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1. SCDsince2002
   Member

   I just received a 25 lb box of Hughson Nut's almond flour on Saturday. I opened it right away (it came in a sealed box and the flour was in one open plastic bag. As, usual I brought out my small ziplock bags to package it up for my deep freezer. Immediately I noticed that the texture of this almond flour was very gritty and with my experience knew that this flour was mot going to be as palatable as I like (or my husband likes-he's the one on the SCD diet) and, it doesn't rise as well.

   I e-mailed Hughson Nut and got no response. So I called them. To make a long story short, they will NOT let you return their nut flour. They said since I opened the box, the flour it now considered contaminated and they would have to throw it away. So now I'm stuck with $130.00 of gritty nut flour.

   I have been buying almond flour since 2002-first with Platinum Nut, then Honeyville. The Honeyville texture was great the first time I ordered from them (25lb), the second time (25 lb) it was very coarse. Although they sent me a 5lb bag for my trouble, (the quality was much better) I did not get satisfactory answer from them about the texture quality when ordering a 25 lb. (I think the second time they sent me a box from Hughson Nut-looking back it was packaged the same way)

   Hughson Nut charges more than Honeyville for 25 lbs. I thought the quality would be better-what a fool I was! This stuff is not cheap and there is such a demand now it seems that Hughson Nut doesn't care or need to have repeat business. Customer service seems to be nonexistent for the home almond flour baker.

   Has anyone tried JustAlmonds.com? I called them for a sample (just a tablespoon in an envelope please?), but I haven't heard back.

   So, buyer beware I guess and definitely don't buy from Hughson.

   Posted 1 year ago #

2. mymanzwife
   Member

   I'm thinking that Honeyville gets their almond flour from Hughson Nut anyway. Since I'm new to this, I had only ordered 5 lb. bags from Honeyville twice and then went ahead and ordered the 25 lbs. from them recently, but the outside of that box says "Hughson Nut", which I found odd. I'm sure many here buy the 25 lbs. from Honeyville, so could someone chime in to say if their boxes also say Hughson Nut?
   (If you're saying "buyer beware" of Hughson Nut, then essentially that means buyer beware of Honeyville as well.) :-/

   But, I have to say that the almond flour consistency in the 25 lbs. is what it was for the 5 lbs. (luckily), but I wouldn't be happy in the least if I got stuck with 25 lbs. of a coarser product. This is why we're supposedly staying away from Bob's Red Mill!

   Edit: I just noticed this review at the Honeyville site, and this person also had the Hughson Nut packaging:

   Jennifer (MIchigan) 3/2/2010 12:19 PM
   I first purchased a 5 lb. bag of Honeyville Almond Flour and thought it was amazing! The taste, texture and aroma are second to none! There is absolutely no comparison to other gluten-free flours - don't even waste your time and money on bad tasting, gritty rice/tapioca flours. Almond flour is worth every penny. My only disappointment in purchasing the 25 lb. box, was that I was expecting to receive it in a large, resealable bag (just like the 5 lb order). However, it came in a box, LOOSE in a thin, blue garbage type bag. It was not even sealed! And I was a bit skeptical because I saw bits of skin here and there which I did not see when I purchased the 5 lb. bag. Also, the box did not state Honeyville. The box listed Hughson Nut company. I did use the flour and it appears to be okay, but next time, I'd rather purchase (5) 5 lb bags rather than the 25 lb. box of loose flour.

   Posted 1 year ago #

3. SCDsince2002
   Member

   I think you may be correct in thinking that Honeyville almond flour is from Hughson. It certainly appears that way. I'm wondering if they purposely package the finer flour in the 5lb bags??

   The box I received from Hughson Nut was packaged the same way as Jennifer's from Michigan: loose unsealed bag inside a taped box. I questioned the people at Hughson about this and they told me that the flour needs to breath when they package it- I would think moisture could get to the flour in transit or some other type of contamination. Also,I'm not sure how the flour breathes in the sealed 5lb bags???

   It's disheartening to me because I spend a lot of time, money and energy trying to bake stuff that my husband will enjoy and I really don't want to use inferior almond flour. It's tough enough to bake this stuff anyway.

   Does anyone know if I can make some almond butter with it in the food processor?

   Posted 1 year ago #

4. mymanzwife
   Member

   I'm not sure if you saw this thread from a month ago where the CO from Honeyville wrote in:
   http://www.elanaspantry.com/forums/topic/honeyville-almond-flour-25lb

   Thing is, I've read and reread Chris's final comment about moisture content and breathability issues, and still not sure I understood what he/she was saying. If Chris is saying that the bulk bags have to breathe a little to get the moisture right, well, how much time does that take--a few days, a week, longer? Maybe some 25 lb. boxes haven't "breathed" enough to remove enough of the moisture and am wondering if that causes a coarser product?

   Re: making almond butter out of almond flour--it seems like it would work! Since you're stuck with inferior almond flour it'd probably be worth a try.

   Oh, and if it makes you feel any better, I basically got stuck with a 10-lb. bulk bag of roasted hazelnuts from Freddy Guys in Oregon. First order was perfectly roasted and I was in heaven because I love hazelnuts, but second order was over-roasted which gave them a bitter taste. The owner did eventually say I could mail them back and they'd cover shipping, but that she wanted to evaluate them on her own to see if she "agreed" with me. Then she informed me I would be their very first ever return, so that made me feel guilty, like something was wrong with ME. :-/ So, I never returned them and will mostly make hazelnut butter out of them.

   Posted 1 year ago #

5. SCDsince2002
   Member

   There is nothing wrong with you or me-when did it become the norm to have to accept inferior products?
   Oh boy, don't get me stsrted . . . ever try to keep a person insured with Crohn's disease?
   Anyway, I digress, sorry about that!

   I don't understand this moisture content thing. If the product has to "breathe" why isn't done under controlled circumstances. I can't control the humidity in my house- the ambient moisture in the air must have some influence on the drying time. What kind of air is the package exposed to in transit?? And, I certainly don't think the size of the almond particles are going to shrink signifcantly-that's just crazy.

   I think these vendors see us as an easy target. They probably think we are "nuts" :)

   Posted 1 year ago #

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