September 9, 2017 - 6:29am
Fresh Milled Flour
I recently bought a Diamant Hand mill and wanted to make sourdough using nothing but fresh milled flour. Everything I have read suggests it is quite difficult to get a good rise with 100% fresh milled flour This was certainly the case with my first loaf, but I am very happy with my second attempt. Made with 100% home milled whole wheat flour. I hope it wasn't a fluke and that I can repeat my success.
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I have never used freshly milled flour, can you notice a superior taste?
The taste is without a doubt better in my opinion, at least in comparison of big brand flours. I've found that King Arthur has the best tasting whole wheat flour as far as the big name brands, but none compare to fresh flour. If you can't mill, many local millers have flour that tastes almost as good.
And regularly buy flour from independent mills and agree the taste is far better than supermarket or big brand flours. I am keen to try the freshly milled stuff but a decent mill is beyond my current budget. My nearest mill is only a ten minute drive, I'm sure if I asked nicely...
To be honest, I cant notice a huge difference, but I was previously using a good quality whole wheat flour (non reconstituted) prior to milling my town. That said, it is really delicious.
I mill my own, too, and had wondered why people say fresh flour is hard to get a good rise out of. Like you, my loaves were fine. But I've found there is benefit to aging the flour for around 7-10 days. It lets the moisture of the grain stabilize and allows oxygen to help strengthen the gluten potential of the dough.
While the oxygen also starts turning the wheat germ rancid, that's not really a factor until you're many more weeks/months into uncontrolled aging.
Mr. Waffles
That is a nice plump loaf! I also haven't had a ton of issue with rising, just the crumb has been my problem. I am trying to get super open loaves, with 50%-100% fresh flour and normally the bread is 10%-20% fresh rye. I'm getting there, but you have to really be in tune with the fermentation. If you aren't already doing it, I found that fresh flour really likes a long formation in either the final or bulk rise, I typically retard at 3-6c. I have been making plans to try aging some 75% extracted flour to see if I can replace more bread flour, I am just looking for some local spring wheat to purchase for the higher protein.
Nicely done. Are you willing to part with the details of your recipe and procedure? Cause I have to admit that my freshly milled hard red wheat has been as balky as a bad tempered mule.
Very happy to share, but my methods are very unscientific, I'm afraid.
I use a dosem starter, which I fattened up for a day or two on the bench before using it.
I milled 500g hard wheat berries and mixed with 100g of started and 500ml of water. I sifted the bran from the flour and re-milled it, so that I had no sharp/large pieces. I let the dough pre-ferment for about 2-3 hours.
I then added another 500g of flour and enough water to make a firm but malleable dough (didn't measure sorry, just kept adding until it felt right). I let the dough autolyse for about 1.5 hours.
I added salt (I'm guessing about 20g, but I didn't weigh it) and mixed with a Kitchen Aid mixer in two seperate batches for about 8 mins each (spraying the dough with water intermittently to keep it malleable).
I kneaded the two batches into one and let it sit/rise for about 3 hours.
I shaped the dough into two rough rounds and let it rise again for about 2 hours before doing the final shape.
I then let it sit for about an hour (while I pre-heated the oven) before baking for 45mins in a Dutch Oven (with lid on) inside my oven, at 240 degrees celsius.
I bake one loaf at a time, so the second ones sits for 45 mins longer for the last rise.
I live in Newcastle Australia, and it was around 17-22 degrees celsius throughout the day.
Thank you for passing on your process/recipe. I'll give it a try.
You might want to try this link, it has a great description - though it was white whole wheat not red . http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/33735/home-bread-fighting-gravity
I tried it with fresh milled and loved the oven spring
Thank you very much barryvabeach. It looks like the information I'm needing.
Thanks, I'll check it out for sure.