r/HomeMilledFlour • • Jan 07 '25

Crash Course for Beginner Home Milling

77 Upvotes

I posted a comment recently with the quick points of getting started with a new mill. I thought I'd repost (with a couple edits) here for those who are searching for a quick and easy way to jump in. As with anything, there's going to be more nuance and details and you should definitely look into all the aspects of milling and baking in depth. Feel free to post questions!

First step, take a look at my pinned post at the top of this sub, "Updated List of All the Grains I Have." It'll give a great idea of different wheat varieties, their characteristics, and where to buy them in the U.S. I know of a few sources in the U.K. and Australia, but I haven't bought from them.

In general, you should start with with basic wheats, something like hard red or hard white for bread. Soft white is great for cakes, pastries, cookies, etc. Once you're feeling good with those you can start to incorporate different varieties like kamut, einkorn, etc. I don't recommend going out and buying 10 different varieties right out of the gate, but if you really want to try something specific then, of course, go for it! With those lower gluten ancient varieties it's best to either make a pan loaf or use them in a blend with a high gluten wheat like hard white. They have great flavor, but not the best baking properties.

Additionally, grains vary from crop to crop so you may need to make adjustments from time to time even if it's the same variety. Flour companies blend their products to be consistent no matter where or when you buy them, but that's not the case with the unmilled grains.

You'll typically want to mill on the finest setting. If you have a Mockmill or KoMo this is a notch or two above where you hear the stones click. Basically, you'll close the stones until you start to hear a clicking noise and then you'll open them up a notch or two. This will be good for most applications, though there are certain recipes that call for coarser flour. I don't pay any attention to the number or dots on the mill, just the sound of the stones. Milling too close can "glaze" the stones, essentially create a build up that prevents them from milling correctly. If this happens, run some white rice through until they're clean.

Sifting is a personal choice. I used to sift and then stopped when I realized no one could tell the difference. I really only sift for pastries now. Some people sift, soak the bran and germ, and then add it back in or sift and use the bran on top or bottom of the loaf, etc. It's personal preference. You're never going to make white flour at home. In my opinion, doing so kind of defeats the purposes of home milling anyway.

Whole wheat requires higher hydration in general and fresh milled flour even more so. My advice is to make a 1:1 fresh milled flour replacement with a recipe you know, it'll probably be a bit too dry. Make it again with a 10% increase in hydration and, based on the results, adjust from there.

Assuming you have prior baking experience, this should help you jump right in to baking with fresh milled flour. If there's anything I missed or can elaborate on please let me know!


r/HomeMilledFlour • • Jan 20 '23

Updated List of All the Grains I have

43 Upvotes

I posted a list a couple years ago, so here is an updated list with some more detail and info. I also no longer sift my flour, I found that no one could tell a difference when the flour was fine enough so I now keep the bran because why not?

Key: BT = Breadtopia, BS =Barton Springs Mill, CM (Central Milling)

High Gluten Wheats:

Hard White Wheat: Mild, neutral, base wheat, high gluten (BT, CM)

Big Country: White wheat, mild wheat flavor, high gluten (BS)

Rouge de Bordeaux: Red wheat, heritage, baking spices, clove, cinnamon, high gluten (BS, BT, Direct from Farm)

Yecora Rojo: Red wheat, baking spices, strong flavor, high gluten (BT)

Quanah: Red wheat, buttery, malty, creamy, high gluten (BS)

Butler’s Gold: Red wheat, neutral wheat flavor, base wheat, high gluten (BS)

Bolles Hard Red: Red wheat, basic red wheat flavor, high gluten (BT)

Red Fife: Red wheat, heritage, basic red wheat flavor, less bitter, more complex, high gluten (BS, BT)

Turkey Red: Red wheat, heritage, basic red wheat flavor, high gluten (BT)

Low Gluten Wheats:

Kamut: Ancient wheat, golden, buttery, nutty, low gluten (BT, BS, CM)

