The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Hayden Mills update.

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Hayden Mills update.

I was reading int eh Arizona Republic today that Haden Mills has won one of 10, $10,000 awards from Martha Stewart for artisanal goods.  4 years ago, Jeff Zimmerman started Hayden Mills to stone mill AZ grown heritage and ancient grains.  His mill was originally set up in Chris Bianco's Pane Bianco bakery.  Chris Biaco is most famous for his pizza place called Bianco's that John (Song of the Baker) reported on TFL recently and is considered the best pizza in America by many.

John had motioned that the crust was different than usual and he that that it was due to the flour used and he is right.  Jeff wanted to reintroduce soft white wheat and got Bianco's to use it after he milled it in their bakery. 

Zimmerman also got 3 local farmers to plant 3 different varieties of grains in 2010 but now has 6 farmers planting 14 different varieties.   Two of which, Desert Durum and Farro are included in the bread pictured above (along with 9 others  including 2 other Arizona ancient grains grown at Ramona Farms on the Gila Indian reservation).  Zimmerman has since moved his mill to Gilbert AZ where I live, to have the mill closer to where the wheat is grown.

Congratulations to Jeff for winning this award and to his farmers as well for bringing back Hayden Mills and AZ grown grain back for us to bake great locally sourced bread. Hayden Mills flours and berries are now available at whole Foods in the Phoenix area as is Ramona Farms...Yeah!

Now we need to get Jeff and his farmers to plant one more grain so that I can bake a locally sourced 15 grain (all from Hayden Mills) and no more than 30 ingredient bread for that challenge :-)  Here is yheir website

http://www.haydenflourmills.com/

Happy Baking  

geggers's picture
geggers

Very nicely done. Thanks for the info on Hayden Mills. I'd love to have the recipe/formula for this lovely bread you made. 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman
nmygarden's picture
nmygarden

Thank you, DAB for sharing news of the award to Hayden Mills. Their success is helping fuel similar efforts in a variety of locations including So. California, where I live..

The use of local materials/ingredients not only supports local economies and independent farmers, but a beneficial relationship is sparked between growers and users, resulting in unique and improved products.

And your bread this week looks wonderful! Toasted with a bit of jam sounds perfect!

Cathy

 

 

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

Here is a picture of breakfast with 3 different breads including this one plus today's wonderful lunch with this bread as the binder for a Black Forest Ham sandwich.  Glad you like this fine bread!

jkandell's picture
jkandell

I baked an interesting loaf with 100% hayden mill's Sonoran wheat, using 7% malted barley. The bread had a very malty flavor which complimented the soft texture and mild flavor of this flour. It was a really sweet loaf, almost like cake.   Too bad the flour goes for  $12 per kg. 

i just met one of their farmers from marana at "tucson meet yourself". He was giving samples.   Nice to see the guy who actually grows It.  

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

for sure. I have some Sonoran White from Ramona Farms.Makes great flour tortillas. This kind of soft wheat should make some fine tender, soft cakes and cookies.  I'm guessing that you could make some decent whole grain ones as well.  It is always nice to meet the farmer.  They doesn't mind growing odd wheat varieties in smaller plots if it sells for $12 a kilo:-) 

Happy baking

Edo Bread's picture
Edo Bread

I found Hayden Mills a few weeks before they won the award. First, I am really glad they did! I totally support the idea of smaller mills with people passionate about turning out non-industrial products.

That being said, I do have to ask. Is it that much better in your bread than say a KA flour? I try to buy local, small, farmers market as much as possible. But after getting a price list from Hayden it would more than double my flour costs. As much as I really would love to support them, that is a lot. Hard to imagine I will get double the improvement from what I am using, but would be happy to hear somebody tell me that it is is big enough to give it a go.

David Esq.'s picture
David Esq.

If you totally support them, buy their flour, or if you can't afford total support, maybe you can buy the flour elsewhere and make a small financial contribution to the cause!

 

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

any better than KA flour but it is different.  KA doesn't carry any of the flour milled at Hayden Mills.  I went looking for a local provider using locally grown grain for the Plotzaide 2 where you had to use ancient grains or locally sourced flours where growers were bringing back grains no longer commercially available. That is what Hayden Mills and their growers are doing.  They have 14 grains grown in the Phoenix area you can't get anywhere else.

No question, it is more than twice the cost of KA flour but it is sold in the most expensive retail grocery store in 1.5 pound sizes only.  The prices at WF match their website.  It's not flour you will be baking with every day if you are not Warren Buffet:-)

Edo Bread's picture
Edo Bread

@dabrownman - Thanks! That is exactly what I wanted to know. It sounds like it will be great to try and I can support them doing some experiments or unusual bakes.