Are you looking to start your journey with fresh milled flour, but you don’t know where to start? Then, this post is for you! Here, I give you frequently asked questions and tips for success.
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First, let’s get into WHY you should use fresh milled flour:
There are so many benefits to milling your own flour, the ultimate one being your health. Did you know that fresh milled flour contains 40 out of the 44 nutrients essential to life? The only ones it does not contain are vitamin A, B12, and C, and the mineral iodine.
When milled fresh and unsifted, flour is high in Vitamin E, a vital anti-oxidant that fights against cancer and heart disease among other things, as well as B vitamins and trace minerals like manganese, zinc, and copper. These are just a few of the many vitamins and minerals present in fresh milled flour.
However, these nutrients quickly start oxidizing when the wheat berry is broken apart (milled) and by day 3 of being exposed to oxygen, about 90% of these nutrients are no longer bio-available.
Your health depends on this superfood. Even if you’ve self-diagnosed as “gluten intolerant,” the chance is more likely than not, that you will be able to not only tolerate, but thrive with fresh milled flour. If you truly are gluten intolerant, then you can and most likely will be able to reverse your intolerance.
Note: I’d like to note that if you are a true Celiac, you will not be able to tolerate grains, even when freshly milled or even fermented. Celiac disease is a genetic disease that affects about 1% of the population.
Read more information about the why along with the science and nutrition behind fresh milled flour here (post soon to come!).
What do I need to get started with fresh milled flour?
A Grain Mill
The first thing you will need to get started with fresh milled flour is a grain mill.
There are different types of mills with different types of burrs (the sharp edges that grind down the wheat berry). There are electric mills with either stainless steel burrs or stone grinders. Additionally, you can purchase a hand grinder, which will serve you if your power ever goes out.
However, after thorough research, my family and I decided on an electric mill, one that was affordable for our family, yet durable and hardy: we chose the Nutrimill Classic. I found this to be the most affordable mill on the market with the best reviews.
Read more about what to consider when choosing a grain mill here (post soon to come- check back!).
Wheat Berries
The next thing you will need when embarking on your fresh milled flour journey are wheat berries!
There are two different types of wheat berries: hard and soft. Your hard wheat berries are the ones that contain a higher protein content and thus, are the ones you will need to form gluten to make yeasted breads (gluten is what causes your bread to rise).
On the opposite end of the spectrum are your soft wheat berries: the ones that contain a lower protein content and are what you will want to use in quick breads like pancakes, muffins and biscuits.
Ancient grains, namely Einkorn, Emmer and Spelt, vary in hardness. According to this study, “Einkorn can be categorized as extra soft wheat since the hardness index is below 50, while emmer can be categorized as hard wheat similar to common bread wheat.”
Spelt, however, can be used for both yeasted and non-yeasted breads as it contains the necessary protein content needed to form the glutenous strands for breads to rise.
I’ll be talking more about wheat berries, (ancient grains, in particular) on another post (soon to come).
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Where do I buy my wheat berries?
It’s important to source your wheat berries from a farm that doesn’t use glyphosate and ideally, uses organic practices as much as possible.
I order my wheat berries from Azure Standard, an online co-op that sells healthy, organic foods and natural products. I’ve enjoyed my wheat berries ordering through them and have experienced no problems. Click here to order from Azure Standard.
Another great place to order wheat berries from are small farms on Amazon. Palouse Farms is a great option on there!
What kind of wheat berries should I buy?
If you’re wanting to bake yeasted breads that need to rise, you’ll need a hard red wheat or a hard white wheat. I like to bake with both!
If you’re wanting to bake quick breads that don’t require a rise, you’ll want a soft white wheat or a soft red wheat.
If you want to bake with ancient grains (which naturally form less gluten), you can buy Einkorn, Spelt, Emmer and even Kamut. I love incorporating these into my yeasted breads! As long as you have enough of a hard wheat in your bread, your bread will rise just fine. However, if you want a boost, you can add vital wheat gluten (we’ll talk more about that later).
If you’d like to shop these at Azure Standard instead, click here.
What else do I need?
I’d recommend having at least two good loaf pans to bake a basic sandwich bread along with your typical baking utensils (bowl, whisk, etc.)
If you’re using a Kitchen Aid, you can use that to mix and even knead (you’ll need the dough hook attachment). However, you may want to still knead by hand some.
The last thing you need is a good recipe! I will soon have several here on the blog, so don’t forget to check back.
Now, let’s get to baking!
Have any lingering questions? I’d love to answer them! Meet me in the comments down below.
