I've been baking my own bread for years, but am new to grinding my own flour. My questions are: how do you go about grinding your own white flour? Are there sources for getting high quality (ideally organic) freshly hulled grains for grinding, or do you just use whole grains all the time? If you can purchase hulled grains, how do they compare nutritionally to whole grains?

Re markapp's refence to the "confusing" aspect of the excerpt from Flour Power, I just wanted to point out that there's an entire chapter in the book on wheat that, among other things, clarifies the difference/relationships amongst terms used to indicate the intended end use for a given wheat: spring vs winter; soft vs hard; strong vs weak; gluten content and type; protein content. Although the terms describe different aspects of wheat and are interchangeable in a sense, they can indeed be confusing if you don't understand them and how they act in a given bread, cake or pasta. Link attached for more about the book.

My husband and I purchased a diamant grain mill last year. It is really great. For those looking for berries, Whole Foods either carries them or they can special order them as they do for us. We have a couple of sources one which is Lehmans in Ohio. Since there seems to be a large number of people grinding their own wheat, does anyone have a recipe for Whole Wheat Spaghetti and or pastas? Also would anybody want to share their bread recipes? We have tried some with no real success.

Try the book Flour Power, A guide to modern home grain milling by Marleeta Basey. It tells you everything you could want to know about milling and baking with whole grains. Try Amazon -- 0970540116.

Since no one has answered the question about soy milk:

It's made by soaking dry soybeans overnight and then grinding them with water and straining/pressing off the liquid. The liquid should be cooked to be made more digestible.

Tofu can then be made from the milk by curdling it with epsom salts or lemon juice and straining/pressing in the same manner as making dairy cheese.

Time consuming, sometimes messy, but not complicated.

A similar method can make rice or nut milk.

Kristin

Hi fellow grain grinders! I bought a Nutrimill and am only 4 months into grinding my own flour. I'm kinda dissapointed with the instructions that came with the mill. There was only one bread recipe and very few directions for explaining the different settings and achiving different textures. The mill works great but I'm looking for others who will share good bread recipes using various type of grains and ingredients. I have a Bosch Universal Mixer and like making a full batch at one time. Baking up a storm on Kodiak Island, Alaska

Thanks for answering my question about how soy milk is made.

Is that basically how products such as Silk are made.
Silk has kind of a nutty flavor to me.
Wonder how home made soy milk compares to Silk.

Thanks.

Pooh Bear

Hi All,

Pls tell me before grinding grains and beans, do you need to wash it???

I have a Valley Mill- use it for grinding brewing grains (including wheat). Can hand-crank or use a drill to drive it.

Excellent product.

HHHHHHeeeeelllooooo AALLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pls tell me do you wash the grains first and how do you dry them before grinding???????????????

Thank you,

Pls tell me do you wash the grains first and how do you dry them before grinding???????????????

Well, I don't raise my own grain, but no, I don't wash purchased grains before grinding them into flour. I imagine if I was inclined to wash them, it'd be necessary to thoroughly dry them before grinding.

What are you concerned about washing away? Dirt? Pesticides? Bug parts?

--Steve

Hi Foolyap,

I just think it is cleaner to wash the grains to remove like what you mentioned dirt, pesticide and whatever stuff is on the grain. Don't you think it is necessary to wash the various grains?

Rdgs,
Melissa

I just think it is cleaner to wash the grains to remove like what you mentioned dirt, pesticide and whatever stuff is on the grain. Don't you think it is necessary to wash the various grains?

Nope.

Regards pesticides, I've been buying organically-grown grains.

As for dirt, well, a little dirt in the gizzard never hurt anyone. :-) Seriously, it's just not high on my list of worries. When I pull a fresh carrot from the garden and rinse it before eating, I do my best to remove dirt, but I don't go to the trouble of scrubbing every last speck off. Anything on the grain is very likely to be simple organic cruft, and it's all baked or cooked after being ground to flour anyway. It doesn't bother me any more than the thought that there might be a few insect eggs in the dried beans I buy -- which I freeze for a few weeks before using for that reason, to kill 'em if they're there, before they could hatch.

