Baking With Fresh Milled Flour

 For anyone who has tried or is planning to try milling wheat to make flour, I read a post on Facebook this morning that I wish I had read when I first started with milling. If you're on Facebook and if you're interested, look for Two Paws Farmhouse. The post starts off "If you're new to fresh milled flour . . "

Everything mentioned in that post are things that gave me trouble. So many people buy mills, and mixers and grain (LOTS of grain!) <G> and give up before they "get it". It's very different from making bread with store bought flour. 

When I first started, it was in in 2004 and I don't even remember why I thought that was a good idea but there weren't nearly the resources that we have today. I seriously almost gave up. My bread was crumbly and sometimes just . . not good!

I'm so glad I stuck with it.

Looking back, my biggest problems after having made bread for so many years were (1) to add so much more water/liquid because the dough needed more hydration (2) deal with the stickiness of the wet dough.

The early struggles were so worth it but it would have been nice to have had the resources available that we have today.

I don't want to turn anyone off from doing this but two things I wish I had known . . two things that had more to do with spending more $$ and not with my bread baking abilities:

    1. Buy the best mill you can afford. On one hand, I understand why I bought a less expensive mill. It's a BIG investment and I didn't know if it was something I was going to stick with nor did I know if Vince would love the bread. I started out with the Family Grain Mill. It isn't nearly as easy to use nor does it grind the flour as fine. A coarser flour and going to create a coarser texture. It is NOT impossible to get a great loaf of bread with a less expensive mill but it's so much easier with a mill that has more options. In 2015 I bought the KoMo Fidibus Classic. You know how much I've used that mill and I've never had a problem with it. In 2024 I bought new stone burrs just in case I ever needed them. Chad has this same mill so I bought two sets and am glad I did. I paid $45 per set and now, they're $89/set.

Pleasant Hill Grain has a very informative "buying guide" everyone should read before deciding to buy a mill.

    2. The mixer. A Kitchen Aid or other heavy duty mixer will work . . for a while. Not something you need to buy right away. But, this dough has to knead for 10 - 15 minutes. It's a thick, heavy dough. I knew it wasn't going to last and I wanted to keep it for all the other things I mix so I researched and thought about it and researched more and ended up getting the Bosch Universal Plus. A lot of people use the Ankarsrum and love it too. There are newer brands on the market and most of them cost less but I don't know much about those.

I bought the mixer in 2012, have used it a lot and have not had any problems with it. I do have the plastic bowl and will probably upgrade to the stainless bowl if ever I catch them in stock.

The last of my sage advice <G> is: The mills are hard to get. There's a long wait list. From what I've heard, the date they tell you often gets pushed back. These KoMo mills are made in Austria and I don't think they're mass produced as are many of the "things" we are used to buying.

And, when I bought my mills and mixer, there were no wait lists. If you want one, get on that list and get the one you want. I have a friend who did her research, ordered a KoMo, got frustrated that the wait time kept getting extended; cancelled her order and planned to order something else; went back and ordered the KoMo and I think she got frustrated and cancelled again but ended up re-ordering it and eventually got it.

I am passionate about the quality and supposed health benefits of whole wheat bread made from fresh milled flour. I think EVERYONE should do it so I'm not going to apologize for this very long post. I figure anyone not interested never got past the first sentence.

As always, if you want a mill and have questions or if you want to try making bread from fresh milled flour, which you will also see as FMF, and you have questions, I'm always willing to share what I can to help.