The best part of last Friday

Picture courtesy of The Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers

We were all talking about baking bread and using natural products to do so when a hand in the back of the room shot up. What is enriched flour? What is bromated? King Arthur states emphatically on thier site that their flour is never enriched or bromated. Carolyn then explained about the "whole" nature of the wheat kernel. When a company mills the wheat into flour, there are choices they make. They can Mill out the bran or "hull" and the germ of the kernel leaving only the endosperm. The endosperm is what is used when white flour is made. The bran and germ are discarded or used other places. There are very few companies using the whole grain. When the whole grain is used it entitles the company to use this neat symbol on their products:

They either use at least 8g or all 100% of the grain. The 100% symbol is what you want to look for when purchasing bread. There are very few companies baking bread using this symbol. I encourage you to bake your own.

When a company chooses not to use the whole grain, and just use the endosperm, the flour is bleached (using a chemical process) to give it its white color. The bleaching kills all the nutrients so then they "enrich" the flour to give back some of the nutrients. Some companies also add potassium bromate to the flour to artificially strengthen the flour.

At that point in the discussion a woman rose her hand and mentioned that she had purchased a "Sara Lee" White whole wheat bread. Was it not whole wheat? No came the response. "WHY??" she asked. Carolyn said, "You'll have to ask the FDA. It is their standard and they allow manipulation of labels to sell their products legally." It's true, only a small portion of the ingredients need to be the whole grain to be able to call it whole wheat or whole grain according to FDA standards. The FDA is the standard bearer to keep the food supply in proper order. The are assigned to test and check that companies are doing the right thing by us. However, the FDA has fallen far short of their goal to protect us and our food supply. If you are still not reading labels and accepting what is offered without questioning the ingredients in the foods you eat, wake up. Take time to read labels. Make yourself healthy, don't rely on a large corporation to do it for you.

The King Arthur has a lot of good information on bread and ingredients usage. Take time to visit their site and study it out for yourself.

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A Day Well Spent

Friday I went with s'mee to the King Arthur Bread Workshop. We spent the whole day talking about bread and cooking and baking and had a nice day. The King Arthur workshop was very well done. We attending both classes being presented, the first being sweet breads and then second, rustic breads. This is the result:



I gave it a whirl using their flour and instructions today. It turned out very nice. Crunchy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside. The snap was perfect. I am glad we went, even if, we didn't win a doorprize.

The King Arthur company is committed to all natural flours. They have an organic line also. They are now available in most grocery stores, Trader Joes and Bristol Farms. If you don't see them on the shelf at your store, even Stater Bros, tell the store manager they need to carry it. He'll ask why, you tell him "because I don't like genetically modified flour, and King Arthur doesn't either".

King Arthur is an employee owned company, they have been since 1996. Each one of them is dedicated to doing the best job for their customers. They classes were really informative and Carolyyn Hack, the woman teaching bread baking, was very well informed. She also baked bread twice that day and didn't wear an apron. Not a spot on her. Amazing. Today I baked bread and I have flour all over the front of me. It was worth it though!

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REMINDER!!!!

Remember everyone, this week is King Arthur week in SoCal! If you have it on your schedule have fun! I'm going to the Ontario session. Hope to see you there!

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Oh wow, mark your calendar people of SoCal!

King Arthur Flour has gained a bit of noteriety over the past few years. They are dedicated to educating America on the rewards of home baking. They have a travelling class, free of charge, where they share important baking skills to attendees. You can visit the King Arthur website and check out the schedule. You'll find it on the left side of the page under What's New? Click the link and there is a schedule of their calendar.

In January/February it is SoCal's turn to be educated by King Arthur:

Pasadena, California - January 31, 2007
Location:

PASADENA CONFERENCE CENTER

300 East Green Street

Pasadena, California

626.793.2122 (for directions only)
Date/Time:

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

12:00 pm to 2:00 pm - Yeast Breads: Sweet & Whole-Grain
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm - Crusty Artisan Breads
Cost: FREE

Ventura, California - February 1, 2007
Location:

THE POINSETTIA PAVILION
3451 Foothill Road
Ventura, California

805.648.1143 (for directions only)
Date/Time: Thursday, February 1, 2007
12:00 pm to 2:00 pm - Yeast Breads: Sweet & Whole-Grain
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm - Crusty Artisan Breads
Cost: FREE

Ontario, California - February 2, 2007
Location:

AYRES HOTEL & SUITES ONTARIO CONFERENCE CTR.
1945 E. Holt Boulevard
Ontario, California

909.390.7778 (for directions only)
Date/Time: Friday, February 2, 2007
12:00 pm to 2:00 pm - Yeast Breads: Sweet & Whole-Grain
7:00 pm to 9:00 pm - Crusty Artisan Breads
Cost: FREE

Irvine, California - February 3, 2007
Location:

DOUBLETREE HOTEL IRVINE-SPECTRUM
90 Pacifica Avenue
Irvine, California

949.471.8888 (for directions only)
Date/Time: Saturday, February 3, 2007
11:00 am to 1:00 pm - Yeast Breads: Sweet & Whole-Grain
3:00 pm to 5:00 pm - Crusty Artisan Breads
Cost: FREE

So if you have the free time, and want to imporve your bread making skills, pick a place, show up and enjoy the company of a few other bakers. It should be fun and informative. The best part? They're free!

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