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Grinding own flour

2K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  Grainlady 
#1 ·
Ok, the amount of flour I used over the holidays was shocking! I use quite a bit usually anyway. I get 5# bags at Aldi. It is actually cheaper per ounce than the 20# bags I can find. My question is how much would grinding my own cost? I know it would be healthier being whole grain, but as the rest of our diet is pretty healthy I can live with white flour. Any suggestions on inexpensive places to buy whole wheat. I'm thinking shipping would eat up savings. Just looking for some thoughts. My family goes through 2 loaves/day easily and usually muffins/biscuits/pancakes or something besides. Not to mention cookies, lol.
 
#2 ·
the mormon websites sell flour grinders and if you live in the west, walmart sells big bags of wheat (for the LDS) there.

don't grind more than that days use or it goes rancid
 
#3 ·
I was looking at mills back when I wanted to grow my own seeds (amaranth, quinoa, etc) to make flour. The mill is probably the most expensive part of it. You might want to contact the farmers and find out how much they charge for wheat and if they're exclusive with any companies as far as supply is concerned. I'd ask them also if they know any other farmers that sell whole grains to people other than businesses.

We don't eat as much in terms of bread products anymore, so sadly that's the only advice I can think of. Good luck. :)
 
#4 ·
I get my wheat from the LDS cannery. I noticed that your location says your in Indiana. There is a cannery in Indianapolis. Maybe you can call them and see if you can get wheat there.

A couple of other options. Do you have any LDS (Mormon) friends? Maybe you can order wheat when they make their food storage orders. Just ask them. Another option is to order wheat from the Church directly. There is no charge for shipping.
 
#5 ·
I thought of another thing, though I have never ordered from them. Walton Feed has wheat that isn't too badly priced (though the cannery is cheaper). I have no idea how shipping works (I can't seem to find anything about it on their site). Just wanted to post another wheat source.

This all said, maybe there is a farmer that is near you locally that has some wheat they'd being willing to sell. I noticed at our local farmers market a farmer was selling small bags (5#) of wheat.

Also if your local health food store sells wheat, maybe the store owner can put you in contact with their provider. (Although organic wheat is quite expensive.)
 
#6 ·
The cost is determined by the price of your wheat. FREE wheat is VERY cost effective, when I can get it from farming friends or family, but not all free wheat is "good" wheat. You need to know the protein level of the wheat for optimum use. You also don't want to use new-crop wheat for milling. It's best aged for a year or two.

You will also have the expense of a good mill, and I'd suggest a Nutrimill or a Wonder Mill. But a good mill will quickly pay for itself if you are going to use freshly-milled flour all the time. A poor-quality mill is not worth anything...and your baking results will show it. I also mill a wide variety of grains/seeds/beans, not just wheat, so that makes a mill even more valuable and versatile. With a Nutrimill you can also mill a fine-grind of cornmeal - a good plus for that particular mill. the Wonder Mill will only mill flour.

With flour milled from pinto beans or black beans, you can make "instant" refried beans in 7 minutes. Milled split pea flour makes into split pea soup in 3 minutes. Mill small white navy beans and add the flour to baked goods to increase the protein

All wheat is not created equally and not all wheat is good for all things, so it's important to understand the different varieties of wheat before buying it. High-protein wheat is best used for bread, low-protein wheat is used for pastry, cakes, quick breads - anywhere you don't want a lot of gluten development. Durum wheat, although high in protein, is best used for pasta and noodles. I keep several varieties of wheat in storage and have wheat priced all the way from free, to the same wheat used for milling King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour for this region (from a local mill) - which costs $19.99 for 50# (no delivery because I pick it up). I stocked up on several hundred pounds of Wheat Montana Wheat when they carried it at Wal-Mart a couple years ago - $5 for 25-pounds. Prairie Gold wheat from Wheat Montana is probably my favorite. At the time, $5/25-pounds was the most I'd ever paid for wheat. After record high prices, wheat is coming down in price.

White wheat varieties are the best-tasting. Red wheat has that acidic flavor associated with whole wheat that is a turn-off to people unaccustomed to using freshly-milled grain. I use about 85% white wheat.

Whole wheat berries have a lot of uses than just flour. I make my own cracked wheat and bulgar, as well as making wheat flakes, and a fine-grind of wheat to use as farina (Cream of Wheat). Freshly-milled whole wheat flour can be washed with water and the bran and germ extracted leaving only the gluten (the protein portion). The gluten can be used for "fake meat".

So you have to do the wheat math based on the price of your wheat...

-2 cups wheat berries = 3 cups flour
-1 pound wheat berries = 2-1/4 c. wheat berries
-a bushel of wheat weighs approx. 60-pounds and yields 60-pounds of flour (you will get a little more extraction from white wheat than red wheat)
-It takes approximately 3 cups of flour to make a 1.5 pound loaf of bread (which fits in an 8-1/2x4-1/2-inch standard loaf pan).

A favorite whole wheat cookie recipe:

http://www.kswheat.com/recipes.php?id=192

This recipe is so good people don't even realize they are 100% whole wheat.
 
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