3 ms·

I find it funny that we can find plenty of bread but flour is a completely different story. I'm a little surprised the demand - I recognize how useful flour is,

by jb3689 7y ago

I find it funny that we can find plenty of bread but flour is a completely different story. I'm a little surprised the demand - I recognize how useful flour is, but I'm surprised so many people actually feel confident enough to do anything with it (not that baking is that uncommon, but I only know a few people who know how to stuff like bake bread). On the other hand I guess it is the perfect time learn

syshum 7y ago
I suspect that many people are just buying it because they found it on a list of things to buy from the internet Many of them will probably stick it 20 pounds of flour in their cabinet and never use it for anything. I do use it, I make biscuits, and gravy every sunday... I have enough flour to last awhile and was not in the market for any but I did notice that section that normally had a pallet of each was empty in my store.
Theodores 7y ago
Under normal circumstances I make a loaf of bread every other day for sandwiches, using a bread making machine. So that is 500g of flour, 350ml water, 25g butter, 1 tsp of yeast, 1.5 tsp sugar, 1.25 tsp of salt. My 'peacetime' rationale is to have fresh bread with no additives in it. There are spin off benefits such as the baking smell. Over the last decade I have worked in different companies and never met another person with a home baking of bread routine. Sure some people have a bread making machine in the loft or have a mum that does it on occasion but making bread from flour is a rare thing in the UK. So what is going on with the supply? Truth is that bread flour is not a fast moving item. If I buy a 1kg bag on a Monday and another on a Friday then there won't have been a lot of restocking in between. I will be buying from the same batch. Therefore it does not take a lot of panic buyers to take all the stock off the shelves for the few people who regularly buy to find themselves with 'flour anxiety'. If you do use a kilo or two of flour a week then you don't have more than two to three kilos on hand. This will be for variety, e.g. strong white and wholemeal, which can be combined with something else, e.g. spelt or granary, for variety. In truth flour does not keep indefinitely, it will develop a horrible taste over time or even get weevils. Flour is also heavy, so if you have to carry your shopping by bicycle or on foot then you are not buying sacks of the stuff. Car drivers with large boots/trunks can behave like a horde of locusts, snapping up vast quantities of items like flour that don't cost them a lot to pay for, store or carry. Meanwhile, people who are buying flour partly due to reasons of making their bread more affordable are less likely to have a car or even large cupboards.
- bluedino 7y ago
  Flour and yeast were one of the first things to go. As was regular bread. Either all the bread machines were dug out of the closets or those bread recipes from Pinterest are getting put to work.
  - syshum 7y ago
    I normally buy a premium brand bread, and right now all I can get is generic store brand white bread....
    - masonic 7y ago
      At a Sunnyvale Safeway yesterday, there was a full wall of breads spanning multiple brands and grains. I paid $1.49 for a loaf of their own multigrain bread (e-coupon price).
- syshum 7y ago
  The standard size in the US is a 5lb bag, or about 2.26kg it is not uncommon to find 10 and 15 lb bags in most stores as well
maxerickson 7y ago
A family can use 200 pounds of flour up before it spoils. Hard to freeze that much bread. And then there are lots of people where a $100 hedge is a pretty simple choice. (I bought 5 pounds of flour, about on the normal schedule)
blaser-waffle 7y ago
> I recognize how useful flour is, but I'm surprised so many people actually feel confident enough to do anything with it (not that baking is that uncommon, but I only know a few people who know how to stuff like bake bread). No offense but you sound incredibly sheltered. No one did any cooking in your house growing up? Most of the uses of raw flour are incredibly basic, straightforward recipes. Literally add water, some kind of fat or oil, and maybe a leavener to flour and you're in business. Cakes, pastry, bread, roti, whatever. Use it as coating for fried chicken, or to thicken a stew. Make flour tortillas, or yorkshire puddings, or muffins, or all verities of noodles. Hard tack will last forever, if you hate yourself but want to store something for years. The learning curve is trivial -- my mom made me roll out biscuits when I was 11 -- and flour will last forever as long as it stays dry and bug-free. Old flour isn't as tasty as the freshly ground, but you can still make a fine loaf of bread at home with 8+ month old flour; source: made a high hydration loaf last night.

