tmulcahy Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Why do you do it? Does it cost less? (Taking the mill and the grain purchase into consideration) Taste better? Healthier? My curiosity is peaked. Do you need to process it each time you bake or can you store it? Is it fast/easy? What type of wheat berries do you buy and what is the difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathkath Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 yes yes yes We probably haven't broken even on our nutrimill yet compared to the cost of store bread, but we will soon! Now store bread tastes like cardboard to us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 We mill wheat occasionally and use it in all our baking. We do it because it is healthy, and in the long run I think it is cheaper. Our main reason is because we store wheat for emergencies, and try to rotate our storage. You can mill any grain that doesn't contain oils in it (like nuts) in the mill I have. I've milled white rice to make rice cereal for babies before. We mostly mill red and white wheat. It is very fast and easy. Turn on the mill, pour the wheat, wha-la! Flour. When we make wheat flour, we store what we don't use in the fridge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Why do you do it? I do it because I want the best nutrition for my family for a lifetime of good health.Does it cost less? (Taking the mill and the grain purchase into consideration) over the long run I believe it does cost less. Although cost is not why I do it. Taste better? Oh, yes, tastes much better. Healthier? Absolutely. My curiosity is peaked. Do you need to process it each time you bake or can you store it? To get the most nutritional bang for the buck you need to mill it when you want to use it. However, I do freeze any leftover flour I may have to use the next time I bake. Is it fast/easy? Yes it is. What type of wheat berries do you buy and what is the difference? I buy different varieties of wheat, barley, kamut, spelt, oat groats, rye, and sometimes I make rice or bean flour. The difference is texture, color, flavor, nutrition. . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Why do you do it? Does it cost less? (Taking the mill and the grain purchase into consideration) Taste better? Healthier? My curiosity is peaked. Do you need to process it each time you bake or can you store it? Is it fast/easy? What type of wheat berries do you buy and what is the difference? Nutrition It's a fraction of the cost... Taste is not comparable!!! Much! You can mill every time you bake, if you want. I like to mill about once a week. It's fast and easy! Put the berries in, turn the knob. I have a Nutrimill. White hard wheat is my favorite berry to buy. It has the nutrition of WW, and makes a light loaf for those in my family who were spoiled by Wonderbread as a child. Soft hard wheat is unbelievable for pastry items I also mill my own cornmeal. Yum! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 The nutrients in grains begin to oxidize as soon as the grain is milled. Flour that has been sitting around on a store shelf has lost most of its nutritional value by the time you get it home. And it tastes better, has a better texture, and costs less in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delaney Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Not sure if it is true for every store but my Great Harvest Bread Co here in town sells me wheat berries. Of course he is also a homeschooler and overall great guy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmulcahy Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 The nutrients in grains begin to oxidize as soon as the grain is milled. Flour that has been sitting around on a store shelf has lost most of its nutritional value by the time you get it home. And it tastes better, has a better texture, and costs less in the long run. Thanks for that nutritional info. Our eating habits have become awful and I am really trying to make better choices for my family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmulcahy Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 . Yes, I am looking to improve our overall health as well. I do get that most times it does cost more. Right here, right now I have to weigh the benefit vs the cost, unfortunately. This definitely sounds like an improvement I can make in my home. Thanks for the feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmulcahy Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 Not sure if it is true for every store but my Great Harvest Bread Co here in town sells me wheat berries. Of course he is also a homeschooler and overall great guy! There are a few options here. There is a store that seems to have a good variety and you can buy 40 lb bags. There is also a co op...but you have to volunteer to work at the distribution warehouse...so that may be hard to do with 3 kids in tow. We also have a Great Harvest Bread Co, I'll check that out too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmulcahy Posted February 6, 2011 Author Share Posted February 6, 2011 NutritionIt's a fraction of the cost... Taste is not comparable!!! Much! You can mill every time you bake, if you want. I like to mill about once a week. It's fast and easy! Put the berries in, turn the knob. I have a Nutrimill. White hard wheat is my favorite berry to buy. It has the nutrition of WW, and makes a light loaf for those in my family who were spoiled by Wonderbread as a child. Soft hard wheat is unbelievable for pastry items I also mill my own cornmeal. Yum! Yes, Wonderbread, a kid's favorite. My kids are used to a soft white bread as well. Was it hard for your children to make the transition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlsdMama Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Why do you do it? Does it cost less? (Taking the mill and the grain purchase into consideration) Taste better? Healthier? My curiosity is peaked. Do you need to process it each time you bake or can you store it? Is it fast/easy? What type of wheat berries do you buy and what is the difference? My favorite wheat is Prairie Gold. I can't find it here so I use Bob's Red Mill - Hard winter white or red, with a preference to white. I don't think it's less expensive and it's certainly not convenient. No, I don't think it tastes better. I'd rather have all white flour everything. :D 'Course, it would probably quite literally end up killing me, but it's my preference. Sigh. But I choose wheat. I do cheat sometimes and I do put part white in some recipes so I can stand the taste. I'm so weak. :glare: We don't do large batches and instead only grind what we'd use in 1-3 days because wheat has a high rancidity. If you buy flour in the store and it's white or unbleached, they've removed the healthiest part. If you buy whole wheat, you're buying rancid flour. :001_huh: It's true. Flour begins to lose nutrients after the grind. And then the oils begin to go rancid quite quickly. Some foodies suspect that we have a good deal of health issues from consuming rancid grain products. Wheat mills are expensive. But health food stores offer an alternative. You could grind a weeks worth there and just keep it in the freezer. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kebo Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I'm puzzled when I see references to grain mills being large and expensive. The one I use is small, and I know I didn't spend much on it. It doesn't do large volumes, but I'd rather grind right before baking anyway. It can easily grind enough wheat berries for my needs. Is mine inferior? Asking honestly, because I'm always interested in improving what I have. I don't think mine is sold anymore (it's a Regal Kitchen Pro), but it seems to do a very nice job. I'm pretty sure I bought it from King Arthur Flour many years ago. I see they don't sell anything like it now -- though they do have a small volume hand-crank mill. I never make 100% whole wheat bread; it's usually 50:50. It just rises better and tastes better than bagged whole wheat flour does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Because whole wheat (and other grains) get rancid after milling. So, you're actually eating rancid products. After milling, you should store your flour in the freezer :) Our Great Harvest isn't into selling wheat berries.... Find the LDS people in town and ask to order with them :) You can buy them from all sorts of co-ops, too. Frontier Foods use to sell if you came up with a name... (buying group) and ordered... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonshineLearner Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I'm puzzled when I see references to grain mills being large and expensive. The one I use is small, and I know I didn't spend much on it. It doesn't do large volumes, but I'd rather grind right before baking anyway. It can easily grind enough wheat berries for my needs. Is mine inferior? Asking honestly, because I'm always interested in improving what I have. I don't think mine is sold anymore (it's a Regal Kitchen Pro), but it seems to do a very nice job. I'm pretty sure I bought it from King Arthur Flour many years ago. I see they don't sell anything like it now -- though they do have a small volume hand-crank mill. I never make 100% whole wheat bread; it's usually 50:50. It just rises better and tastes better than bagged whole wheat flour does. Your's is fine :) Have you messed around with different recipes?? My mom's is 100% whole wheat... and my son's favorite bread... (we love it, too!) Works well for sandwiches and toast.... When I was a child, my mom did as you're doing... and then little by little... increased to 100% :) Just a thought... that way... when you do special things like pie crusts... well my mom still uses 100% whole wheat... but I like white ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Amanda~ Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Does anyone sprout their wheat before grinding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mothergooseof4 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I started doing this 4 or 5 years ago. Now store bought bread of any kind tastes icky. My kids did not have a problem switching. They love my bread and so does everyone else that tries it. I am required to bring it to most events that I attend. My doc that practices natural medicine put me on a strict diet for hypoglycemia once. After the initial few weeks, he allowed me to have a little of my bread per day. He said that if I did not bake my own, he would not have allowed any bread for a while. The protein and fiber are still in freshly ground wheat....along with many other nutrients that oxidize out quickly. So, these things lower the glycemic index of the bread. White flour pretty much has no real nutritional value and actually is really bad for you. Store bought wheat is no better except that is does still have some fiber. I use Prairie Gold hard red for my bread and their hard white for cookies and muffins. I wish I could find a good recipe for biscuits, but they always turn out flat and crumbly. The only one of my kids that likes any white bread is my dd, who only prefers it with her bologna. No, I do not feed my kids bologna, but late dh's parents do when she visits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kebo Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Have you messed around with different recipes?? My mom's is 100% whole wheat... and my son's favorite bread... (we love it, too!) Works well for sandwiches and toast.... When I was a child, my mom did as you're doing... and then little by little... increased to 100% Well, I like 100% whole wheat, but not every time, and my kids would just refuse to eat it right now. I'm working in that direction, though ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 We probably haven't broken even on our nutrimill yet compared to the cost of store bread, but we will soon! Now store bread tastes like cardboard to us. Lol, white store bread tastes like a serviette to us. On the rare occasions we every bought a sausage in bread from a fundraiser stall, the kids would eat the sausage and drop the bread and serviette on the floor. They didn't even recognise it as food! We mill our own because it is cheaper, healthier and tastes better. We don't mill it in advance because the oils in the wheat go rancid quickly. We possibly would if we had a freezer, but we don't. :) I don't know much about the different types of wheat because we only get the one kind, but I have used it for milling other grains and beans too. Mostly we make flatbreads. I've never got the hang of yeast breads and the oven in our current place is dodgy so it's no fun trying. Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Why do you do it? Does it cost less? (Taking the mill and the grain purchase into consideration) Taste better? Healthier? My curiosity is peaked. Do you need to process it each time you bake or can you store it? Is it fast/easy? What type of wheat berries do you buy and what is the difference? I mill my own grain for a few reasons. One is that wheat berries can be stored indefinitely, so I have them as part of my food storage, and I figured if I was going to do that then I needed to learn how to actually convert them into food :D And it definitely tastes better, even better than bread made with store-bought whole-wheat flour (which I think has some oils stripped from it to make it more shelf stable). The first time I toasted some bread that had been made with home-ground flour I was blown away at how good it smelled (and tasted). I have a NutriMill, which is big and LOUD, so I try to process large batches at once and store in the fridge. I buy wheat from the LDS Home Storage Center. I've tried both hard red and hard white winter wheats and I prefer the white--it's milder in flavor and lighter in color. One of these days I 'm going to get around to getting my hands on soft white wheat and making pastry with it. I don't have any cost-effectiveness numbers because I haven't calculated it. But like I said, I keep food storage (aiming for a one-year storage), and the grain mill was part of that overall investment. I still buy bread at the grocery store, especially during the summer when it's 1000 degrees outside and I don't want to run the oven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Does anyone sprout their wheat before grinding? I don't sprout but I do soak after grinding. I forgot to mention how absolutely terrific corn bread tastes from fresh milled popcorn kernels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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