--Steve

Can anyone tell me where I buy my organic grains (Kamut, Spelt, Amarynth, Whole Wheat and Quinoa) the girl said that you must wash quinoa to remove the little "o" hulls - if that is the case how would you use the washed quinoa. I buy bread that is called ancient grains that has a blend of the above - some of the grain looks whole still - label says 2% this and 2% that so not large amounts so I am wondering if I could leave the washed quinoa whole? I am also thinking that perhaps I should throw all the grains in the freezer for a week just in case??? insect eggs etc - dont mind ingesting a bit of dirt and I wont worry about pesticides because it is organic but the insect eggs????????? yikes

Because of the heat of an electric mill would that affect the nutrients of the flour? Would it be better to go with a hand powered one if you want the very best quality?

I never bother to wash grains but if they are dirty you certainly could wash then spread thin layer on a large shallow baking sheet to dry at low temp in oven. Most of the dust in wheat is wheat pollen. Just for everyones info corn and soybean in my area get fair amounts of chemical pesticides for insects and weeds but our hard red winter wheat is seldom sprayed with anything. My point is that hard red winter wheat is probably the closest to organic that is not specificly labeled organic of most any ag crop. Most farmers do apply amonia to all crops for N fertilizer but little else to wheat around here. Some other intresting things for this thread soaked or steamed wheat berries whole make a bread similar to wheat berry labeled. Grains and germs can be toasted in an oven at about 350 F until lightly brown to add a more nutty flavor to breads. Also grains that are dried grind finer when milling as most all grain retains 8% or more moisture depending on humidity etc. If you want a fine grind of bran and germ as you go try dring in a 200F oven a few minutes a couple times to drive out moisture. Ground whole wheat berries are grahm flour. whole wheat flour has a portion of the original kernal removed.

We have a Wolfgang Mill from Germany that is fantastic, and we also use it to make muesli. I've got a back up manual mill that screws to a table or countertop. It works just fine, but I usually have to put the grains through more than once to get it fine enough.

my sister uses a nutrimill which is sooo loud and living in ohio buy our wheat berries from the amish for cheap. We live in the woods so can't grow our own though that be prtty cool though a buch of work I imagine. We don't wash the beriies before we use them

I took the following quote from a web site that has a review on a grain mill:

"Does anyone know what the stones are made out of? I know that most grain mills use ceramic-corundum, which is just another name for aluminum oxide. There was a study that i read a while ago saying that there is relationship between silicon and aluminum in Alzheimer brain lesions. Would anyone happen to know where i could find a grain mill that uses a NATURAL stone such as granite?"

Personally, we would like to use a mill with stones rather than with steel burrs, which we understand heats up the flour and reduces its nutritional content. Anyone know of a new grinder with natural stones? there are old grinders on ebay from time to time, but they look like they take up a lot of counter space.

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Does anyone know of a grain co-op in Arkansas, Missouri or Louisiana where I can join to order grains for grinding?

could you all please tell me a good place to purchase wheat and grains in bulk. I would like to grind my own stuff but I just do not know where to start. I would also like to know how hard it is to grow wheat. I might give that a try. I am not afraid to try new things, I just do not know where to start. I will take any and all advise I can get. thanks a bunch.

I don't have a grain mill yet, but have been looking into getting one. Many folks really like the Country Living Mill and everyone says the Diamont is the best, but it is also a lot more expensive. The Kitchen Aid grain mill doesn't get very good reviews but one of the other varieties can be adapted to fit a Kitchen Aid.

I do have an antique industrial coffee mill I'm going to put together to see if that will mill grain fine enough but it is still on the "to do" list. If that doesn't work (and I'm anticipating about a twenty percent chance it will) then a "real" grain mill will have to be found.

For getting grain to grind, if you want smaller quantities you could try Azure Standard to see which types of grain you prefer before buying fifty or several hundred pounds of it.

For storing grain in five gallon buckets, if you put the grain in the bucket and then add a bit of dry ice before sealing the lid the gasses produced by the dry ice will kill all bug eggs and larvae in the grain.

Here is a link that might be useful: Azure Standard

I am just starting out to grind my own whole wheat flour.
I have a kitchen aid grinder. I am trying to find out what the ratio of wheat to flour is. 1c grain = aprox how much flour. Any other commets and suggestions would be great.

I've been grinding my own for a few years now, with my vita-mix. Would love a 'real' grinder, but too expensive right now.
I'm having a big problem right now with my new breadmaker. I had an Oster 1-1.5 pound loaf maker and I had a recipe down cold with hard wheat (not sure if white or red, health food store doesn't label either). Got a new maker, the Black&Decker horizontal 2-3 pound. Haven't been able to get a nice loaf out of it!
First thing was I was trying out spelt when I got the new maker. Two loafs fell terribly when I used the old wheat recipe with spelt in place. Do you have to do something different with Spelt?

