| Author |
Farm Kitchen:  problems with fresh ground flour  |
|
|
lonestargal
True Blue Farmgirl
607 Posts
Kristi
Texas
607 Posts |
 Posted - Mar 25 2006 : 07:33:05 AM
|
I was so excited to get my grain mill so I could grind my own flour. Well it came and it's very easy to use and it worked great for grinding corn but all the bread I have tried to make with the flour has turned out horrible! I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I have a whole grain cookbook that I've been using and I've followed the recipes and they have all turned out bad. Any ideas as to what I'm doing wrong? I've ground the flour pretty fine, maybe I need to do it even more and I sift the flour before I use it. I tried bread with it and it just tasted real gritty and nasty, the last time I tried to make biscuits and they never rose and were gritty as well. They were as hard as hockey pucks!!  Please help, I don't want this purchase to be a waste of money. |
|
|
Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Mar 25 2006 : 09:12:54 AM
|
I always add a little gluten flour (they have it at any grocery store..even the tiny one here in our little town) and it only takes a little in each batch) helps it rise better...and I bet you do need to grind it finer. If you sift it save the coarser stuff to make hot cereal with..it is wonderful for that. That is what I had to do until I got it figured out how fine to grind mine when I used the manual grinder. It is a wonderful "by-product!!".
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
 |
|
|
lonestargal
True Blue Farmgirl
607 Posts
Kristi
Texas
607 Posts |
Posted - Mar 25 2006 : 8:15:13 PM
|
| I have used the gluten, with the exception of the biscuits. Do you use that for biscuits as well, I thought it was just for yeast breads. I'll try it again and grind even more and see if that helps. I have hard red wheat, hard white wheat, and soft white wheat berries. Is there any particular kind that's better. I'll eat wheat bread but DH always wants white bread so any suggestions for that would help too. |
|
|
|
Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Mar 25 2006 : 9:42:33 PM
|
Try mixing half and half freshly ground wheat and unbleached white flour and see if that is more to hubby's liking. My husband was a real white bread eater when we got married. I did convert him..and my kids all think white bread is gross since all they get is wheat bread.
I like hard red alot, but some people don't like it as much..it is more "wheaty" if you know what I mean. Hard white is really popular and I use that alot too. soft white I think is usually used more for making pasta and like that..but I don't have any so I am not sure on that one.
No, I don't use gluten for bisquits, but I do mix in part unbleached regular flour for that..they are just always too heavy all wheat. I don't make bisquits as often as I make yeast rolls though...my kids LOVE rolls.
Jenny in Utah
Inside me there is a skinny woman crying to get out...but I can usually shut her up with cookies
http://www.auntjennysworld.blogspot.com/ visit my little online shop at www.auntjenny.etsy.com |
|
|
|
lonestargal
True Blue Farmgirl
607 Posts
Kristi
Texas
607 Posts |
Posted - Mar 26 2006 : 09:55:03 AM
|
| Thanks Jenny. I'll keep trying but it sure is frustrating!! I'll try mixing the flour half and half like you said and see how that works. |
|
|
|
Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Mar 27 2006 : 03:39:46 AM
|
Did you used to cook with whole wheat flour before you got the grain mill? That is an adjustment for texture for many people. But if you previously baked with whole wheat, I wonder if it's your batch of wheat. There are different varieties of wheat just like there are different varieties of broccoli. Perhaps the variety you have is too hard, too low in gluten, or too dry. Or perhaps you used too much flour; that will change the texture and make a harder bread and biscuit. Another thing that can cause that is a rising that's too cool. I usually turn my oven on for two minutes, and then turn it off, leaving the oven light on. It makes a great proofing box.
Did the grain mill come with some bread recipes? It might be smart to use one of those and see if you get the same results. If you do, then it's probably your wheat. If it works right, then you need to figure a way to adapt your other recipes.
I hate it when I lose my bread groove! Normally I make these wonderful, fragrant, tender and delicious loaves, but once in a while they're doorstops. With some detective work I can usually figure out why. Good luck to you, and get your groove back soon!  |
|
|
|
lonestargal
True Blue Farmgirl
607 Posts
Kristi
Texas
607 Posts |
Posted - Mar 27 2006 : 2:01:58 PM
|
| MaryAnn--I generally just made white bread before I got the grain mill. I don't mind the wheat but my family all likes the white breads. I did what Jenny suggested and ground it a lot more last night and today the bread turned out pretty good, not great but at least it is edible. I have some more ground up and I'm going to try to make a lemon bread and see how that turns out. If it's ok too then I'll assume that I wasn't grinding enough. I'll keep in mind to make sure the wheat is fresh too, thanks. The grinder didn't come with recipes but I have a whole wheat recipe book I'm following. |
|
|
|
jujubee
Farmgirl in Training
14 Posts
Julia
Florida
USA
14 Posts |
Posted - May 17 2006 : 11:47:30 AM
|
Kristi,
Hey! I don't know if you are still working out the kinks with your grain mill, but I thought I would pass along a site that has great information and recipes about grinding your own flour. It is www.breadbeckers.com I too am interested in milling my own grains. A lot of my friends are already doing it and have gone through this website. I am saving my money for a mill of my own! I would love to know how it is going now a couple of months later!
Happy Milling! Julia |
|
|
|
Heather in GA
Farmgirl in Training
13 Posts
Heather
Georgia
USA
13 Posts |
Posted - May 23 2006 : 01:17:02 AM
|
I just wanted to second the suggestion to visit Bread Beckers' website ... I am fortunate enough to live near them and have attended their seminars ... very good! Their recipe book is only $6 and worth every penny. I make whole wheat bread every week from their recipe. You can call and talk to them and they are very nice and helpful.
~Heather
"You may go down to the garden."...(Peter Rabbit's mother) Beatrix Potter
|
|
|
| |
Farm Kitchen: problems with fresh ground flour |
|
problems with fresh ground flour