by jb3689 7y ago

syshum 7y ago

I suspect that many people are just buying it because they found it on a list of things to buy from the internet Many of them will probably stick it 20 pounds of flour in their cabinet and never use it for anything. I do use it, I make biscuits, and gravy every sunday... I have enough flour to last awhile and was not in the market for any but I did notice that section that normally had a pallet of each was empty in my store.

Theodores 7y ago

Under normal circumstances I make a loaf of bread every other day for sandwiches, using a bread making machine. So that is 500g of flour, 350ml water, 25g butter, 1 tsp of yeast, 1.5 tsp sugar, 1.25 tsp of salt. My 'peacetime' rationale is to have fresh bread with no additives in it. There are spin off benefits such as the baking smell. Over the last decade I have worked in different companies and never met another person with a home baking of bread routine. Sure some people have a bread making machine in the loft or have a mum that does it on occasion but making bread from flour is a rare thing in the UK. So what is going on with the supply? Truth is that bread flour is not a fast moving item. If I buy a 1kg bag on a Monday and another on a Friday then there won't have been a lot of restocking in between. I will be buying from the same batch. Therefore it does not take a lot of panic buyers to take all the stock off the shelves for the few people who regularly buy to find themselves with 'flour anxiety'. If you do use a kilo or two of flour a week then you don't have more than two to three kilos on hand. This will be for variety, e.g. strong white and wholemeal, which can be combined with something else, e.g. spelt or granary, for variety. In truth flour does not keep indefinitely, it will develop a horrible taste over time or even get weevils. Flour is also heavy, so if you have to carry your shopping by bicycle or on foot then you are not buying sacks of the stuff. Car drivers with large boots/trunks can behave like a horde of locusts, snapping up vast quantities of items like flour that don't cost them a lot to pay for, store or carry. Meanwhile, people who are buying flour partly due to reasons of making their bread more affordable are less likely to have a car or even large cupboards.

bluedino 7y ago
Flour and yeast were one of the first things to go. As was regular bread. Either all the bread machines were dug out of the closets or those bread recipes from Pinterest are getting put to work.
- syshum 7y ago
  I normally buy a premium brand bread, and right now all I can get is generic store brand white bread....
  - masonic 7y ago
    At a Sunnyvale Safeway yesterday, there was a full wall of breads spanning multiple brands and grains. I paid $1.49 for a loaf of their own multigrain bread (e-coupon price).
syshum 7y ago
The standard size in the US is a 5lb bag, or about 2.26kg it is not uncommon to find 10 and 15 lb bags in most stores as well

maxerickson 7y ago

A family can use 200 pounds of flour up before it spoils. Hard to freeze that much bread. And then there are lots of people where a $100 hedge is a pretty simple choice. (I bought 5 pounds of flour, about on the normal schedule)

blaser-waffle 7y ago

> I recognize how useful flour is, but I'm surprised so many people actually feel confident enough to do anything with it (not that baking is that uncommon, but I only know a few people who know how to stuff like bake bread). No offense but you sound incredibly sheltered. No one did any cooking in your house growing up? Most of the uses of raw flour are incredibly basic, straightforward recipes. Literally add water, some kind of fat or oil, and maybe a leavener to flour and you're in business. Cakes, pastry, bread, roti, whatever. Use it as coating for fried chicken, or to thicken a stew. Make flour tortillas, or yorkshire puddings, or muffins, or all verities of noodles. Hard tack will last forever, if you hate yourself but want to store something for years. The learning curve is trivial -- my mom made me roll out biscuits when I was 11 -- and flour will last forever as long as it stays dry and bug-free. Old flour isn't as tasty as the freshly ground, but you can still make a fine loaf of bread at home with 8+ month old flour; source: made a high hydration loaf last night.