• Reply by Mike Nolan on February 17, 2012 at 8:50 pm
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Your chopper probably won't grind them fine enough to use as a flour, though you could probably add them like you would cracked wheat.

If you're serious about grinding your own flours, you'll want a home flour mill. They make both electric ones and hand crank ones as well as ones that attach to your mixer.

I have a Nutrimill, I grind my own whole wheat flours, and I recently got some rye berries to make my own pumpernickel flour.

You can use freshly ground flour in most recipes, though you might need to reduce the amount of water you add. The pieces of bran can affect how much it rises, because they cut the gluten strands.

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• Reply by easyquilts on February 17, 2012 at 9:27 pm
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Thanks, Mike. So.... I can "grind" my whole grains and simply add them to the bread dough? What kind of result should I expect, and how much would be too much for a single and a double batch of dough? Is it worth doing?

I would love to have a mill, just for this kind of thing..... I have a friend who mills of his flour... He has a good source for wheat berries. I might ask him for a sample, so I can see the difference.

Sandy

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• Reply by Mike Nolan on February 18, 2012 at 11:45 am
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A spice grinder might get them fine enough to work more like a flour than like cracked grains, but the way mills work is to crush the grain between two rollers or plates rather than chop it.

Originally grain was milled between large stone wheels, which were turned by animal power (including humans). Later on, in many areas of the world they were turned by water power. (Hence, 'Down by the old mill stream'.) Wind power was also used, the windmills of Holland, for example.

There are still some stone ground flours available, but modern millers are more likely to use a series of steel rollers, which allows them to more easily separate the bran and germ from the endosperm, as well as control how finely ground the flour is.

As to how much whole grain flour you can use in recipes, you can go all the way to 100% whole grain flours, but above about 25% you will start to see differences, starting with the amount of moisture needed, then with how it kneads, how it rises and how it bakes. Peter Reinhart's whole grains book has a section he calls 'transitional' breads, ie ones that have a mixture of whole grain and white flour.

I believe my Nutrimill uses two steel plates, so it's somewhere in between the historical stone ground method and the modern steel roller method.

My Nutrimill has two control knobs. One controls how fast the grinding plates move relative to each other, the other controls how close the plates are to each other. I'm not really sure what effect the speed setting has, the thickness setting is more obvious.

Curiously, there aren't a lot of cookbooks out there specifically for home grain millers, nor do most books on whole grain baking specifically address home milled flour.

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• Reply by --jej on February 18, 2012 at 1:08 pm
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Sandy,

Beyond Mike's good info, my suggestion is to get the Peter Reinhart book that Mike mentioned from your public library. I didn't buy it, because my DH doesn't like whole grain anything very much, but I love reading Peter's book.

Good luck with this, and write about your results. I enjoy reading about 'the results.' LOL

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• Reply by Mike Nolan on February 18, 2012 at 3:32 pm
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I have 'only' 4 of Peter's books. (BBA, Whole Grains, ABED and American Pie.) I wish I had the others, even though there are a number of recipes that appear in more than one of them.

When his GF/low carb book comes out in a few months, I will add that to the wish list, too. I only tested a couple of the recipes in it (because of time constraints on my part), but a number of them sounded like ones we'd like and that my GF daughter-in-law would like too.

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• Reply by easyquilts on February 18, 2012 at 4:18 pm
• 

How would a little coffee grinder work?

I'm just trying to find ways to use these grains in my breads...... I might sub some of the mixed grains in an oatmeal bread, to see what happens...... I really love the flavor and texture of breads that have some whole grains or whole grain flour in them...... They tend to make great toast, too.

Thanks for all the information.....there is so much I don't know!

I'm going to look for PR's book on whole grains.... The library might have it... I'll check on my iPad right now.

Sandy

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• Reply by easyquilts on February 18, 2012 at 4:20 pm
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I'm going to look that book u right now! Thanks.

Sandy

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• Reply by easyquilts on February 18, 2012 at 4:26 pm
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YAY, the whole grain is in the library... I'll go get it tomorrow.... I think this might be the direction I want to go...

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• Reply by Mike Nolan on February 18, 2012 at 4:37 pm
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Two books that appear to be useful for home grain mill owners:

Recipes from the Old Mill, by Sarah Meyers and Mary Beth Lind

Flour Power: A Guide To Modern Home Grain Milling, by Marleeta F. Basey

You could try a coffee grinder, but like a spice grinder it is designed to chop things, not pulverize them. Both might work OK for small amounts of grain, but when I grind up wheat berries I usually do 8-10 cups of them at a time.

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• Reply by --jej on February 18, 2012 at 7:01 pm
• 

Sandy, I want to mention that, in the summer of 04, I was three months in Texas with our DD and little DGS (taking care of him while DD was in Grad School). I was chief cook and bottle-washer also, and among other things, DD had me putting millet and other grains in our meatloaf, which we often had. I don't know where she got her ideas from -- carrots and other unusual veggies in there as well -- but every one of them worked out fine. So those grains aren't just for bread, perhaps. ;))) Think about it...

Of course, I cannot do that here at home, as DH is fussy, fussy, fussy, and my wonderful Amana recipe is easy, fast, and delicious, and he likes it just the way it is! LOL

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• Reply by mrscindy on February 18, 2012 at 7:26 pm
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They DO get set in their ways, don't they? 😄 But, yes, Sandy, jej has a great suggestion. Adding grains to meatloaf and other dishes helps stretch that dollar as well as adding nutrition. Besides, it's good for you!

~Cindy

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• Reply by Mike Nolan on February 18, 2012 at 9:43 pm
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I made a meatloaf the other day and used Panko in it. I thought it was pretty good, my wife was upset I didn't use rolled oats. :sigh:

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• Reply by mrscindy on February 18, 2012 at 11:25 pm
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The cooks want to experiment. The diners want things to remain the same. There is no winning. Except, when I do the cooking, you are stuck eating what I cook. And vice versa!

When he cooks, I'm so happy to get out of the kitchen for a while, I'm happy to eat anything he puts in front of me. No complaints!

~Cindy

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