Using Freshly Milled Flour in your Kitchen

As many of you know, I prefer to grind my own wheat berries to make flour in our home. The health benefits of freshly milled flour are many. It’s a practice you can start in your kitchen that will make a substantial difference in your families and your health.

The reasons I grind my own wheat berries is 2 fold. Number 1, for the health benefits. Number 2, it’s economical. You can buy wheat berries in bulk and they store for many years as long as they are stored correctly in a cool, dark, dry place.

I remember when I first became interested in grinding wheat berries for fresh flour and I was really unsure of what to expect as far as baking with whole grain flour.

Quickly, I learned that I would have to spend some time working with this new flour to make my bread products delicious and have great texture.

I have figured out along the way that there are a few things you can do to succeed at using all freshly milled flour in your kitchen.

Why use freshly milled flour?

When you purchase store bought flour, it is shelf stable. The process of sifting the flour also removes the nutrients.

There are 40/44 essential nutrients in freshly milled flour! That is amazing!

Considering how important it is get all the nutrition possible from our food, freshly milled flour is one of the best!

Another advantage to using freshly milled flour in your kitchen is that it imparts amazing flavor to your bread products.

There is no smell quite like flour that has just been milled! And, the flavor is just as great!

The third reason to use freshly milled flour is that it is cost effective. Wheat berries can store for many years in a food safe bucket with a gamma lid out of the moisture and high heat.

This means you can buy 25-40 pounds at a time and store them to use as you need them.

Cost wise, it is more affordable to bulk buy grain than to bulk buy the flour.

Is it hard to bake with freshly milled flour?

While there is a learning curve to converting to freshly milled flour, it is absolutely worth the effort.

Freshly milled flour does behave different than all purpose in baking.

It may take longer to develop the gluten and structure needed for good rise and texture.

I find that I need to work my dough (whether by kneading or stretching and folding) longer than usual to obtain the right texture to the dough.

For instance, if I knead an all purpose loaf for 6 minutes in a stand mixer, I will knead my freshly milled loaf for 10-15 minutes.

Likewise, if I perform 3-4 stretch and folds with all purpose, I will do 6-8 with freshly milled.

What kind of mill should I get?

There are basically two different types of electric mills on the market: Stone mills and Impact mills.

Stone mills have 2 stones that rub together to grind the grain into a flour. There is more flexibility with the level of fineness or coarseness with a stone mill. When you turn the dial for texture, the stones move either further apart from each other or close together.

Stone mills also do not heat the flour quite as much as their impact counterparts. This is the stone mill I recommend: https://collabs.shop/eui343

Impact mills use 2 steel discs that rub together to burst the grains into a very fine flour. You will not have the control of the texture like with the stone mill, however, it makes a super fine flour perfect for baking.

This is the impact mill I recommend: https://collabs.shop/rxide2

I sincerely hope that I have intrigued you enough to give freshly milled flour a try in your kitchen.

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