carbtastic chronicles 9: bob’s red mill vs. king arthur flour

Remember that rosemary garlic loaf I made the other week? Well, I made the exact same recipe again — with one big change.

I’ve been a big fan of King Arthur flour since I started baking, and refuse to buy anything else when it comes to bread flour. But, I was intrigued when I saw this nice bag of Bob’s Red Mill whole wheat. It’s the only flour that I’ve seen at a price point higher than KA — so I wanted to know: Which of these high-end flours is better?

So I threw all the same ingredients into my bread machine as I did with my last loaf, and used Bob instead of Arthur. The result:

As a comparison, here’s the first loaf I made (with King Arthur whole wheat flour). Other than the droopy edge of the Arthur loaf, they turned out quite similar in appearance. #twinsies

The Bob’s Red Mill Loaf rose easily and held it shape well. The add-ins seemed to distribute nice and evenly through the loaf, too.

A nice golden-brown crust that was firm, but not too tough to slice! I’ve had a few loaves that seriously wore my arm out during the slicing process. Bread making is a workout.

And here she is, sliced and ready to go:

See the little seeds and grains? I love a good crunch in my bread

In comparison, here’s the King Arthur slices:

And here the two loaves are — sliced, toasted, buttered, and plated. King Arthur flour is the slice on the left (with the hole), Bob’s Red Mill is the slice on the right!

Anthony, my parents, and I all sampled both slices. It was a very, very close call, but Bob’s Red Mill came in as the winner, 3 votes to 1!

Bob’s Red Mill’s whole wheat flour resulted in a slightly denser, chewier texture than the King Arthur flour loaf — a quality that seemed right for this buttered and savory recipe. The King Arthur whole wheat flour resulted in an airy-er, fluffier bread, which wasn’t quite as nice in this situation. But, this texture might be perfect for a sweet, light loaf or soft breakfast bread.

So really, it was sort of a tie. I’m declaring that from now on, you’ll find both Arthur and Bob in my pantry, and we’ll all be friends forever. The end.