Why grind your own flour? Why not store-bought Whole Wheat Pastry Flour?

[A.J. at J.A.]

I went to a homeschool convention today and went to a break-out session about grinding your own flour and making your own bread. The topic is appealing to me but I can't explain it clearly to DH. If some of you could give me a clear idea of why grinding your own flour is better than buying Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (that is what we currently use) from the store...that will help me as DH and I pursue this further.

 

Thanks so much!

[Shannon in MO]

I am currently looking into this whole topic, too, and a friend who grinds all her own flour says that wheat starts to get rancid as soon as it's ground. She grinds it & then freezes it right away...& says that everything on store shelves is rancid. I haven't looked into this, but I'm assuming the flour you would buy at the store (pre-ground) has preservatives in it or something to do w/ being bromated?? Just my 2 cents...

HTH,

Shannon

[nmoira]

I'm feeling listy... which is better than listless I suppose.

 

(1) Whole wheat flour starts to turn rancid the second it is ground (as opposed to white flour, which tastes better aged and is often artificially aged). This affects taste and nutrition. I grind and freeze 5lb of flour at a time.

 

(2) "Whole wheat" flour in stores is generally not whole grain, though it approximates it. It's usually white flour with the other components added back in.

 

(3) I can control the fineness of the grind to suit my purpose.

[nmoira]

I'm assuming the flour you would buy at the store (pre-ground) has preservatives in it or something to do w/ being bromated??

The bromates are used to artificially age white flour.

 

While w/w flour will go rancid, it won't happen overnight. A store with a good turnover and a local supplier will provide adequate w/w flour.

 

Flour Power is a great read for anyone considering home milling... though the mill information is a bit outdated.

[HSMom2One]

I didn't realize until just the past few years that not all flour is the same. Even pre-milled flour comes in a variety of choices and has different characteristics. When you mill your own flour you can experiment with different grains and blends, which can be very rewarding.

 

Grinding your own flour would also be a good thing if you want to know how old the flour actually is. Some flour sits on the shelf in a warehouse or the market for a very, very long time before being used. When it comes to grains for my family I really don't like that idea. You can also insure that your own flour is made of the best grains and has no other contaminants or non-organic products.

 

Baked goods made from fresh milled flour can be heavenly! It really isn't as labor intense as you'd think either. I don't mill all my flour, but I have done some in the blender and also with my friend's mill. We buy from Bob's Red Mill here locally and know that it is pure and fresh, but if I did not have that resource I would be shopping for a mill to have at home.

 

Happy grinding and baking!

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[nmoira]

We buy from Bob's Red Mill here locally and know that it is pure and fresh, but if I did not have that resource I would be shopping for a mill to have at home.

This doesn't help anyone outside the greater Portland area, but Bob's is about the only place I buy will bulk ingredients (other than something like salt). There's a tremendous cost savings over regular Red Mill prices.

[MommyX8]

With the wheat prices soaring, you have a bit better control of your grocery bill if you can buy in bulk. Plus, wheat berries last indefinitely (at least that is what my preparedness book said, I think).

[*anj*]

As others have said, whole wheat flour turns rancid when it sits for even a few days. I like to grind as much as I'll need in a given recipe. If I were going to grind a lot more I would keep it in the freezer, but obviously grocery store shelves aren't keeping freshly milled flour cold.

When I first heard the rancidity claim I balked. When I say it now I have people who scoff at me, but I think those are people who have never smelled nor tasted freshly milled flour. The difference is remarkable. It's like the difference between a can of tuna and a freshly caught tuna steak.

 

Vitamins also die off as the flour ages, which is why so many commercially prepared ones are "enriched." So they add some lab produced vitamins to a bunch of rancid flour and we're supposed to be happy with it.

 

I guess I look at it as the difference between really fresh food and one that was made to sit around for a few months. The quality is different, the flavor is different, the nutritive value is different.

 

And if you have a Very Good Blender you can even make pancakes or other batter based foods out of wheat berries and you don't even have to grind them in advance! :001_smile:

[LND1218]

 

 

There are 3 parts of the wheat kernel: the bran, the germ and the endosperm. White flour is made from the endosperm. During commercial grinding processes they are often seperated.

 

 

The germ is the most nutritious portion of the wheat kernel and is very oily, which causes it to turn rancid quickly. Wheat germ is usually separated from the bran and endosperm during the milling of flour because the germ's perishable oil content limits the keeping time of the flour. So often when you buy whole wheat flour it's minus the wheat germ because the wheat germ makes it go bad too fast.

 

So you aren't getting the full benefit of it.

 

And it's a nice savings too.

[LND1218]

When I first heard the rancidity claim I balked. When I say it now I have people who scoff at me, but I think those are people who have never smelled nor tasted freshly milled flour. The difference is remarkable.

 

 

Yep have to add too that :iagree: there is a difference. After using freshly milled flour the store bought stuff looks, feels and tastes awful!