Oh my gosh I’ve never had the difference between hard and soft grains explained so simply to me! Makes sense!
I’m glad this all made sense, Natalie! I’m happy to help 🙂
Lots off good information. Curious of the what the difference is of the white vs red wheat is? Also how long have you had your mill and how are you liking it? Also if the nutrients go out of the milled flour after 3 days do you just mill the flour as you need it? Sorry for the overflow of questions. Just very interested!. ❤️😊
Shelbi – these are all great questions! I’m happy to help. First thing’s first, there is a protein difference and a flavor difference between hard white vs hard red wheat: while both are great to use in yeasted breads, hard red has a higher protein content than hard white, making it a better choice to work with (especially when just starting out). Flavor wise, however, hard red gives off a strong, nuttier flavor while hard white is more mild and a bit sweeter. Either way, they are both great choices to have on hand and I actually love to use a combination of both! I also love to incorporate ancient grains like Einkorn into my loaves (stay tuned for my recipe). I have only had this mill since last fall, but have found it very beginner friendly and I appreciate the ease of use. One thing I enjoy about it is the high capacity (so that I can mill a lot of flour at once) as well as its ability to mill after I pour in the grains. If this sounds confusing, I will be posting soon about all things grain mills as well as a review on the Nutrimill Classic (the one we have). The answer to your last question is YES. Typically, you would want to mill as you go and as daunting as that sounds, I promise it’s very easy and only takes me about a minute or two. However, you can store milled flour in an airtight container in the refrigerator and it will retain most of the nutrients for up to a week or throw in the freezer and that will last you up to six months! And no worries at all – I love answering questions! Let me know if there are any other things you are curious about.
Thank you for all the information it’s very helpful! I’m definitely going to be following along and maybe will take the plunge as well. 😊
This has been on my list to try. I have been wanting to wheat berries for so long. I need to get a flour mill. You explained it so well!
I’m glad this post was helpful to you! Let me know if you ever have any more questions. I’m happy to help 🙂
Very helpful and informative. I’ve only used soft white wheat once so far and it came out well for cookies.
Hi Serra! I’m glad you found this post helpful 🙂 Soft white is a perfect grain to use for cookies!
I found this post so helpful! I’m a sourdough baker so I’m always experimenting with flour. Fresh milled is next on my list!
Hi Tina! I’m glad you found this post helpful 🙂 Sourdough is one of my favorite things to bake with fresh milled flour! I have a great artisan sourdough boule recipe in the works. Stay tuned!
I’m about to get started with my first attempt at soft white wheat. Thanks for spelling it all out here on how to use them each. It gets confusing!
Hi Melissa! I’m so glad you found this post helpful. Soft white is a great wheat to use in non-yeasted quick breads – I’m excited for you to start your journey with FMF! Let me know if you ever have any questions, I’m happy to help 🙂
This is such a helpful guide. I’d love to get started grinding my own wheat soon, I just haven’t bit the bullet and bought a grinder yet.
Hi Tiffany! I’m very happy you found this post helpful. Getting started with FMF can be intimidating, but I promise it pays off in dividends! I have a full review on the Nutrimill Classic, the grain mill we have and love, in the works that I will post soon. Stay tuned! 🙂
Is FM flour the equivalent of bread flour or Zip flour?
Hi Darlene! Great questions. Fresh milled contains all components of the wheat berry: the bran, the germ and the endosperm whilst the bread flour you buy at the store only contains the endosperm. If you’re looking to make a bread flour from fresh milled wheat berries, you will want a hard wheat such as red or white (or a combination of both). The color won’t be white, though, such as the bread flour found at the store. Instead, it will be a whole wheat and thus, a brownish color. Zip flour, which I understand to be all-purpose flour, is another product that has been stripped of the bran and germ. You will not have the same flour as that at the store, but to create an purpose flour with fresh milled, it first depends on if you’re baking a yeasted bread or quick bread. Many people like to combine a hard white wheat with a soft white wheat for an all-purpose flour. However, if you’re baking a yeasted bread, I advise using a high protein hard wheat as your primary ingredient. You can then add soft wheats and even ancient grains as well, but if you’d like more rise then adding something called vital wheat gluten will aid in providing the necessary protein for gluten to develop. Finally, I just want to note that flour you grind yourself at home contrasts from commercial flours on many levels and will react differently in your recipes. Commercial flour, being stripped, refined and sometimes even bleached, (giving them their starchy white appearance) is an entirely different product. I hope this helps and let me know if I can clarify any further! I will also have a blog post up soon talking about this. Make sure you join the newsletter so you’re notified 🙂