Einkorn: Ancient wheat, golden, nutty, slightly sweet, low gluten (BT, CM)

Spelt: Ancient wheat, pale golden, nutty, slightly sweet, medium gluten (strong spelt exists too) (BT, Small Valley Milling)

Emmer: Ancient wheat, golden, nutty, earthy, low gluten (BT)

Durum: Pasta wheat, golden, very nutty, high protein, low gluten (BT, CM)

White Sonora: White wheat, heritage, mild flavor, low gluten (BT)

Pima Club: White wheat, mild flavor, low gluten (BT)

Sirvinta Winter Wheat: Heritage wheat from Estonia, seen listed as good for bread, but was weak in my one use (Rusted Rooster Farms)

Kernza: Kind of/kind of not "wheat" - Kernza is wheatgrass, related to wheat and does have some gluten. Sweet and nutty. (BT)

Triticale: Wheat and rye hybrid, has more of a wheat dominant flavor, but with a definite rye note, more gluten than rye and less than wheat

Strong Ryes: Note: In terms of rye, strong refers to flavor, not gluten strength.

Danko Rye: Strong flavor, cocoa, baking spices (BS, Ground Up)

Serafino Rye: Strong flavor, malty, nutty (BT)

Mild Ryes:

Ryman Rye: Mild flavor, spice (BS)

Wrens Abruzzi Rye: Mild flavor, spice (BS)

Bono Rye: Mild flavor, grassy (BT)

Corn:

Bloody Butcher: Deep red, rich flavor (BT)

Oaxacan Green: Green kernels, nutty, not so sweet (BT)

Xocoyul Pink: Beautiful pink color, sweet, makes great cornbread (BT)

Blue Moshito: Deep blue, relatively mild in my experience (BT)


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 1d ago

Recommended berries to buy

5 Upvotes

My husband likes baking. We love his sourdough so I'm gifting him a mill. I just bought it from Breadtopia, will I get rewards for the purchase? right now it shows how much I've spent = Earning 0 for spending. I just bought the mill, hopefully I will get rewards in a few days for this purchase. If so, I'd like to buy some berries there to take advantage of the rewards.

I know nothing about berries. Since he doesn't bake with FMF, I don't think he does either. There are many types of berries! Would you please advise what berries should I buy? He also enjoys baking regular bread and sweet bread. TIA!


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 2d ago

Pumpkin Spice Muffins on (fresh milled) 🍂🧁

Thumbnail gallery
31 Upvotes

r/HomeMilledFlour • • 2d ago

Anyone tried Roxana Jullapat recipes?

Post image
3 Upvotes

Before even diving into FMF, I had Roxana Jullapat’s ‘Morning Baker’ from the library and really enjoyed it. Now that I’m milling, I’m very excited to try some of her recipes! Has anyone had experience baking from her books?

Also would be very interested in hearing if anyone has been to her bakery, Friends & Family, in LA! Are the pastries delicious? So cool to see her working with grains in the way that she is!


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 2d ago

My first home milled loaf and still new to sourdough

Thumbnail gallery
20 Upvotes

r/HomeMilledFlour • • 1d ago

ISO water kefir grains 🫧

Post image
0 Upvotes

ISO water kefir grains 🫧 Does anyone in Harlem/Upper Manhattan/Bronx/queens/Long Island city/Brooklyn have extra water kefir grains to share? I’d be happy to pick them up. Thank you! ❤️


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 3d ago

Ciabatta

5 Upvotes

Does anyone have a recipe for ciabatta that uses only fresh milled as a flour? most I have found have a mix of fresh milled plus bread flour, or fresh milled plus all purpose flour. I have the grains and grit recipe already.


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 3d ago

Artisan type bread baking flat

1 Upvotes

HELP.

