Flour is a food that we do not often think about being processed, but in actuality the flour that we find on the shelves in the grocery store is actually processed. Despite this many people use it in their cooking without a second thought even if they have intentionally cut out other processed foods. I know I did the same for many years.
This year (2024) I made the commitment to switch out all our flour to fresh milled. There is definitely a learning curve and I have had more flops that ever, but it has absolutely been worth every flop.
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Why use fresh milled flour?
Grabbing a bag of flour, just like grabbing any processed food at the store is easy and quick, but like other processed foods it comes at a cost. The biggest cost being the lack of nutrients in store bought flour.
Nutrient-rich
One of the biggest benefits of fresh milled flour is the increased nutrients even when compared to whole wheat flour. Once flour is milled it starts losing its nutrients right away. Flour loses most of its nutrients if the flour is not used within 72 hours. Considering flour found on the store shelves are weeks to months old it’s had much longer than 72 hours to lose its nutrients.
In addition to the flour at the store being older, it has also had the bran and wheat germ removed, which are the most nutritious parts of the grain. Even store bough whole grain flour does not contain all of the grain. It can’t because it wouldn’t be shelf stable. Instead, whole wheat flour contains white flour with some bran added back in after the fact. This results in a different texture and flavor than fresh milled flour and lower nutrition than fresh milled even when fresh.
The bran that is absent from store flour is packed with fiber and the wheat germ that is missing contains the vitamin and mineral rich embryo of the kernel. Wheat germ is full of vitamin B6, folate, thiamin, zinc, magnesium, manganese, and vitamin E. Whereas fresh milled flour has the benefit of all containing all of these nutrients.
Better flavor
Milling grains for flour is the equivalent of milling fresh beans for coffee. The flavor is immensely richer and the aroma stronger. Because the oils (which would cause store bought flour to go rancid long before you would get it home) are still intact the flavor of the fresh milled grains are more complex.
Longer Shelf Life
Even though the flour when kept whole goes rancid and cannot sit on a shelf for months like store bought flour the grains themselves can be stored for much longer given proper conditions. The recommended period of storage is up to thirty years. That said there have been grains that have been found from ancient civilizations that were still able to be used.
To store my grains, I use food grade buckets with gamma lids, for extended storage you can even add oxygen absorbers.
Are you game to enjoy the benefits of fresh milled flour?
If you’re looking to elevate your baking, consider making the switch to fresh milled flour. Not only will you notice a difference in the taste and texture of your baked goods, but you’ll also be enjoying the health benefits of nutrient-rich flour.
The only things you need to be able to make the switch are wheat berries. I get mine from Azure Standard. The other item that is needed is a grain mill. You can learn more about grain mills which is the best here.
If you have tried fresh milled flour I would love to hear your experience below.
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