Pugliese, Golden Durum Flour and baking supplies in Australia's South East.
I have been going through Peter Reinhearts BBA and there are so many recipes I want to try.
I am having a hard time finding a bakers catalogue to buy the ingredients. I want to make Pugliese but I cant find golden Durum flour or Fancy (or extra fancy) Durum flour.
I want to make it properly and I know it will taste amazing with the durum flour as when I add semolina flour (which is coarser than fancy durum flour) the taste is soooo good.
Do you think that I can substitute semolina fine ground for the fancy durum flour? Or will it spoil the texture?
So, what I was wondering is does anyone from Australia.....particulary the south east (SE QLD, NSW, SA) order from a bakers catalogue or flour/dry goods suppliers.
If not, where do you get your flour?
I use wholemeal wheat or spelt flour. So I am not looking at buying bread flour from woolworths (I've seen 5 kg bags there) but I am tired of paying way too much for 500g of flour at my health food store....
and they dont stock everything I need.
I want to branch out in my bread making, but I cant cause I dont know where to find supplies! I want a peel and a couche and some bannetons or similar........but I have no idea where to start...I have searched online only to find 2 flour suppliers that dont have much range.
I would greatly apprecite any advice or links you may have!
Thegreenbaker.
The greenbaker. I recently bought some Durum flour (very fine) at the Victoria markets in Melbourne. I don't know if they have a mail order catalogue, I just happened to be there. I live in S.A. and have the same problems re some flours.
I know it is sooooo difficult.
I have only found this http://www.fundies.com.au/Shop/category25_1.htm
and a few offline places.
I have yet to call them to see if they have catalogues. :S
I also cant find equipment anywhere. I need a peel (as I mentioned) and a new baking stone as well as proper loaf pans :(
Why does Australia suck so much when it comes to baking supplies!
I have searched google in all the ways I can think of! *sigh*
I will keep looking and If I find something of interest I will let you know~!
Thegreenbaker.
Maybe these would be of use?:
http://www.onlyoz.com.au/baking-flour-c-20_109.html
http://www.petervan.com.au/bread-products/accessories/
http://www.basicingredients.com.au/catalogue.htm
http://www.breadmakingaustralia.com/
PMcCool
Hi Thegreenbaker,
Have you had any luck in locating the various types of flour you need? I also am using Peter Reinhart's BBA book and have tried a few recipes. I just love making my own bread. I live in Singapore and have some trouble in getting materials. I mostly use the unbleached all-purpose Gold Medal flour imported from the US. They also have Bob's Red Mill brand fancy grains of various kinds. Both are expensive when I am used to getting flour so cheap. I would think for Australia, such a large wheat producing and bread-eating country, all kinds of grains should be dirt-cheap and in abundant supply. Why is not so? Are there not enough people who are industrious and domestic enough to be making their own bread for there to be a market?
Peter is revising some of his recipes. Some of the recipes in BBA have some problems. For example, he said that the English muffin recipe has a flaw and he has a new one, which is quite different both in ingredients and preparation methods. He is accepting people to be testers for his new or revised recipes. You can send him an email to ask. He sent me a French bread wet dough recipe. It's so easy and came out so good! I just baked it on a pizza stone and it sprang up so much, with a open and chewy crust and soft inside. I wish I could upload the picture but the file is too big to upload.
Banneton's are available here in the U.S. and from European suppliers, But they are pretty expensive, about $30.00 U.S. I made my own bannetons for about $1.25 each. I went to discount dollar stores, thery're everywhere around here. I don't know about Australia, but most of their stuff comes from China and India. I bought 20 wicker or willow baskets for $1.00 each. Bought a piece of a kind of fine sack cloth for a few bucks at another discount store, a heavy duty needle and some crochet thread and made my own. I'd like to post some pictures of them on this web site, but I can't figure out how. another memeber requested I do so some time back, but I can't upload them directly from my computer. Suffice it to say, they look a lot like the ones I saw for $30.00, and I'm not very good at sewing. Better yet, they work great and I have material leftover to repair or make more.
Hello,
I live in Melbourne Australia. I have been looking to buy La Cloche (round and oblong) for a long time but no-one in Australia seems to stock these items. Would anyone be able to help or suggest where I could buy an alternative product which would work just as well.
I can only see these items on the US and UK websites but am concerned about the breakage during such long voyages as they are so fragile.
Also, I am having trouble finding high protein breadmaking flour of any kind. I am looking for 1st clear flour. Can anyone help. We are a nation of wheat growers but it is so difficult to find good products. Especially Biodynamic using Demeter system.
Thank you to anyone who can help. I would really love to hear any suggestions
many thanks again
If you know, or can locate, a potter in your area, they could probably make a reasonable facsimile of the La Cloche or Romertopf bakers. Or, you could make up one of your own with a large terra cotta flower pot. See this post for an example.
Paul
Hi the greenbaker,
I am in Brisbane and use Kialla and Four Leaf Milling products ... You can try contacting Wrays Organics in Brisbane and they should be able to order in your required amounts. Flannery's also should be able to do this. Where are you based?
http://www.wrayorganic.com.au/
http://www.flannerys.com.au/
http://www.bellatagold.com.au/ is a producer of Durum that I have discovered. I found some small bags in an organic shop in Brisbane recently.
Hope this helps
cheers,
Phil
Hello from Cessnock NSW,Australia.
Try the following site.
http://www.basicingredients.com.au/catalogue.htm
Cheers........Pete