The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Home milling versus the local windmill

dbazuin's picture
dbazuin

Home milling versus the local windmill

Is there any advantage in milling at home instead of buying it in the store of our local mill?

 

By the way isn't it beauty

http://www.topdelftdesign.nl/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Molen-De-Roos-molenaarswoning.jpg

Delftse Molen de Roos

 

barryvabeach's picture
barryvabeach

I don't have a windmill near me, so that is not an option.   That windmill is a beauty, and the upside is that they probably know a great deal about milling wheat.  Home milling does have an upside in that you can set the coarseness of the grind, and which berry - whether you want hard red spring, or hard winter white, or hard spring white, or one of the other grain varieties, and whether to sift out some of the bran.  If I had such a mill near me,  I would certainly be a customer. 

dbazuin's picture
dbazuin

It is very close and the sale there own flour but also some from other mills. 
For example this mill type can’t get as fine coarseness als some others so the also sell TD65 from a other mill located in Belgium. But no factory flour just windmill flour. 

I am proofing a TD65 bread right now ?

 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

Storing some of your own grain (whole kernals/berries) at home is a good preparation for emergency.   And your own home mill lets you use that grain.

People can turn to panic buying at the local mill just like they can at grocery stores.  Plus there are all sorts of disasters, both man-made and and natural, that could possibly interrupt the planting, growing, harvesting, transport, import/export, distribution, milling, selling of grain and flour.  (If Holland does not grow all of its own wheat, you would be at the mercy of other countries in a disaster.)

Even the current locust plague in Africa and the Middle East is going to affect food distribution, as grain from reserves are shipped there to prevent mass starvation.

If many people had their own home wheat supply, slowly built up over previous years, so there is no "run" or "rush" on just one harvest, it would mean less disruption overall.   And therefore the reserves are freed up to feed Africa.

dbazuin's picture
dbazuin

We don’t have enough sun here to grow good wheat that is strong enough for bread making. 
How long can you store grain?

wlaut's picture
wlaut

From what I'm learning, five to ten years, even twenty if your starting wheat is top-notch and you use food-grade containers with gamma lids and oxygen scavengers.

 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

on what your tolerance threshhold is for quality, and what length/cost you go to preserve it.  It slowly degrades over time.  Preservation efforts will slow the deterioration. 

See the long dissertation I wrote on wlaut's post at http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/63047/longevity-wheat-berries

wlaut's picture
wlaut

And thank you for it.  Very much appreciated, and still digesting.

Our Crumb's picture
Our Crumb

To me, no outsourced alternative, even just a bike ride away, can adequately substitute home milled flour warm off the stones.  I readily confess that the flavor benefit could be imagined, but anything else seems dead and stale compared to fresh home milled. 
Tom

wlaut's picture
wlaut

I've never had bread that was freshly-baked AND from freshly-milled flour. I am eager to try this!

The other thing I want to experiment with is to buy all six varieties of wheat so I can mix them in varying ratios to see how that affects the finished product.

This is a whole new world that I want to learn!

 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

I don't want to dampen your enthusiasm for trying all sorts of wheat, but just remember that soft wheat varieties are not conducive to long term storage.  

I'm willing to learn new things, but as far as I know, soft wheat is not something preppers go for.  Though it is fine for short term, just like commercial uses: cakes, pastries, cookies, pancakes, etc.

--

Also, be advised that our (North American ) red and white "hard wheat" is called "soft wheat" by Europeans, because to them only Durum is classified as "hard".   Our hard wheat is relatively softer than Durum, but is harder than what we call "soft wheat" varieties.

Durum is worth trying.  It makes excellent flat breads.  I can't seem to get durum at a reasonable price, after taking shipping into account.  But I can get Kamut brand Khorasan wheat cheaper than I can get durum.  

Kamut is related to Durum, and shares a couple of characteristics: both are yellow in color, and are "vitreous" or translucent glass-like on the inside.  

wlaut's picture
wlaut

Interesting.  What is the reasonable longevity of the soft varieties?

Also, as regards long-term storage an idea I was toying with was to force out the air using compressed nitrogen. That way, the berries would be stored in an oxygen-free environment.  What is your opinion on using nitrogen to supplement your oxygen scavengers?

My only experience (so far) with durum is Bob's Red Mill Semolina flour, for making pasta. I use the standard formula of 100g flour to each egg, although I tend to a blend of 50% semolina, 25% bread, and 25% all-purpose.  It's still firm but with a delicate mouth texture.

 

 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

> What is the reasonable longevity of the soft varieties?

I have no idea.  I've never used soft wheat berries, nor do I know anyone who has.  My _guess_ is two years without special treatments, just in a re-closeable plastic bucket.

> What is your opinion on using nitrogen to supplement your oxygen scavengers?

I do not know what an "oxygen scavenger" is.  What I use were advertised as oxygen _absorbers_. They consist of iron powder in a plastic sachet, a little smaller than a yeast packet.  They are not intended to be  "supplemented" by anything.  They literally create a vacuum when the iron combines with oxygen and creates iron oxide (rust).  

I do not think the vacuum should be replaced with any gas.  It's not a "perfect" vacuum. But.... In standard air, if you take out oxygen, what gases remain?  :-)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmosphere_of_Earth

 Last I checked, oxygen absorbers were 35 to 50 cents each in packages of 100.  If a 50 cent oxygen absorber keeps 5 pounds of wheat good for 20 years, can you beat that price with added nitrogen?  And do you want to wait 10, 15, 20 years to test if it works?

When you buy survival food, how are they packed?  Vacuum sealed or nitrogen infused?  Oxygen aborbers pull a pretty tight vacuum.  Try to find a picture of a mylar pouch with a vacuum created by an oxygen absorber.  It's pretty tight.

barryvabeach's picture
barryvabeach

I am in the states, and I have been buying soft wheat berries for a while now.  Here in the states, soft flour is often sold as Cake flour,  and AP flour is a combination of Hard Wheat and Soft Wheat , the exact percentage apparently varies based on a number of factors, including the identity of the seller.  I use soft wheat for cakes,  quick breads, like banana bread and pancakes, and mix the soft and hard for other things like pasta.   I keep the berries in a plastic container with a screw off lid and it seems to keep fine. 

wlaut's picture
wlaut

That's the impression my limited knowledge has given me. Namely that Hard Red, Hard White, and Soft White will yield WW, bread, AP, and cake.

Once I get my grain mill, will be experimenting with those three, and eventually will buy the other varieties to experiment with.

wlaut's picture
wlaut

Do you use a "miner's sieve" to filter out the bran and germ?  Or do you find the milled bran acceptable for your cakes and pancakes?

wlaut's picture
wlaut

Sorry, I lapsed into my photography "darkroom lab rat" mindset.  Scavengers (such as sodium sulfite) are added to developers to protect the developing agents from being oxidized by the O2 penetrating the walls of the storage bottle. Same philosophy as an oxygen _absorber_.

You are right, of course, of the superiority of a vacuum over an innert gas. The 2-lb of Red Star yeast comes vacuum-sealed. And "food savers" that vacuum-seal food in freezer bags. And so forth.  LOL!  And when I am canning food such as, for example, White Chili, I put the spices in a separate 2-oz jar that I vacuum-seal as well.

Very good, I will check out oxygen absorbers. Thank you.