Why Would You Want To?

There are many reasons you should/would want to grind your
own flour for bread baking. First the quality and flavor
you get from home ground flour simply can’t be duplicated
with any commercially available flour. Myself, I don’t care
for wholegrain breads because until I started milling my
own flour they were always dry, heavy and tasted off or kind
of dirty. With home milled flour, the bread is lighter, moister
and has a wonderful fresh and often nutty taste.

Another reason you should grind your own grain flours is
for the health benefits. All commercially made grain flours
have had the germ removed. This is the part of the grain
that contains healthy nutritious oils. They remove it to
extend the shelf life of the grain other wise with it left
in the flour would go rancid in a day or so unless it was
frozen which is expensive and not something most supermarkets
would be willing to do. So by removing the germ it can sit
on the shelf for months or even years and still be edible.
However, just because it is edible doesn’t mean it is good.
Grain flours even those with the bran remove deteriorate
quickly and loose a lot of vitamins and minerals. So, those
flours you buy in the store while still better for you than
white flour aren’t all that they could be and should be.

Finally, grinding your own flours can give you access to
flours that you might not be able to get otherwise. For example,
spelt flour or kamut flour can be very hard to find. I have
yet to see a supermarket that carries these. However, finding
the whole grain is often easier as whole grains keep a very
long time and so are easier for stores to carry. Also, these
specialty flours are cheaper when ground at home. A pound
of spelt grain is much cheaper than a pound of spelt flour
assuming you can find it. Also, you have control over how
much you have on hand, how fine or course it is ground, etc.
Add in the flavor and nutrition and you have very good reasons
to make your own flour.

What You Need to Grind Your Own Flour

Now I am sure you are wondering how hard it is to make your
own flour. Well, all you need is the grain or grains of your
choice and a good grain mill and you’re ready. Most grains
can be found at health food stores and if you need larger
quantities co-ops are good way to go. A grain mill will cost
you around $200 for a good quality one that will last your
lifetime.

The two that I have owned are the Grainmaster Whisper Mill
and the K-Tech Grain Mill, I had the Whisper Mill first and
while it is a nice unit it is way too big for my taste. The
grinding unit and the flour collection bin are separate modules
and so this is one big unit. Also, the Whisper Mill does
not allow you to control the coarseness or fineness of the
flour ground you get fine and that is it.

The K-Tec is a much more compact unit with the grinding
module sitting on top of the flour collection bin. You also
have control over how fine and course the grain is ground
so if you need meal you can have meal. This is the mill I
currently have and just love it. It is a bit noisier than
the Whisper Mill, but for me it is the better mill of the
two.

There are other mills on the market. Which one you choose
is up to you. Just make sure you get a good one. Generally,
the better the warranty the better the unit, what these things
do is very tough work and only good ones are going to have
a long warranty.

You can purchase grain mills from our Online Store!

Buying and Storing Grain

Like I said above a lot of supermarkets now a days have
health food sections and so you can usually fine most grains
there. However, probably the best places are true health
food stores and co-ops. Co-ops are great when you need 20
to 50 pounds of a certain type of grain. However, some do
sell in smaller quantity. To find a Co-op near you check
your yellow pages. Health Food Stores will have just about
everything you need, you can buy in small and large quantity.
However, while whole grains don’t seem to go bad (they have
found perfectly good grain in pyramids) I recommend that
you shop at one that does a lot of business so they have
a good turn over so you get grain that is as fresh as possible.
If you only have one health food store in your town then
you are stuck. You could order online, but the shipping is
going to kill you. However, if you have no choice I suggest
you order in large quantity so the shipping isn’t as bad.

Like I said they have found perfectly good grain in ancient
pyramids so whole grain doesn’t seem to go bad. What can
be a problem are bugs. So, if you are going to have grains
around the house you need to take steps to protect it. I
recommend that whole grain be stored in the freezer. However,
if you have 50 pounds of it that can be hard to do, in that
case you need to store it in a very and I mean very tight
lidded container and even then you can still end up with
a bug problem. How, well the bugs may not be getting in to
the grain, they could already be there in egg form and then
they hatch and presto you have bugs in your grain. Storing
grain in the freezer kills the eggs and if you have egg free
grain (which is in most cases) it keeps them out.

My recommendation for buying grain is this. If you have
a health food store locally that you can get your grain from.
Buy in small amounts say 3 to 4 pounds at a time and keep
it in your freezer. If you have to travel far or order and
have your grain shipped then invest in a very good tight
lidded container and store most of your grain in it in a
cool dry dark place (also, include a handful of bay leaves
on the top which helps repel bugs) and then keep 2 to 3 pounds
in your freezer, refilling from the large container as needed).

Storing Home Ground Flour

Because fresh flour doesn’t keep well, it is highly recommended
that you only grind what you can use in a few hours time.
If you do grind more than you need store it in a tight lidded
container in the freezer and use with in a day or two.

