Sunrise Flour Mill specializes in heritage wheat varieties. Heritage wheat is not gluten free but it is pre-1950’s, pre-hybridized wheats. Many people find them more digestible than modern hybrid wheats. You can read many comments under each of our products to see why customers enjoy baking with our heritage wheat flour.
There are two types of wheat flours: hard and soft. Hard wheat is used for bread baking (both yeast and sourdough) and as an all purpose flour. It has a higher gluten content than soft wheat. We focus on two varieties of hard wheat: Turkey Red hard winter wheat and Red Fife red hard spring wheat. These two varieties are very similar. We source these hard wheats based on current year crops and availability. Both Turkey Red and Red Fife have been proven to be excellent performers while making bread. Whether you’re making artisan sourdough bread or using a bread machine, these hard wheat varieties are a great choice.
Soft wheat can be used for most everything other than bread. The gluten in soft wheat is not strong enough for making yeast or sourdough bread. It is great for quick breads, cookies, cakes, muffins, pancakes, and much more. We focus on two varieties of soft wheat, White Sonora and Pima Club. These two varieties are very similar. Generally, these flours can be substituted 1:1 in any recipe calling for pastry flour.
The descriptions below should help answer questions you might have about each of our wheat flours and what they are used for. Remember, people have different preferences so you will have to decide which you like best for your bakes.
Heritage White Flour - (hard wheat)
This white flour is a very special all-purpose flour. It is not bleached or bromated. It can take the place of white all purpose flour for all baking needs. It's special because it is light, tasty, and very much alive. It will make delicious bread using either yeast or sourdough starter methods. Many people like to blend it with whole wheat and/or rye for nutritious bread variations. It is delicious for all baking from bread, to pasta, to gnocchi, to all non-yeast baking - cookies, pies, etc. If your pastries call for yeast, this is the flour to use.
Ultra-Fine Heritage Whole Wheat Flour (hard wheat)
This is a whole grain flour milled as fine as white flour using the Unifine single-pass high impact milling system that produces an ultra-fine flour. This flour can be used alone or blended with Heritage White Flour that bakes a loftier loaf of bread than stone-ground whole wheat. It can be substituted 1:1 in any recipe calling for whole wheat flour.
Heritage Bread Blend - (blend of hard and soft wheat)
This flour has proved to be a very special flour for both sourdough and yeast bread making. It is a blend of Heritage White Flour and Ultra-Fine Heritage Whole Wheat Pastry Flour. Alone, pastry flour doesn’t have strong enough gluten to make bread but when blended with our Heritage White Flour it adds a wonderful flavor and texture to bread. Generally, the Heritage Bread Blend can be used as an all-purpose flour.
Heritage Pizza Flour - (hard wheat)
This flour has proven to make a stretchy, chewy pizza crust but it also can be used for all bakes. From baking bread to cookies, cakes, pies, quick breads, the Heritage Pizza Flour will perform well. It is a blend of Heritage White Flour and Ultra-Fine Whole Wheat Flour.
Ultra-fine Heritage Whole Wheat Pastry Flour - (soft wheat)
This is a whole grain pastry flour milled as fine as white flour using the Unifine single-pass high impact milling system that produces an ultra-fine whole wheat pastry flour. This pastry flour is wonderful for cookies, quick breads, cakes, muffins, pancakes, and more. It’s a great way to introduce whole grains into your baking even for those who think they don’t like whole wheat. It makes a more flavorful and smoother white or béchamel sauce. Remember pastry flour is low in gluten strength so it cannot be used by itself to make yeast or sourdough bread.