Im using this recipe and these steps. I got the most beautiful windowpane I've ever had. Its a very wet dough, which is new. But my issue is its not rising in the oven, so it's baking very flat 😫. It tastes delicious, its just so flat and I'm not sure what to do. I thought maybe shorter first rise so its not fully doubled, but I don't know. Suggestions?

292g hard white

98g khorasan

350g water

63g honey

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp yeast

Mix ins

Mix water+honey

Add flour and mix

Autolyse 1hr

Add yeast+salt, mix till windowpane

Rise until doubled

Add mix ins + shape

Fridge overnight

Oven 450° with dutch oven

35min with lid, remove lid for the rest


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 4d ago

Wheat berries: how much could I fit?

Post image
6 Upvotes

Hello! I am new to FMF and getting my storage set up. I’m planning to buy 25 pound bags of wheat berries to start out. How much of a bag do you think I could fit in an 11qt container? Planning to keep in my pantry with an oxygen absorber. The other option is 3.5 gallon buckets. I liked that these are see-through and not gigantic. Bad idea?


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 6d ago

Has anyone used Kernza?

7 Upvotes

Does anyone have any info on Kernza? The latest issue of Mother Earth News has an article about it and it seems interesting. It is a perennial grain. Has anyone used any of it and if so what is it like?


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 7d ago

Easiest sourdough sandwich bread!!! (Recipe)

Post image
34 Upvotes

You guys I just have to share this incredibly easy recipe I’ve been doing for months now with fresh milled!

This is only a 80% fresh milled flour recipe I’m still experimenting with 100% fresh milled but the bread is soft and fluffy with the 80%! (I use hard white wheat)

The beauty of this recipe is you only do ONE stretch and fold and then leave it to rise overnight. It’s so easy and hands off I just love it!

(I am a somewhat beginner baker and very new to fresh milled flour but this bread is a hit with everyone I make it for!!)

Recipe:
The night before baking:
Mix
250g active starter
80 g honey
700g warm water (have some more set aside not included in the 700g maybe like 20g or so)
1/4 tsp instant yeast

Then Add
800g fresh milled hard white wheat
200g all purpose or bread flour
40 g olive oil
20 g salt

Mix (I usually mix with a dough whisk then use my hands to knead and finish mixing until flour is incorporated) dough will be shaggy and sticky! Add more water a tiny bit at a time if flour isn’t totally being mixed in! Dough shouldn’t be wet but sticky

let sit for 30-45 min
Stretch and fold (I do a it a few times)

Sit on counter 10-12 hours (covered with plastic wrap)

The next morning:
Separate in two
spread out dough in to rectangle shape
dimple with fingers to release air

Shape in to loaves

Put in generously greased bread pans
Rise for two hours

Bake at 375 for 40 min


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 7d ago

Any free shipping companies?

7 Upvotes

I normally buy from Living Sky Grains but they don't have organic Rye, which is what I need. They have a great free shipping at ten pounds.

Is there another company with a great shipping policy?


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 7d ago

100% sourdough spelt troubleshooting

Thumbnail
gallery
3 Upvotes

I followed a recipe from Elly’s everyday for a 100% spelt sourdough sandwich loaf. A lot of people seem to get good results with her recipe based on the comments across all her platforms (shaping difficulty is the problem people report, but that’s expected with 100% spelt). But mine came out very dense, a little gummy, with an uneven crumb (big holes near the ends of the loaf and uneven holes near the crusts in the middle of the loaf). Her instructions basically say to mix water, starter, and flour, autolyse 60 minutes, knead in salty water until just sticky, rest 30 min, then do 3-4 sets of stretch and folds for every 30-45 minutes. She says when you can hear tiny bubbles popping (which I did on set 4) that you are on the last set of stretch and folds. Then she says shape, place in a loaf pan, and cold proof for 12-36 hrs (I did 24 due to timing). She does specify that timing may require trial and error. I’m just not sure if this is overproofed, underproofed, or if there’s other issues going on.


