I am so excited!! I received my Nutrimill grain mill today!! 

I ran 2 cups of wheat through the mill as per the instructions....I have a couple of questions.

1. After milling, do you break down the machine and wash all of it?? If not, which pieces do you wash?  Do you take the rubber gaskets off and wash?

2. I noticed an electrical smell when I was milling and moved the upper dial (motor) toward the right for coarser flour.  Is this normal?  I wanted to see how coarse I could get the flour, but stopped when I smelled the electrical smell.  Should I be worried?  Should I be worried about moving the dials around??

3. What setting do you set for flour? (for making bread).

4. Do you leave the hopper extension ring on?? I wanted to put it back in the bowl and I wasn't able to get it back in and put the lid one (without damaging the black rubber gasket).

5. Do you sift your flour when making cake flour or other??

Oh, I just love my mill!!  I got it from www.organicwheatproducts.com AND I  received some lovely grain from her...the grain was so squeeky clean, I was delighted!! The other grain I had ordered from a mill and it was not nearly as clean...

That is all my questions for now...thank you so much :)

Steph

Hi folks, I wanted to share with you a blog post I just wrote up about a little experiment I did few days ago. I wanted to see how the different types of flour influence bread making, so I made tiny loaves out of rye, whole wheat, unbleached all purpose, bleached all purpose, and Wondra flours. You can see the results at http://www.slovakcooking.com/2011/blog/flour-difference/

Thanks!

For weeks I've been trying to find a place online where I could buy flour in bulk to get a discount.  I basically struck out with what I was looking for.

Today, while buying my normal flour at Whole Foods (365 organic, made by Central Milling Co.), I found out that if you buy a case (8 bags), they'll give you a 10% discount.  They even let me mix/match all purpose and whole wheat.

I thought I'd pass this along for anyone interested!

Posted on Evil Shenanigans on 3/23/2010 

I think pita bread may be magic.

Not that it will grant wishes or anything, but I think the way it goes from thin, flat dough into a hearty pocket of bread fascinating.  Aside from the fascination factor, the versatility of pita bread is endless.  Stuff them with lunch meat for a sandwich, top them with sauce and cheese for a pizza, or bake them until crisp for chips.  Yes, the pita is very versatile.

Notes on this recipe ...  First, they come out best if you can bake them on a raging hot pizza stone or cast iron skillet.  The stone, or skillet, should be heated for at least thirty minutes before baking for the best, and most puffy, results.  Second, these pita are made with whole wheat graham flour because it has the nutty flavor I wanted for this recipe, but if you do not have that standard whole wheat flour will work just as well.  Third, kept in a plastic bag the pita last for up to four days at room temperature.   

Honey Wheat Pita Bread   Yield 8 pita

1 cup whole wheat graham flour
2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 teaspoons dry active yeast
1 1/2 cups water, heated to 110 F
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon canola oil

In a large measuring cup combine the water and yeast.  Let stand for ten minutes, until foamy.

In the bowl of a stand mixer combine the yeast mixture, both flours, salt, honey, and oil.  Mix on low speed for three minutes then check to make sure the dough is not too liquid, but it should be sticky to the touch.  Mix on medium speed for five minutes.  Cover with plastic and let rise until double in bulk, about an hour.

Heat the oven to 475 F with a pizza stone, or 9″ or larger iron skillet, for thirty minutes.

Once the dough has risen turn out onto a floured surface and press out the excess gas.  Divide the dough into eight equal pieces.  Roll the dough into balls then cover with a towel and allow to rest for twenty minutes.

Once rested roll the dough into a thin circle, about 1/8″ thick.  Place the dough on the heated pizza stone and bake for 3-4 minutes, until golden brown and puffed.  Cover the baked pita with a clean towel and repeat with the remaining dough.

Enjoy!

I found this loaf as I was browsing through Bob's Red Mill Recipes and I thought it sounded like an amazing base for a tuna salad sandwich...

Here is the link to the recipe: http://www.bobsredmill.com/recipes_detail.php?rid=950

This loaf was a high riser and the three different seeds are as visually pleasing as they are delicious looking...

I highly recommend this loaf to any seed lovers...

Hi, I have been using my bread machine with regular store-bought flour, but now I am about to buy a mill. I read in one book that a bread machine will not work well enough with the freshly ground whole wheat flour. I can't find any other info on this and thought maybe you guys can help.

Can I use my bread machine or am I going to have to buy something like the Kitchen Aid mixer?
And if so, what are some inexpensive options (less than $300)? (I don't have time to do it by hand)

I've been using organic freshly-ground whole wheat for a while, and recently switched to KA 100%WW.  What a difference!  The KA is ground superfine so the flour is tan, while the freshly-ground is more white with brown specks.  I switched again to Stone-Buhr and that's also white with brown specks.  Has anyone found that the KA is less liekly to cut gluten strands because it doesn't have bigger (and sharper) pieces of bran in it?  Both types have made good bread, though the coarse-milled seems to not have as strong a structure and web.

-Peter

http://psoutowood.vox.com

Hello Fresh Loafers!  Long time lurker, first time posting.

In my quest for sourcing good whole wheat flour, I called Nicky Giusto at Central Milling (www.centralmilling.com) asking about prices and shipping.  I knew that Central Milling produces Whole Foods 365 Organic Unbleached All Purpose flour, and that Frank Sally at SFBI highly recommended flour from Central Milling so I figured I'd give it a try.  To my surprise he said I could swing by their warehouse in Petaluma and buy flour directly (gotta love that!)

I'm planning a run to their warehouse tomorrow to buy whole wheat flour, specifically Organic Whole Wheat Hi Pro Flour Fine, and anything else that catches my eye.  This is the whole wheat flour they developed for Acme bakery's whole wheat products.

Someone at the warehouse might be able to break down a 50 lb bag into something more manageable.  But if not, is anyone out there interested in splitting a 50 lb bag?  I'm sure it's great flour, but I still prefer to try out a smaller quantity.  If you're in the SF Bay Area (I'm in San Jose) and are interested, let me know.

-Alison

i would like to try using whole wheat flour instead of the "bread" flour that my recipe book calls for. do i need to make any other adjustments to the recipes (like more yeast, etc.)?

thanks!

Something I have noticed recently is that even on a fresh new bag of whole wheat flour, if I carefully scoop out a quantity I see small hanging bits as if they are being held by tiny threads. I could be a little sensitive to infestation since I recently found a few moths in an old bag of flour and went on a cleaning binge.

Is this normal and I never noticed before? This sounds like a newbie question but I just don't have a way to know. Thanks.

Eric