Tried back with the regular hard wheat today but still didn't get a good result. I never used gluten in my old maker/recipe, but so many recipes I'm finding online call for it and milk powder which I didn't have to use before. Gluten is expensive!! 10 bucks for a wee little bag!

What am I doing wrong? Does anyone know where I can find some good plain and hearty whole wheat bread recipes for the breadmaker, specially for freshly milled?

To previous poster, I find that 3 cups of grains will produce 3.5 cups of flour.

I grind my wheat with a Nutrimill mill and love it (mine is not real noisy, either). I am also having a hard time finding places to buy wheat in Minnesota (near the Twin Cities). I drive to South Dakota occassionally to purchase 40 lb bags of organic wheat and 20 lb bags of organic flax. Both are washed before bagging and I really like the product. It would cost way too much to have it shipped, therefore, I would like to find a place to purchase product closer to home.

Hi, I brought brand new grinding mill.I am looking for buy hard white wheats.I can not able to find in MISSISSIPPI.Please any body help me to find wheat I will be appricate.Thank you.

I absolutely love this idea. I know it certainly isn't new, but I haven't been exposed to country life for very long and had no idea that grinding wheat could be done on a small scale. Don't laugh, I've been sheltered. So now that it might be possible for me too, I would like to know how much land would be needed to produce enough wheat for a family of 4 for the year? Or is it still more feasible to buy wheat? I would be interested in organic wheat, know of any suppliers? Thank you, there is a lot of wonderful advice here.

I have a Country Living Mill, I absolutly love it. It's a great workout, and a good frustration reliever! I buy organic red spring wheat from Anita's Organic. I also bought a big sack of wheat from the feed store and tried to grow some ~ the jury is still out on that one!... I'm not sure what kind of wheat it is, and it's growing but we've had such miserable weather this year, it's not producing as well as it should... I am getting some though. If it's enough to make 1 loaf I'll be as happy as the little red hen!
Next spring I'll be planting a large patch of wheat. I figure, if I use 4 55lb bags a year, and every wheat kernel I plant will give me at least 10 back, If I plant 1/2 a bag that should be plenty. It also shouldn't take up very much space.... something like 20ft x 40 ft (theoretically)

Here is a link that might be useful: Anita's Organic Grains

Hi everyone.

On the subject of growing your own grain, I'm going to try it next year. there is an article (I believe, but I could be wrong) in the latest issue of "backwoods home magazine. (July/August 2008) http://www.backwoodshome.com/current_issue.html

Now I don't have the copy of it with me, as I left it up the cabin, but I'll know this weekend and maybe try to type the directions in here this weekend. It goes something like this:

you hand broadcast it to sow the seed
then just let it grow!
when it's ready (beats me how we'll know when that is)...
You cut it down with a weed-wacker. (sounds fun, doesn't it?)
you gather it together in little clumps and stand up to let it dry
then you can thresh it on a windy day.

I'll try to get that magazine this weekend when I visit the big woods of the Allegheny National Forest. It's a great time of year to see the black bears there while picking the unending supply of juicy sweet blackberries.

BTW - I just recieved my "Country Living Grain Mill" a couple of weeks ago. It works great and is not very hard to hand-crank. However, I am still young(33) and wonder if it won't get old in about 40 years when I'm still grinding my own wheat and just beginning to age...

I love my Country Living Grain Mill. I got mine through www.GrindWheat.com

It is the best out there right now.

Here is a link that might be useful: Grindwheat.com

Yeti,
I'm so glad you got the Country Living mill and are happy with it. It is such a fantastic machine. Happy baking!

Hi! I recently inherited an old Magic Mill stone wheat grinder from my grandma. It's been sitting for at least 15 years, but seems in pretty good shape all things considered. I don't have a manual, so I'm not sure how to go about making sure it works OK. Does anyone have experience with this type of mill? Or an old user's manual they would be willing to copy for me? I'd really like to fix this up, but I don't want to inadvertently kill it trying to make sure it works!

Thanks!