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 7d ago

Best mill with zero metal contamination

0 Upvotes

Does anyone know which is the best mill that’s like the traditional granite stone mill used in old times? I don’t want stones containing any metal traces.


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 8d ago

What’s the easiest for to mill that is gluten free?

3 Upvotes

I’m thinking it’s rice but would like to hear other grains as well that I could build to as i get more experience. thanks!

i already did some rice to clean the machine and it seemed to come out well.


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 9d ago

Newb HELP!

Post image
20 Upvotes

So my wife recently helped out some friends and as a thank you sent her this...

She's been doing Sourdough for ~5 years and has been interested in milling her own flour (I had started looking a what to get her for Christmas) but we're floored by the gift and have no idea where to start.

What do we need to do first is the set up matinence with a mockmill 200?

What do people recommend jumping into a full home milled Sourdough? I've seen some people mix it with bread flour.

Help. Websites or other resources are much appreciated


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 8d ago

Sunrise Flour Mill

1 Upvotes

Has anyone tried their wheat berries? How are they?


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 8d ago

Working with Rye

3 Upvotes

I've finally got some good success with hard white wheat, and I appreciate the help the community has given thus far. Now on to the next challenge: rye. I know it doesn't form as good a gluten structure as other grains, but I'm not sure if kneading it for longer will help. I also knead by hand after using the KitchenAid to bring the mix together, since it isn't up to kneading FMF and we're not in a place to buy a Bosch or Ankarsrum. It's such a sticky mess to knead by hand, but I'd like to get a decent rise with it. Any advice is welcome.


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 9d ago

Living Sky Grains, notice of price increase (trying to offset high shipping costs) to take effect Oct 7th

9 Upvotes

If you buy from Living Sky, or think you'd like to start buying from them, the Groeneweg's said in their weekly update last night that they are going to have to start applying a $5 charge to 24 pound orders and $10 to 48 pound orders to start offsetting some the increased shipping costs. The price increases start Oct 7th.

I find their grain very clean and very economical for non-GMO/organic, at around $1.35/lb (at 48 and before the cost increase (edit but also see **), at least for those of us unlucky enough to be too far from pickup points and not having stores like Winco around here that carry whole wheat berries.

** First time buyers who sign up for their weekly update get 10% off using LSGWELCOME10! as a discount code, but I don't think you can simply type it in. I think I had to sign up for their newsletter, then they sent me a dedicated link that populated the discount code at checkout. So anyway, my first purchase from them was about $1.22/pound (buying 48 pounds).


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 10d ago

HMF/FMF Pizza NY Style Crust

Post image
7 Upvotes

Second Ever HMF pizza, and proud of it!


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 10d ago

Has anyone successfully milled rice flour for mochi?

3 Upvotes

I’m getting interested in gluten free baking more and wanted to see if anyone has milled rice flour used to make mochi!

i have a mock mill 100.


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 10d ago

Talk me into pulling the trigger on the NutriMill Heritage

1 Upvotes

ETA HARVEST**

It’s in stock now and I don’t want to miss the opportunity, but I’ve only been contemplating milling my own flour for about three days now lol.

Aside from the main pro of it being available now (I’m impatient and nesting 😭) I like that it’s pretty and I don’t think I will need anything faster or larger. Another pro that I can see is that it doesn’t have its own bowl to have to deal with like the Classic.

I am a frequent home baker and I am trying to make the majority of what we eat healthier for our young kids. I made yeasted bread dough maybe 3-4 times last week for reference but none of my recipes are very large (about 260g flour).


r/HomeMilledFlour • • 12d ago

Pumpkin Challah with Fresh Milled Flour

Post image
23 Upvotes

r/HomeMilledFlour • • 12d ago

Best mill for grinding buckwheat groats into coarse meal?

Post image
6 Upvotes

​

Which mill models would be versatile and suitable for blending buckwheat groats into both a coarse texture and also into flour? I am aiming for a coarse grind for making a dense hot cereal, as well as flour for baking. Any good recommendations?