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Friday, November 5, 2010

King Arthur Flour Cheap, with a Catch

Those who bake, like Mr. FS, sing the praises of King Arthur flour. It is expensive, though it sometimes goes on sale around the big baking holidays, like Thanksgiving.

What's a frequent baker to do? Get it where the bakers get it: from a wholesale supplier. What's the catch? You need to buy it in 50 lb sacks.

First, go to the King Arthur website. Then, go to the bottom of the page "For Professional Bakers."

Then, find your local distributor. Mine is Koerner and Company in New Orleans. Yes, they will sell to individuals. A 50 lb. sack of King Arthur is around $20.00, depending on what kind you choose.

Some things I cannot buy because of the quantities required: no, I cannot buy a 24-pack of yeast. But, oh, what a wonderful gift for Frugal Son: a tub of duck fat!

Bon appetit! Do you have any wonderful sources for ingredients?

6 comments:

Shelley said...

Here in Britain, Asian shops tend to be better souces for dried beans, popcorn, polenta (cornmeal) and herbs than supermarkets. I remember showing my boss the shop near our office and how magical he thought it was, so I guess they are wonderful. They are certainly a 'cultural experience' compared with your run-of-the-mill grocery store, with vegetables I've no idea of their names. When I lived in SLC I bought popcorn and oatmeal in 50 pound bags, so I could imagine trying it with flour. Not sure I'd do that here in Britain, though, with the damp climate. I should check it out though, as we do bake all our own bread here.

hostess of the humble bungalow said...

I'd need to bulid an addition to my bungalow to house a sack that vast!
Pantry envy here...

Anonymous said...

Yep, we buy our popcorn at the local feed store.

Funny about Money said...

I get bulk yeast at Costco and keep it in the freezer. It seems to work better than the stuff that comes in packets, & it's cheaper over the long run.

Where do you keep a 50# bag of flour, especially if it's whole wheat flour? When I get King Arthur on sale (it can be found at Target, BTW), I put extra bags in the freezer. In our parts, whole wheat flour will go rancid in short order if left at room temperature (which can melt candles).

Duchesse said...

Oh do I love oven-roasting potatoes in duck fat!

I don;t use that much flour but my mother would buy those 50 lb sacks- have to watch out for it going buggy, though. We had to call the exterminators to her apt.

Frugal Scholar said...

@Shelley-I LOVE stores like that. The closest is about an hour away in New Orleans, alas.

@hostess--It's not as big as you would think. Plus, we go through it quickly.

@Funny--Great tip! I will pick up yeast when we visit my mother (no Costco here). Thanks. We go through it quickly enough--we've never had a problem (we use the unbleached white).

@Duchesse-We do get the occasional weevil infestation, but never in the flour for some reason.