I have a Golden Grain Grinder that is about 30+ years old that my dad gave me about 15 years ago. My problem is finding the wheat...though I have found a couple of Amish and Mennonite stores that carry some, though not much. I live in middle TN. Would like to find a coop.

Can anyone tell me what the whitest whole wheat there is? I bought 3 lbs of hard spring white wheat last week...wanted to see how it ground and baked before I bought 50 pounds. It is whiter than some other whole wheat flours...just wanted to know what everyone else thought.

I bought a Champion Juicer with a grain mill from ebaby, so be sure to check there before buying retail. It does a great job.

Some of you asked for recipes. This one is a family favorite -

Flax Seed Bread

4 tsp. (7 g) bread machine yeast
3 (72 g) TBS honey
2 1/4 c. water*
2 TBS (28 g) butter, melted
1 tsp. (4 g) sugar
2 tsp. ( 12 g) salt
3 TBS. (25 g) Vital Wheat Gluten
2 TBS (18 g) sesame seeds
2 TBS (24 g) flax seeds
2 TBS (17 g) poppy seeds
2 TBS (14 g) toasted wheat germ
2 TBS (18 g) sunflower seeds
3 TBS. (27 g) buttermilk pwdr*
3 c. (360 g) WW flour (2 1/2 c. wheat grains)
3 c. (411 g) bread flour

*or use 1 1/2 c buttermilk & 3/4 c. water & no buttermilk pwdr.

Combine water, butter & honey in mixer bowl. Add the salt, seeds, WW flour, buttermilk powder, yeast & wheat germ. Stir. Add the flours. When the dough has pulled tog., turn the mixer speed to 2 & insert the dough hook. Knead about 6 min. Lightly oil a lg. bowl, place the dough in the bowl & turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a damp cloth & let rise until doubled, about 1 hr.

Grease three 8 x 4" pans. Deflate the dough & turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 3 equal pcs. & form into loaves. Place loaves in the pans. Cover with a damp cloth & let rise until doubled, about 40 min. Bake at 375 for about 30 min. Makes about three 1 1/4 lb. loaves or two 9x5" loaves. Adjust baking time if you use the larger loaf pans.

Since I make this all the time, I keep part of the bread mix in the freezer: Put the ingredients individually in 4-5 Ziploc bags: yeast, sugar, buttermilk pwdr, salt, VWG, wheat germ, sesame, flax, poppy & sunflower seeds. Take 1 bag out & bring to room temp. before mixing. Add the other ingredients as the recipe above states.

I found this on the Internet 2 years ago. The original recipe, if I remember right, called for 4 c. bread flour & 2 c. whole wheat flour. You could search & probably come up with the original recipe.

I bake mine in the oven in the winter, but in the summer I cut the recipe in half & put it in a bread machine.

Food Processor Pasta

2 c. flour 2 lg. eggs 1/4 c. water Dash of salt

Using metal blade, process flour, eggs & salt for 5 seconds. With motor running, pour water down feed tube & process until dough forms a ball. May not need all the water. Dough should be well blended, but not stick. If sticky, add flour & knead. If dough is crumbly, add 1 to 2 tsp. of flour & process. Turn dough onto a floured surface & knead 2-3 min. Roll out 1/4 of dough at a time to desired thinness. (Go to 4 on pasta machine.) Cut into desired widths.

Variations:
Whole Wheat Pasta - Substitute WW flour & let dough rest for 20 min.
Spinach Pasta - 1/2 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen ch spinach, cooked & minced to equal 1/4 c.. Squeeze spinach & process with eggs until spinach is finely ch. Add flour & process until dough forms a ball. Probably wonÂt need to add water.
Orange or Rosy Pasta - 3 TBS. strained cooked carrots or beets (baby food) or 3 TBS. tomato paste.
Corn Pasta - 1 c. corn flour, 1 c. flour, 2 lg. eggs, 2 - 4 TBS. water

In the Kansas City area, Nature's Pantry (19019 E 48th St. South in Independence) has whole grains in bulk. (That's east of 291 & Highway 40 intersection.)

I recently bought a used Retsel Mil-Master. I have used it to make corn meal with a taste that just can't be bought from the store. I bake white bread now using store bought flour. Of course I want to mill fresh wheat and try baking with it. I have a friend coming from out west and will bring me a couple of bushels of wheat when he comes. I'm thinking I want hard wheat for bread. Maybe get a bushel of white and red and I think it should be winter wheat. Am I thinking correctly? Any suggestions? Thanks Mitch

Try sprouting the wheat berries before mixing into your bread recipe. Very high in fiber, low glycemic--which is the problem with all flours and, best of all, sprouted wheat breads taste great.