The Grain

While you can make bread from just about any grain, there
are a few things you need to keep in mind; these are gluten
content and taste. Gluten is the protein in grain that when
moistened forms an elastic stretchy substance. It is this
substance that traps the gases given off by the yeast which
raises the bread. If there isn’t enough gluten then the yeast
gases will escape and the bread will not rise. The only grains
that contain a large enough amount of gluten to raise bread
are wheat, spelt and kamut. Spelt and kamut are ancient forms
of our modern day wheat. All other grains don’t contain enough
gluten and there for can not be used to make bread by themselves.

The second thing you need to keep in mind is the taste.
Some grains like barley even if you could make bread from
it would taste horrible in such large amounts. So what am
I saying? I am saying the majority of the flour used to make
bread needs to be wheat, spelt or kamut. The rest of the
grains can be used, but need to be used in small amounts
so that you don’t end up with a brick and a nasty tasting
one at that. Below is a chart covering all of the grains
available today, a description and how much gluten they contain.

Grain/Gluten Chart

Grain	Description	Gluten Level
Barley	Barley is the fourth most widely grown grain in the world. Barley flour is mostly used in Asia for bread baking. It is low in fat. It should be combined with bread or wheat flour. Use 1 part barley to 4 parts wheat or bread flour.	Very Low
Buckwheat	Buckwheat is not a true cereal grain. It is a seed and is related to rhubarb and sorrel. It is most often used pancakes. It is also known as Kasha. Look for buckwheat groats to make flour from. These are the seeds with minimal processing. It is high in protein and fiber. It is a discernible grassy flavor. Works well mixed with other grains like wheat.	Very Low
Corn	Corn flour is more finely ground than cornmeal and both are derived from dent or flint corn — not sweet corn. Bread using corn flour or cornmeal has a crunchy, crumbly texture and pleasing sweetish taste.	Very Low
Wheat	Wheat is very old. When ground fresh it contains all of the B vitamins (except B12). It also contains various other vitamins, minerals, fiber and enzymes.	High
Rye	Rye is one of the stronger tasting grains. This is because of its weed like behavior. Rye works best in unleavened baked goods or in combination with whole-wheat flour.	Low
Kamut	Kamut is an ancient Egyptian form of wheat. It is related to modern durum (pasta) wheat, kamut has a rich and buttery flavor. It is also well tolerated by many who are sensitive to wheat. It is also a highly nutritional grain.	High
Quinoa	Quinoa is an Incan grain. Quinoa is often called a “super grain” because it supplies nearly twice the protein of most grains. Quinoa has a unique flavor. However, it is one of the more expensive grains	Low
Spelt	Spelt can be used like wheat, but it has a nuttier taste. It also is lacking wheat’s allergenic properties. What this means is that people that are wheat sensitive find they can easily tolerate spelt.	High
Rice	Rice is the most widely consumed staple food in the world. When it its natural unrefined state rice is a nutritious grain with a nutty flavor and slight crunch.. Always use brown rice, white rice is of little nutritional value.	None
Millet	Millet is small and round. It is mostly used in birdseed. It is a good source of protein, superior to that of wheat, corn, or rice. Millet can also be popped, roasted, sprouted or malted.	None
Oat Groats	Unlike most grains, only the inedible hill of oats is removed in the milling process. The bran and the germ remain in the edible portion; know as the groat, making oats a good source of protein, fiber, and many nutrients. Oats are a cancer fighter.	None
Steel-Cut Oats	These are the least refined type of oats and are produced by slicing the oats. Oats are a cancer fighter.	None
Amaranth	Amaranth is high in protein, calcium, iron, and phosphorus. Use Amaranth in small amounts — about one part amaranth flour to 4 parts wheat or bread flour. It has a nutty, earthy flavor.	Very Low

So, just how much of the low gluten flours should you use in a recipe. Let’s
take a 1-1/2 pound recipe with 3-1/2 cups of flour as an example. Myself I would
use 2-1/2 cups of high gluten flour like white bread flour, whole wheat, kamut
or spelt four. Then you could safely make up the rest in a single or even several
low/no gluten flours. You just need to keep the majority of the flour to a high
gluten one. Flours with strong tastes like barley I would use just a tablespoon
or so, so that I didn’t end up with bread that tasted bad. However, there I no
reason you could use more if you like the taste.

Tips:

1. Whenever possible store your whole grain in the freezer, if this isn’t
   possible store in a tight lidded container in a cool, dark, dry place.
2. When deciding what flours to use in recipes remember to keep the low/no
   gluten flours to a minimum.
3. Remember some grains have a strong taste. Don’t forget to take this in
   to consideration when choosing which flours your going to use and how much
   of each.
4. While breads like pumpernickel use some course or meal flours, in general
   the finer the flour grind the more of the grains gluten there is available
   for creating the structure of the bread. Because of this try to keep coarse
   ground flours to a minimum, I use no more than 1/2 cup total.
5. Ideally you should only grind the amount of flour you can use in a 12
   hour period. This ensures that you are using the freshest and more nutritious
   flour possible.
6. If you grind more flour than you can use right away store it in the freezer
   in a tight-lidded container and use with in a day or two.

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