Why do YOU home mill?
In another comment, I mentioned my long-awaiting Grain Maker #99. That got me thinking, and so I thought this would make a fun weekend question.
So, why do YOU home mill your flour? And if not, why not?
For me, I'm deep into the self-sufficiency movement, inspired by memories of my grandparents who grew and canned their own food. I got started over a decade ago, when I began pressure-canning food. That led me to toying with the idea for years of buying a grain mill, but it wasn't until the Panic Buying earlier this year that coaxed me to "pull the trigger."
And I'm glad I did! Before my purchase, my interest in baking was pretty much limited to the occasional batch of Tollhouse cookies and/or loaves of white bread. However, while waiting for Bitterroot to build my mill, I began researching bread and artisan baking. A whole new world opened up to me! I'm like the proverbial baby bird with its mouth wide open, devouring everything I can as time permits.
And then I discovered TFL. The rest, as they say, "is history."
At the moment, I'm a newbie struggling to take his baby steps. But that will grow to walking, then running, and finally soaring. Thank you all for reading and responding to my posts.
The main reason I bought a home mill was because it was difficult to purchase rye flour here. I now buy rye and wheat grain and mill it on demand. I usually mill 100 to 200 g a week. There is only two of us at home now, so I bake once a week.
I include 10 - 25% stone milled flour into my doughs. The flavour boost from the freshly milled flour is remarkable.
My mill is a Hawos Billy 100.
Cheers,
Gavin
Thank you!
Hello Gavin:
I looked up your mill and learned it uses mill stones. Did that gravitate you to that mill? What is your opinion on mill stones vs. steel burrs?
I agree with you on flavor. My limited experience of milling Hard Red Winter using my coffee grinder was a revelation.
I picked that mill due to a recommendation and demonstration from a good friend. The appearance also was to my liking and they have a good reputation. It does a great job. I can't comment on the steel burrs as I have no experience with them.
I went with the smaller model as I only mill small amounts the evening before I bake.
Cheers,
Gavin.
I mill for fresh flavor and not worrying about rancidity. I also mill to create flours and, with sieves, granulation fractions that are virtually unobtainable in the market.
My mill is a Retsel Mil-Rite.
What are "granulation fractions," and how do you implement them? What are the applications where you would want a coarser grind?
What features of your Retsel led you to purchase it? I noticed that it can grind sprouted / moist grains, as well as anything else except for salt, popcorn, and rice. Its ability to grind nixtamel to make Masa is very intriguing!
Was one of the reasons. Nutrition and flavor were important considerations because store bought flour removes a lot of that. The wide variety of grains like spelt, rye, kamut, buckwheat and the heritage wheats to have on hand ready to be milled fresh rather than going bad in a bag. Whole wheat waffles and The Approachable Loaf are benefits as well.
I have the Mockmill 100
The flavor and nutritional aspects I learned of after buying my mill. In fact, for a time I formerly dismissed store-bought flour as "chalk dust."
The other grains you mention intrigue me. Buying smaller quantities of them to bake with is on my "to-do" list.I thoroughly enjoyed a loaf of Kimmel bread and that introduced me to other styles of baking.
Kimel, Ezekiel, 100 WW, Pumpernickel, and more, as my mastery grows.
Whole wheat waffles (baked on a wood-burning cookstove) and served with homemade syrup is definitely on my list! Thank you for that idea!
What features led you to buy the Mockmill?
I was going to get the Komo and The Mockmill 100 came out at a special introductory price so I went with that and have been very pleased with it. I was looking at the Grainmaker because it is made in Montana and could grind more things than a stone mill can but price and the manual crank was a deal breaker.
Mostly for better taste but also because the cost of buying milled heritage grains in NYC would be astronomical. They charge $8 locally for King Arthur so I can't even imagine the price for the organic heritage grains I buy! I also prefer to support regional farms and the green market than a large corporation.
My rural property is part of a farming community. Your preference resounds with me as I, too, want to support my neighbors. And grow as much of my own food as possible.
Which mill do you own?
My main reason is that I'm just curious about what goes on under the surface of things. I want to know the process, keep control of it and what goes in my bread (both ingredients and process). Home milling gives me independence from poor quality supermarket flour and allows me to adjust to my needs.
More flavor and higher nutrition value are secondary, but obviously also deciding factors.
(Komo Fidibus 21 here)
An engineer after my own heart! I am exactly the same way.
What led you to select the Komo mill?
Somebody in my town just happened to sell one for cheap, so I read about it and took the opportunity. It's certainly enough for my needs and it's quite new (2 years old).
I generally make my loaves pretty heavy on whole grain so I generally do 50/50 whole grain/white bread flour. I've never gotten into sifting so I mill my own whole wheat and just buy KABF for the rest. How many of us are 100% home millers and sift to get their white flour? I'm slightly tempted, but it also seems like a lot of work!
The knowledgeable folks here have said the most you sift out is perhaps 20%of the bran. That encouraged me to put my engineering cap on to find another way of de-branninf wheat. When and if I obtain results, I'll be posting them.
I'm sifting out the bran so it doesn't interfere with gluten development, but add it in the end because still I want every part of the grain. Unless I'm making a white bread like baguette or ciabatta of course.
How much of the bran can you sift out?
Wlaut - I started home milling for nutrition, but converted to 100% home milled for bread, pizza, pasta, etc for the flavor. At this point, white flour tastes like cotton candy to me - no substance at all.
