use effective mouse traps.
posted by duck at 1:30 PM on January 16, 2006

Heh. Well, then, maybe call Whole Foods instead. There's that gigantic one at Alewife -- might be a good one to check out first.
posted by occhiblu at 2:09 PM on January 16, 2006

What Fuzzbean said. Clear Flour used to sell small bags of different types of flours for home bakers. Call 'em up and see if they still do. In any case, you should go there for inspiration. They make the best bread around.
posted by FreezBoy at 5:48 AM on January 17, 2006

They make the best bread around.

I agree, though I do like an Iggy's bread once in a while.
posted by rxrfrx at 5:54 AM on January 17, 2006

In case you're (a) still reading and (b) not scared off by the earlier anti-Harvest comment, I finally got an email back from the Harvest Co-op. He said they do carry bulk flours, and he knows they have hi-gluten and rye, but he doesn't know what clear flour is.
posted by occhiblu at 11:28 AM on January 25, 2006

Just checking back in. I will try Harvest soon. Thanks for investigating that for me.

Also, I called Clear Flour, and the woman on the phone said they do not sell any of their ingredients to customers.
posted by rxrfrx at 8:18 AM on February 14, 2006