[tomtom]

Bump.

Been making our own bread for a few years now - usually using supermarket flour and yeast. This worked well for what we needed - but supplies of both are running low and in hard/infrequent supply.

Does anyone here have any recommendations/tips for bulk (ish) whole meal flour brands/suppliers and yeast too? (It’s normally 16kg sacks non?).

Or delving into the world of making my own fermenting agent!!!!

[teestub]

Have you got a loose food/refill shop near you Tom? I know people have been successfully getting flour from these sorts of places when struggling elsewhere.

I checked a few of the larger flour providers a couple of weeks ago and they were all booked up.

Took about 2 weeks for my starter to get going properly as our house is so cold!

[tomtom]

Cheers Tim - good idea, the Unicorn in Chorlton probably does - but I’m avoiding as much going into shops as possible at the moment (only been in a couple in 4 weeks) hence delivery etc...

The whole sourdough / culture / starter thing sounds fun - but I’m just after a boring solution at the moment. That little tin of yeast that “lasts months” is getting near the bottom!!

[chris20]

Bump.

Been making our own bread for a few years now - usually using supermarket flour and yeast. This worked well for what we needed - but supplies of both are running low and in hard/infrequent supply.

Does anyone here have any recommendations/tips for bulk (ish) whole meal flour brands/suppliers and yeast too? (It’s normally 16kg sacks non?).

Or delving into the world of making my own fermenting agent!!!!

I managed to get a delivery slot from Shipton mill, had to keep logging onto their site over about a week before I managed to get one and ended up ordering 35 kg of flour - they sell 16kg bags.

I started a sourdough starter about 6 months ago, it does make good bread and pizza - the perfect loaf website is very good for all things sourdough. Reckon you should be able to create and maintain a starter from some dried yeast to speed up the process

[tomtom]

Cheers Chris - bit the bullet and got 500g of yeast online yesteday (£15!!! 3x regular prices) - that should last us 18 months! Will check out for the flour. Good tip.

[Yossarian]

At the risk of sounding like a lockdown cliche, I’d have a go at sourdough. It doesn’t take any more work - it’s more a case of starting one day and finishing the next, or sometimes the day after.

Wholemeal only would be v heavy, but you can sift (some of) the bran out, and then chuck that on top before putting it in the oven.