# Organic flour.....a must?



## AaronsMommy (Nov 18, 2007)

What is your opinion on organic vs. conventional flour? I buy all organic vegetables, fruits and dairy products. I make EVERYTHING from scratch, so we go through a lot of flour around here, but there is a marked difference in price between organic and conventional. Is the organic worth it? Does anyone know how much pesticides end up in the final product or details on the type of pesticide used on wheat?


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## reneeisorym (Oct 24, 2007)

i keep regular flour around if I'm putting a tablespoon here or there. Or 1/4 cup in a whole batch of soup.
But If I'm making bread I use organic whole wheat flour. I figure there's more of it getting in you that way..
I'm no expert -- Just sharing with you what I do.


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## Toolip (Mar 7, 2008)

Whether or not to buy organic flour depends on what you are worried about. If you are just worried about pesticides and fertilizers (etc&#8230 ending up in the flour, that is more of a concern for whole-wheat flour. If you are worried about the amount of synthetic chemicals that end up in the water and being inhaled by workers, both types are equally bad.

I am trained as a baker/ pastry chef and have worked in an organic bakery for some years in the past. Here's what I understand:

ALL wheat "seeds" are treated with a fungicide (it is an organic one if it is organic flour). This is the law but it pertains to the "seeds" that actually get planted to grow the new wheat, not what gets ground up.

What I was taught about making bread is that it is VERY important to use organic whole-wheat flour because the synthetic chemical residue is much higher on whole-wheat flour. This is because only the wheat berry is left intact, unlike white flour where the outer layers are stripped away. Many people feel that the residue is significant enough to affect the process of making bread (i.e. affecting the yeast growth)

That being said, I use organic white flour as well because I feel it is important for so many reasons.

I hope this answers your question at least a bit!







:


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## tifpaul (Nov 13, 2006)

I *always* use organic for philosophical reasons. Except of course this week when I was plumb out of every kind of flour and bought two bags of conventional - one white, one ww - at the store I can walk to.

The whole wheat explanation offered by Toolip makes sense to me.

The bread turned out fine made with conventional.


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## Nikki98 (Sep 9, 2006)

I also think there is a texture difference between organic (unbleached white flour) and regular flour. To me the organic flour is much softer, easier to work with-it makes incredible bread. I often purchase the flour from the local
co-op from the bulk bin area. I pay about .59 cents a pound, which I think isn't too bad.

I know however that the prices of wheat/flour are going up drastically though due to the production of biofuels (which is ashame and topic for another thread







). Hope this helps, some.


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## allnaturalmom (May 31, 2006)

In addition to pesticides and such.... traditional flour can be irradiated.







:

Here is one link or you could google for more info: http://www.organicconsumers.org/Irra...lingStatus.cfm

I do not think that organic products can be irradiated.

Just wanted to put that out there. I know it sucks!


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## kjbrown92 (Dec 13, 2007)

I buy King Arthur white flour in bulk at Costco. It says never bleached, never bromated (whatever that means). It's not organic, though they make an organic version. All my other flours: rye, pumpernickel, whole wheat are organic. I know I buy these organic too: rice, buckwheat, tapioca, and quinoa. So does it make that much of a difference that my white flour is NOT?


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