Anyone have experience milling their own flour?

Great idea for a thread!!!! My wife and I were just talking about baking bread over the weekend. Would love to hear some good recipes/how to tips on this. Particularly a Jalapeño Cheddar loaf and Sourdough bread.

I bake almost exclusively off the King Arthur great book of bread

I've never cooked my own sourdough. Is it worth getting into? The way I hear people talk about it, I'm assuming it's almost as addictive as heroin...

I maintain a starter and cook mostly sourdough bread - I like the tang.

But my starter mostly lives in my fridge until I'm ready for it - including the feeding, it's a week long process and a 2 day baking process - but fun once you get the hang of it.

Wow, that looks good!

MichaelJ said:

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Anyone have experience milling their own flour?

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I went to Whole Foods once and they had an aisle where you could buy a selection of wheat berries to mill your own flour, as well as some flour they milled in-store. I bought some of the freshly milled flour, honestly didn't notice a difference in taste.

I've thought about buying a grain mill just for my zombie apocalypse kit, but haven't gotten around to it.

Unless you're milling to a fine grain like 00, I honestly don't think it would make a difference at home, and I don't think it is possible to get that fine of a grain outside a factory.

I made possibly the worst loaf of bread I've ever made this weekend.

No pics because I want to pretend it didn't happen

Currently working on sourdough discard English muffins

Thanks - I've tossed around the idea - it just seems like a lot for something I know I won't do regularly

But everyone always talks about how stripped down American flour is that I'm. Curious

Biscuits are most definitely bread. If they're not bread, what the heck would they be characterized as?

I've made parker house rolls and cinnamon rolls this past year. I've always made biscuits but decided to start dabbling with breads last year. Im very interested in this thread.

MichaelJ said:

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Thanks - I've tossed around the idea - it just seems like a lot for something I know I won't do regularly

But everyone always talks about how stripped down American flour is that I'm. Curious

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I hear from people all the time how bread in Europe tastes better than bread in America. The reasoning I hear is they don't put preservatives in their flour. The problem with that logic is the wheat used to make European flour is grown in America, famously in Arizona.

I don't think it has anything to do with preservatives, because I've imported Italian flour (which apparently was grown here but milled there), and I don't think it makes a huge difference.

I suspect (but have no proof) that because some European towns exist in a more day-to-day culinary culture where they go to the local market to buy everything they're going to use to make meals that day, their consumption of bread made by corporate bakeries is far less than it is here. When they eat bread, it is from a local market where a baker made it that day.

Because there is less corporate control of bread, they still use traditional bread-making techniques, and didn't strip their bread of all nutrients in order to make a cheaper version in order to maximize profitability.

Just my theory.

I use that recipe for Detroit style pizza in my cast iron. I recommend buying some KA 00 flour to get maximum crust chewiness.

https://thecafesucrefarine.com/ridiculously-easy-focaccia-bread/ is the recipe I use for focaccia, using half bread flour and half all purpose flour. It's also no knead and uses a cold ferment, so similar amount of effort

I have my sourdough recipe memorized at this point!
120g SDS
300g tepid water
1 T sugar
2 t salt
525g flour of choice. I usually use bread flour.
Just enough olive oil to grease the bowl you'll let it rise in.
500F in a preheated Dutch oven (lid on) for 25 minutes. Another 10-15 minutes at 450 with the cover off. I'd post pics but I'm a basic ***** at the moment.

Im a home brewer and I mill all my own grain for brewing. My wife bakes but weve never milled wheat berries but I have looked into it. Aside from preservatives the bigger issue is oxidization of the flour where it loses 40-45% vitamin content in 24hrs and 95% after 3 days.

This is the same for grains used in brewing, I generally mill the grist less than an hour before mashing. It does make a difference in the final beer.

The gaps are adjustable on the mill so a fairly easy process, and my mill is motorized. This isnt a corona hand crank mill. I'd assume you'd then have to sift the flour from the husk but that must means buying the right sized sifter.

Anyway, been thinking about this for awhile, maybe I need to get off my butt and do it.

https://www.unsifted.com/pages/nutrients-in-flour-deteriorate-over-time-after-milling


Also, wife exclusively uses King Arthur flour.

Got a little extra crispy on the nose because I cooked an oval in a round dutch oven - shoulda have used the baking steel apparently

https://simplicityandastarter.com/honey-oat-sourdough-bread/#How_to_Make_Sourdough_Honey_Oat_Sourdough_Bread

Focaccia using pasta madre

Sourdough tortillas

May need the recipe for these…

It's on the website I posted above. Simplicity and a starter

normalhorn said:

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I've never cooked my own sourdough. Is it worth getting into? The way I hear people talk about it, I'm assuming it's almost as addictive as heroin...

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If you assume, you will make ass out of you and me...(LOL)

I think it is actually a bit more addictive, but just my opinion...look at a plethora of posts here...lots of Sourdough...

I have been making it for more than a year...still experimenting, mostly with ambient temperature and starter consistency.

A good reference, if you are looking for help, is an online site called The Bread Code, guy lives in Germany, has a bunch of u-tube videos, and a downloadable pdf "manual". It's like reading a software coding manual (that's what he does, evidently).

It has been very helpful...I had trouble kneading/folding/coiling, as well as starter consistency....he had some good advice...helpful to me anyway.

As to addictive qualities, our mini-poodle has a very sensitive stomach, and we have been using Sucravet, a nasty, milky stuff (antacid) that we have been forced to inject down her throat for 2 years now...3-4 times a week...breakfast & lunch. A month ago, I stubbornly decided to try some small bite sized pieces of Sourdough as an appetizer, since it is healthy for human gut biome, and my internet MD wife could find nothing negative online...

Well, she now whines and waits for her treat before her food...haven't had to charge and inject that nasty stuff in her throat since.

Hell, I am T-2, and unlike wheat bread, causes no glucose spike. Still lots of carbs, but I'm experimenting with Keto/gluten free version.

So glad to have found this thread!