Mitch, I use hard red spring wheat for bread. It is really good. I find it a bit heavy though, sometimes I sift out most of the bran (and save for bran muffins), other times I mix it 1/2 and 1/2 with regular white flour. It has a really nice nutty flavor. I also find I have to knead it more (activate the gluten) to get a really nice fluffy loaf.
In the newest mother earth news magazine there is a recipe for 5 minute bread. I did not like the way that turned out with the Red spring wheat. It was VERY dense and heavy like eating a cake of cream of wheat cereal.

Barbie, When I mill whole wheat I can sift out part of the brand? It doesn't come out of the mill all the same size? What do I use for the sifter to separate it? When I mill the wheat should I make it as fine as I can for bread making? I may not wait for my buddy to bring me wheat I may buy a small amount locally just to try it out. Thanks, Mitch

Does anyone know where to buy wheat berries online? How much does it usually cost?

Mitch, yes you can sift out some of the bran, it is a bit larger than the rest of the flour, kind of like a little brown flake. You will want to mill the flour just about as fine as it can get to make bread, otherwise you end up with more of a cornbread consistancy. Very dense and heavy.
I sift my flour with a small wire mesh strainer I bought at a department store. You want to use the finest mesh you can get. I think it is about 1/32" or .5mm maybe even finer.
I find also, for making bread, if I want it to rise really high, to be light and airy inside (like bakery bread) I have to knead it quite a bit to get the gluten working.
I use my kitchen aid mixer for this, mixing the yeast, water, sugar, salt and milk with 1/2 of the flour on med speed for about 10 mins. Then slowly add in the rest of the flour. (this is called batter method)
It's easier on the machine that way. If you are using a recipe that is too large for a mixer bowl, you can mix the batter with a spoon by hand to get the same effect.

Montanaanne, you can buy wheat from Bob's Red Mill online, and I'm sure there are many others.
In Canada, I buy wheat from Anita's Oganic Mill ( http://www.anitasorganic.com/products.htm )

km249 posted here that s/he had recently inherited an old Magic Mill and wanted an instruction manual for it. I am in the same position with a mill and no instructions. I am new to this forum and can't figure out how to contact him/her to see if she got one. Contact me here or email me at l_oliver@bresnan.net if you know how I can get one.

My friend brought 4 bushels of wheat back from "Out West". The deal is I get 3 bushels free but I mill the fourth bushel for him. This is the first wheat I have milled with the second hand Retsel Mil-Master I had bought. It does an excellent job of milling the wheat. It comes out just as fine as store bought. The flour is slightly warm but not even close to being hot. It is really quiet too.
I am making bread using half bread flour and half whole wheat. I want to make it with 100% whole wheat flour without adding vital glutton. Does anyone have a recipe like that for bread, pizza dough, pasta and others?

Does anyone know a simple why to grind without any special tools? Can I used a hammer? or a coffee grinder?
thanks.
Mike

I don't grow my own wheat or anything, but I do grind it fresh for bread and such using a Nutrimill I bought from a neighbor... And I agree, it's completely different than store-bought whole wheat flour! We are fortunate to be able to buy bulk wheat through a local food coop here in Tennessee (west).

I would also be interested if anyone has a recipe for 100% whole wheat pizza crust.

As for recipes, The Fresh Loaf is a great source of recipes and information about whole wheat breads, sourdoughs and grinding your own wheat.

And for the many who asked where to find bulk wheat, here is a company that delivers Wheat Montana bulk wheat and other whole grains at VERY reasonable prices. See link below.

I wrote a long message :-( and it got lost while I went and registered: is it somewhere you can find it and post it??

New at grinding my own wheat, Question non gmo are the wheats to use right? In grinding the which is the best texter,and just checking by feel?

How long will wheat berries last stored in plastic buckets with lids?
wheat is going to the moon and need to prepared for food shortage.

I am trying to find hard red wheat in bulk in Louisiana. Does anyone have suggestions on where I can purchase this near home?

I was told to wash the wheat bought at feed stores with water prior to grinding it. How do you dry the wheat after doing this? I am new to all of this.

Alan