Wheat grinding and flour using tips

                                                     wheat berries

fresh ground flour

Things that I have learned that I think are helpful in grinding your own flour:

Wheat needs to be ground fresh or stored in the freezer. I keep a canister in the freezer of my “all purpose mix” (see below) so I don’t have to grind that every time I make something. When I make my bread each week, I grind that flour fresh. Then I make my all purpose mix to go in my canister while I have everything out. Flour ground fresh is still pretty fluffy and so it measure a little different than once it has settled in the canister for a little while. So when using flour I just ground, I just used rounded cups and don’t level of my measuring cup. If I am using flour out of my canister that has had time to settle and pack together, then I just measure it like normal.

Explanation of the different wheat berries i use. i use 3 different kinds.

1) hard white

2) hard red

3) soft white

white wheat has a very mild flavor, more like white flour.

red wheat has a more "wheaty" flavor more like the flavor of store bought wheat flour.

hard wheat makes bread flour because it has a lot of gluten in it.

soft wheat makes pastry flour because it is low in gluten

All-purpose flour that is called for in most recipes is medium gluten flour. so to make all-purpose flour you need a mixture of hard and soft.

I have done lots of experimenting, and this is how I mix my berries to get what I want:

For my bread and pizza crust I use 1 part hard white and 1 part hard red

For something that I want to taste like it has wheat flour in it (ex: pancakes, muffins) I use a 1:1:1 ratio of all 3 flours. This is what I use for most all purpose recipes.

For something I would like to have a lighter wheat flavor (cookies , cakes, pie crust or biscuits), I use 1 part soft white wheat to 2 parts hard white wheat.

If you understand the different wheats then you can make your own adjustments based on your own taste and recipe. If you think something came out too heavy or dense, then use more soft wheat next time. If you want it to have more of a wheaty flavor use more red wheat. If it is too airy or fluffy, use less soft wheat. Don’t be scare. I have never made anything that want delicious with my fresh flour. I just like to tweak recipes to perfection.

i get my wheat berries from a bread beckers co-op that delivers in my area.  the shipping is very cheap doing it this way.  i get my wheat for less than $1/lb. http://info.breadbeckers.com/coops/

these are the two best mill on the market, in my opinion.  you can't go wrong with either one.  i own the nutrimill and love it.  i have been using it for 3 years and have not had any problems.