The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Fresh milled grains - how long are they fresh?

Breadbabe's picture
Breadbabe

Fresh milled grains - how long are they fresh?

I'm looking for a new discussion on a very old topic here - and maybe I haven't covered all the threads to find the answer, apologies if the answer is floating in the site somewhere. I even asked a similar question a while back, but for a different purpose.

Currently I use all fresh milled grain, mostly wheat. I use it commercially and don't always have the opportunity to mill for immediate use. Its not always possible to freeze or refrigerate the flour. I've read the posts that suggest I need to age the flour if I don't use it in **this** amount of time. But **this** seems to be a relative number. Everything from 90 minutes to a few days. I must admit to accidently aging some milled flour - and didn't experience the grand difference that was promised if I had done it on purpose.

Soooo ..... what data are we drawing from for these conclusions of fresh? Is it experience? Written studies? My experience using milled flour kept at room temp for up to a week is so different than the suggestions of flat, dense, tasteless, etc. I have had NO difference at all. None. My bakery runs through 400lbs of wheat per month so I would have ample opportunity to notice differences.

Then there's the issue of lack of enzymes and nutrients after a few hours/days/whatever- are there studies for this that I can read? I am aware of those sites that promote this idea while it feeds their business model, but even those sites don't produce the kind of proof that I would expect for the claims of nutrient loss.

ok, I'm all ears.

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

was home milled 30 days before - none.  Haven't  really gone longer than that though but suspect it will be fine for a while longer after that too,.

Breadbabe's picture
Breadbabe

Thanks. I thought I was really missing something.

charbono's picture
charbono

Here is the link to a study which shows no change in baking characteristics with WW flour age:

http://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/2097/1669/1/KarolynStoerzinger2009.pdf

As far as nutrients go, it is known that certain vitamins degrade with exposure to air.

I mill enough for a month and freeze most of it.

 

 

 

Breadbabe's picture
Breadbabe

I love this kind of stuff. 115 pages! woohoo! Thanks. While I may not read every word, I will get a glass of wine tonight and peruse the whole thing.

patman23's picture
patman23

I hear ya!

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

So, it makes sense that fresh or 30 days yields similar results. But I wonder if fresh and 30 hours would yield the same results?

i also can't recall where I read that…

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

From the paper above-cited:

"Sweating/respiration is a necessary process for flour aging, which causes beneficial biochemical and oxidative changes in flour (Pyler, 1988). Sweating occurs from 5 days post-milling to 3 wks post-milling. During this time the flour is not as good for breadmaking (Pyler, 1988)."

This would suggest that fresh is not necessarily better, but as with all things, the proof is in the bake.