May 24, 2012 - 10:42am
How do I substitute Home-milled flour for "all-purpose" flour?
I have some recipies for bread that I use, and they are fine, but already are written with fresh milled flour in mind.
Looking at recipes for cookies, cakes, muffins, etc....
Does anyone know the way to do it with fresh milled flour instead of all purpose flour and have them turn out well, even "great"?
i HAVE searched with the search feature... and sooo many of the posts just look like greek to me ("chemical leavening" to get dome tope on muffins.... i have NO idea what "chemical leavening" is!!!)
Sorry to bother anyone...
:-)
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If you are making cookies, (most) muffins, and (most) cakes, you know what "chemical leavening" is - it is baking powder or baking soda. These are ingredients that you will see mentioned in recipes for these items. It is called "chemical" because it derives its power to raise the baked good based on a chemical reaction, rather than yeast, which is a biological process (that is - yeast is alive and grows).
The largest issue for home milled flour in baking these types of items is that most home milled flour is "whole wheat" - that is containing the whole wheat berry and not being sifted to remove the bran and germ.
I find cookies and muffins to be more forgiving of home milled flour than bread, but what you want to do at the beginning is find recipes that use either 100% whole wheat flour or nearly 100% whole wheat flour.
The King Arthur Flour website has a number of these recipes - just use their search feature.
Hope this was helpful and in English...
JennsBread, whenever possible you should grind the flour just before using it. The flour is stable for several hours but then begins to change into "shelf-storage mode". The process will take several weeks, at which point it stabilizes again. The flour's baking properties will be effected during this period unless you freeze the flour. All this per my mother, a dedicated home miller for many decades. She still stone -grinds with her 40+ year old Magic Mill, now produced under the Golden Grain Grinder name.
Proth5, you raise an intresting point. My mother once told me there was a way to produce more-nearly refined flour, but no longer remembers. You mention home-milled flour "not being sifted to remove the bran and germ." Is there really a way to do this?
Should I always sift the fresh milled flour? Does that making soaking unnecessary? Does it make fresh milled flour a better substitute for AP flour?
Yes, you can sift home milled flour to remove some of the bran and germ (but you do not have to, or may not want to as you may want the whole wheat). I was trying to keep my response less technical and didn't want to go into a milling processes lecture. White flour is really only produced on roller mills - which, in general, are not used by home millers.
But to make the equivalent of "all purpose flour"? That's hard. Use the search function to find my blogs. On about pages 5 and 6 you will my milling blogs. You might also search on "bwraith" (my long lost milling buddy) to find his blogs on the subject.
I don't soak my home milled flour when I make bread. Some people do. What works, works. I wouldn't recommend soaking it for cookies and muffins.
Hope this helps.
but what in the HECK does it mean to "soak" home milled flour?!?!
in my bread recipes, I grind what I will use for my batch(es) that day (50 cups of wheat berries the other day - OY!) (28 loaves of bread - OY OY!)
and 6 cups of milled flour left (now in the freezer)
I have a blend tec mill. and use the mix & blend 2 for my bread making.
Chemical leavening - GOT it, THANK YOU! that now makes sense.
:-)
will check the king arthur site, after I sleep - yes, the point IS to use the whole wheat, for me.... otherwise.. what IS the point?
LOL
thanks guys, for helping me in this fledgling journey!
:-)
whole grain flour is simply the process of adding the water from the formula to the flour and allowing it to sit (in a cool place) for some hours prior to adding additional ingredients. I don't do this, so others who do might want to chime in.
What is the point of milling less thn whole wheat flours? To be involved in the process - to be able to creat different breads by creating different flours - to stretch one's creativity in a different area.
For some folks, there is nothing but whole grain for whatever reasons they choose - for others, milling is a bit broader based...
Hope this helps.
i did come across something that was along the lines of 3 cups ww fresh ground flour and 1/2 cup of corn starch, sifted thru once => all purpose flour
sift it again => bakers flour...
but dunno the validity of that...
I may be wrong, Jennsbread, but I believe the soaking mentioned above refers to re-hydrating the grain prior to grinding. As I understand it, that swells the bran, making it easier to remove by sifting. Not true "soaking," but adding a slight amount of water and letting it fully permeate the grain- it should feel dry to the touch before grinding. Again, as I understand it, from reading some of Proth5's posts. I'm brand new to this myself, but oh,boy! what fun this promises to be. I have not tried re-hydrating wheat yet; I've worked 38 hours over the last 3 days and haven't really done anything else but sleep. But today I'll grind my first batch of flour for bread. Can't wait.
soaking the flour (which does mean soaking the flour) as part of the mixing process for whole wheat breads with wetting the grain for "temoering" the wheat (to toughen the bran) prior to milling.
Tempering should be undertaken with caution - and probably with a grain moisture meter - to avoid damage to your mill.
Soaking the flour is something that a lot of folks do, again, as part of the mix process...
Hope this helps.
soaking the flour (which does mean soaking the flour) as part of the mixing process for whole wheat breads with wetting the grain for "tempering" the wheat (to toughen the bran) prior to milling.
Tempering should be undertaken with caution - and probably with a grain moisture meter - to avoid damage to your mill.
Soaking the flour is something that a lot of folks do, again, as part of the mix process...
Hope this helps.
So, basically, this is an extended autolysis? You say you don't do it; neither does my mother. Do you know the theory behind it?
Anyone?
I milled wheat about two weeks ago and it's been in a ziplock bag in my bread box since. Can I use it now?
Go for it! I like to grind immediately before mixing the dough so I don't really know how long those enzymatic changes last. I wouldn't let that stop me from trying it out. Besides, even if the flour does continue to change, what's to say that a two week rest isn't just perfect for what you want do with it?