I recently bought a package of organic whole wheat flour from my local health food store.  I was expecting it to look like whole wheat flours I've seen in the past - similar to white flour but with pieces of bran that are much bigger than the flour particles.  However, it doesn't - it's either very finely ground or it's sifted or something.  There are no large bran pieces, only the tiniest specks.  The only reason I can tell it's different from my AP flour is the colour - it's a bit darker, which makes me think it was very finely ground so that the bran is in with the rest of the flour.

I've used it several times for muffins and it results in a very tasty whole wheat muffin.  I've used it for bread and haven't turned out anything great yet (but that could just be because I'm a newbie at this, and still trying to figure things out anyway).

I have a few questions about the finely ground or sifted flour...

Is it as healthy as the whole wheat flour with bran pieces in it?  How does its effectiveness compare for baking breads and such?  I've already noticed it absorbs more liquid than its white counterpart.

It seems really nice, so what are the disadvantages of this type of flour compared to the coarser grain?

I've tried searching the internet for some answers, but unfortunately it seems that not many people are talking about finely ground whole wheat (go figure).

Greetings -

Best o' the season to y'all.

Is there a significant difference between using freshly ground cinnamon or nutmeg, as opposed to the pre-ground variety?

And if fresh is that much better, what do you typically use to grind them?

Cheers,

- Richard

I recently bought a grain mill and have tried to bake with fresh ground grain, but I'm baking up bricks instead.  So what's secret to freshly ground grain?