Monday Open Thread 5/9/22

I hope you all have had the time to read the conversation I published last week with Amy Halloran and Alicia Kennedy, with or without the helpful/distracting pull quotes that I removed a few days later. It’s a long one, but I think it is an important addition to my ongoing exploration into the notion of quote-unquote ethical flours. I’m working on a follow-up essay of my own this week, as an attempt to dig a little deeper into my complicated relationship with whole grain flours and bread baking, but I thought it might be useful to hear from all of you too. (I am also working on a recipe for a 100% whole wheat sandwich loaf, though that won’t be ready for awhile still.)

• Do you bake 100% whole grain breads?
• Do you want more recipes that are 100% whole grain?
• If you haven’t made the jump or aren’t interested in doing so, why not?
• Do you think that the use of refined flours in breads is something we need to abandon? Or is there a place for both white flour baking and whole grain?
• Is white flour “junk food”?

—Andrew