When I visited our Amish store to buy my wheat berries, we told the cashier I had purchased a mill. She knowingly smiled and said, "once you've tasted freshly-milled flour, you'll never go back." She's right. I've been able to grind a small amount in my coffee grinder, but the results are staggering. I eagerly await my GrainMaker so I can learn how to make 100% Whole Wheat bread and more.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWC-Q5_kj7M&list=FLKV7llYnXrNVE4rYfCON7aw&index=2&t=0s
My GrainMaker is slated to be shipped this week, and so I can begin milling my own flour! Your video will be one of the first that I attempt.
What variety of wheat did you use to make this excellent loaf?
Hi, I live in Kentucky right down the street from a few HUGE grain silos, so we just pick some up from them.
I think any fresh wheat will give you a great loaf. I think the key is having a well developed starter and measuring to the gram when baking.
I often bake 4-6 loafs at a time, so I do not always use my Grain Mill #99 to mill the flower. I just use the electric mill for the whole wheat and Sam's Club Bread Flour. But, because you inspired me, I just milled a bunch of wheat to start a batch this evening.
The #99 is awesome, but be ready for a workout and do not be in a hurry. Double milling helps (run it through at a very course setting, then run it through a second time at a finer setting). You will not be disappointed in your purchase!
Blessings!
My GrainMaker will be delivered Monday, so I'm excited to start getting my "upper body and arm workout!" My first loaf will be my plain Ol' Sandwich Loaf, so I can figure out the difference in hydration between store-bought and home-milled flour, plus also begin measuring in weights instead of volumes as I learn / adopt Baker's Percentages.
After that, it'll be 100% Whole Wheat, then sourdough, and baguettes.
I envy you having grain silos next to you! I went to our local Amish store, where they sell berries in 50# sacks. Bought four varieties, plus 20# of Durum primarily for making pasta.
Glad I could inspired you! I've been wanting to buy a grain mill for years, but the March Panic spurred me into action. And I'm glad I did. I whole new world has opened to me, which I eagerly begin exploring next week!
How can you use fresh milled WW in a white flour recipe?
Even if you run it through the #50 seive, it won't come out right. that would still be the equivalent of at least 40-50% WW. It will over ferment and turn to goop.
My intention is to master using home-milled HW and SW to make my sandwich loaf, and then leave it behind in mastering new things like WW and sourdough, etc. But from your comment I infer that there is a fundamental difference between commercial flour and home-milled that I haven't yet learned that will doom my experiment.
I regret if I already asked this before, but is there a resource I can study to help ease the transition into home-milled WW? Attached is a photo I found here on TFL which is what I'd like to duplicate; using, say, HRW?
100% Whole-Grain SD Water Roux 2012_09_19_2_Cropped.JPG
(Updated) The difference you are (apparently -- I hope I'm wrong) not picking up on is the difference between White (branless, germless) flour and flour with ANY DEGREE of bran and germ.
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Maybe I'm misunderstanding you. When you wrote: " My first loaf will be my plain Ol' Sandwich Loaf, "
did you mean you intend to use the exact same white flour recipe with your sifted home-milled flour?
If not, my apologies. If yes, you have an erroneous pre-conceived notion that will cause you confusion and disappointment.
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if you sift Ww flour, store bought or home milled, you still have a lot of bran and germ in what passes through the sieve. You removed SOME, but not ALL of the bran and germ. You do NOT have white flour after sifting Ww (store bought or home milled) you just have less bran/germ.
It still has enough bran and germ left in it to completely throw off a recipe intended for white/branless/germless flour.
Bran and germ is the primary difference. Store bought versus home milled is the secondary difference.
This is a common misconception that many people have who have never baked with WW (store bought or home milled). WW (store bought or home milled) is just never, never ever, an equivalent to white/branless/germless flour. You cannot substitute in Ww (store bought or home milled) for white flour without other significant changes in the recipe/formula. anything more than a teeny-tiny bit is noticeable.
The multi million dollar commercial roller mills operate completely differently than a home mill. They remove (virtually) ALL the bran and germ when making white flour. We can't, no matter what.
Even if you sift with a #50, the resultant flour will have enough bran and germ left in it to ferment with the speed of a mix of approximately 50% Ww and 50% white flour.
Bran has the enzymes that make sugar from starch. more bran mean more enzymes, more enzymes means more sugar, more sugar means faster fermentation, faster fermentation means you use less yeast and maybe less time. Less yeast and less time means you really need a whole new formula/recipe designed for the % of Ww you are using.
If you use a flour that has the bran equivalent of 50% Ww and 50% white flour, then you need a recipe that is designed for a 50/50 Ww/white loaf.
That is why we kept trying to get you to practice with store bought Ww so you know how Ww behaves. It is a different animal.
Ww (store bought or home milled) has at least 5 dimensions of difference from white/branless/germless flour:
So, find a recipe for a 50/50 ww/white flour loaf, and that will be a close approximation to your sifted flour.
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Good luck, amigo. And may all your surprises be pleasant ones.
I'm sure you can sieve out a lot more than 20% of the bran when you sift home milled flour - I'm not sure where you got that figure from?
I can't speak for hammer mills, but for a stone mill, eg Mockmill, Komo, I would say if you use a #40 sieve you will separate off most of the bran and end up with something approximating a high extraction flour.
Use a #50 and you will pull off some germ too and have a slightly whiter flour.
I wouldn't bother with anything over #50 or #60 - it will be a lot of effort and you will loose so much of what you have milled - better to buy some BF or AP and do a blend.
Lance
Thank you for commenting. I have both a #30 and #50 sieves. Is there a technique somewhere for doing this?
I took an artisan class where we made pitas with fresh milled flour and with expensive commercial flour. The fresh milled blew the commercial flour out of the water. I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t tasted it myself. So after that, you can’t accept not milling your own.
Amen! I toyed with the idea of home milling, until I actually tasted it. My only regret is not getting a mill sooner. Thank you for commenting!