05/08/2026
I'm frequently asked, "What flour do you use?" and "I want to make sourdough; what's the best flour?"
These questions, although simple, are quite complex.
Because flour isn't just flour.
Flour is milled from a grain, which is grown and subject to weather, growing location, harvest times, and a myriad of other factors. Different companies source their flours from different regions and have different specifications for their flours.
One company's "all-purpose" flour could be considered a "bread flour" by another company.
Bleached vs unbleached, enriched vs unenriched, organic vs conventional, falling number, ash content, protein level - these all impact your loaf, whether it's the nutrition, taste, appearance or how the dough handles and bakes.
In our bakery, we use a variety of flours and we just recently had to replace one of primary flours due to lack of availability.
It turned out to be surprisingly difficult to find a bulk source of unbleached flour for a bakery of our size. We can't just go to Super One and get what we need, but larger distributors won't give us the time of day. It was also hard to find an unbleached flour, since most restuarants use cheaper bleached flour.
Thankfully, we were able to work with local distributor Upper Lakes Foods to source an unbleached flour from King Arthur Baking Company in bulk.
One of my favorite flour suppliers though is Natural Way Mills - a mill in Middle River, Minnesota - from whom we source the majority of our organic flours, including all of our rye and whole wheat flours and one of our organic white flours.
We've been ordering from them since 2019 and keep coming back because the quality and consistency of their flour is top-notch, their customer service is exceptional and orders arrive VERY quickly.
At the beginning of each market season, I place an order from Natural Way Mills for enough organic flour to see us through the summer. And when that pallet arrives, there's something in me that just squeals with delight.
Thinking about all of those loaves that will be baked and then eaten by you and your families is exciting.
What will you make? French toast for your kids? A picnic for your family? A humble slice of toast before bed?
So when the pallet arrived a week ago, I just had to take a picture and share.
While not all of our loaves are made with organic flour, you'll see these flours featured in our Polish Cottage Rye, Goldilocks' Porridge and Pied Piper breads, with cameos in the Meadowlands Sourdough and Cranberry Wild Rice.
Our sourdough starter prefers Natural Way's Gold n' White flour, which is exclusively used to leaven our sourdough breads and works in tandem with traditional yeast to leaven our croissants.
This "white" flour still contains the germ, the portion of the wheat kernel that contains most of the flour's vitamins and minerals. In addition to increasing the nutrition of your loaf, the germ also lends a beautiful creamy white color to your loaf.
I could talk about flour for hours, but I won't.
I'll just take a deep breath of the sweet scent of flour dust as it settles around me as I bake and envision you enjoying your next loaf of bread for breakfast as toast with strawberry jam or at work for lunch as a ham and swiss sandwich during a much-needed break.
🌟NOTE: We're closed this Saturday, May 9th for some family time before market season starts. We'll be open again next Friday, May 15th AND Saturday, May 16th, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., for the Esko Neighborhood Garage Sales. 🌟
