Description
Frederick wheat was developed only in the 1900s in Ontario by a researcher looking for wheat that performs well in colder climes.
Historically, ryes and other less glutenous grains, like barley, were the grains of choice in cold areas, but as demand for wheat grew, researchers like Frederick Gfeller, for whom the wheat is named, looked for ways to produce deliciously flavored wheats for baking applications in northern locations.
Phenolic compounds​ are what gives red wheats their distinctive color, and they also impart a strong taste–one of the reasons our Glenn bread is so unique and almost like a spice cake, or that Red Fife is so celebrated for its flavor.
Being a white wheat means that Frederick is devoid of that oomph, and being a winter wheat means it is naturally lower in gluten and starches due to the natural inputs available when the wheat is growing. The end result is a grain (and eventual bread) that is incredibly delicate in flavor, completely naturally taking on a taste that some describe as more akin to a pastry flour.
In sweet applications, you can use less sugar when cooking with Frederick as there’s no need to drawn out the “savory” flavors of many other wheats. In a single-grain sourdough bread, that same lack of “wheatiness” creates a bread that tastes sweeter naturally.
Ingredients: Freshly-milled Frederick wheat from Lakeview Organic Grain, water, natural levain, Amagansett Sea Salt.
