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Farm Kitchen:  Lets talk grinding our own flour  |
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windypines
True Blue Farmgirl
4316 Posts
Michele
Bruce
Wisconsin
USA
4316 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 09 2011 : 3:32:14 PM
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I was given a Corona grinder the other day. I looked some on the internet, and while it might not be the best grinder out there it works. So I would love to learn about grinding flour, and coffee. I would really like to grow my own wheat, one day. But for now just learning how to do some flour would be great. I hope someone can take a few minutes and point me in the right direction.
Thanks Michele |
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Okie Farm Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
1674 Posts
Mary Beth
McLoud
Oklahoma
USA
1674 Posts |
Posted - Jun 09 2011 : 4:15:50 PM
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What would you like to know Michele? We grind all of our grains including, soft and hard wheats, rye, 9 grain, barley, corn and oats. My son just surprised me with a bucket of hard red wheat that he took straight off the truck after he helped combine the wheat field. That is really a neat feeling. I still have to wash it and dry it, but the combine got rid of most of the chaff and left the wheat as berries.
Mary Beth
www.OklahomaPastryCloth.com
www.Oklahomapastrycloth.com/blog
The Sovereign Lord is my strength - Habakkuk 3:19 |
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emsmommy5
True Blue Farmgirl
1547 Posts
Angie
Buckley
WA
USA
1547 Posts |
Posted - Jun 09 2011 : 4:58:35 PM
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I grind wheat, occasionally, when I have time. LOL WHat kind of hints were you looking for?
Do what you love, love what you do. |
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windypines
True Blue Farmgirl
4316 Posts
Michele
Bruce
Wisconsin
USA
4316 Posts |
Posted - Jun 10 2011 : 04:36:01 AM
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I have never done this or known anyone who grinds their own flour. What am I looking for in wheat. I currently buy unbleached flour. I use whole wheat occasionally. Or any good books out there that you would recommend? I don't have a clue.
Mary Beth How is your cheese making coming along?
It is great to know that both you girls know how to do this,
Thanks Michele |
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Ms.Lilly
True Blue Farmgirl
826 Posts
Lillian
Scotts Mills
OR
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - Jun 10 2011 : 07:22:46 AM
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Michele- First off I congradulate you, once you start down this road you will never go back. I would like to reccomend the book "The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book" by Laurel Robertson it is packed with information and great recipes too!
Wheat berries-
Hard Red Spring Wheat- this is your stronger full flavor whole wheat
Hard Winter White Wheat- This has less of a bite. This is what they use to make "white" whole wheat bread.
Soft Winter Wheat Berries- This is your whole wheat pastry flour for making cookies, etc.
I would start by buying a small bag of each and experimenting with the mill and figuring out what kind of flour you prefer. Some people prefer a more coarse and others prefer a very fine. There are endless possibilities out there to be ground up. I have done spelt, barley, black beans, rye buckwheat, corn and many more. Just have fun. Do remember that if you grind coffee be sure to clean your mill really well or you will taint your flour.
Lillian
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Okie Farm Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
1674 Posts
Mary Beth
McLoud
Oklahoma
USA
1674 Posts |
Posted - Jun 10 2011 : 08:03:47 AM
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Ditto on Lillian's post, including the coffee part. In fact, I don't grind coffee in my grain grinder because the oils in it WILL taint the flour no matter how hard you clean. I have a separate coffee grinder that was very inexpensive from WalMart.
Whenever using home ground flours, a good sifter is a must. You need to sift and sift to get air into it and to remove any heavy particles. Store-bought flour is presifted. Also, I have found that when baking with whole wheat (hard red or hard white) in breads, adding 1 cup sifted barley flour to 3 cups wheat flour makes for really light breads. As Lillian said, the soft white berries are great for pie crusts, biscuits, cookies, scones, etc. - anything not requiring yeast. Soft white has a lower gluten content than the hard wheats and gluten is necessary for yeast breads to rise. You are on an exciting adventure that you are going to love once you get into it!!!
Mary Beth
www.OklahomaPastryCloth.com
www.Oklahomapastrycloth.com/blog
The Sovereign Lord is my strength - Habakkuk 3:19 |
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emsmommy5
True Blue Farmgirl
1547 Posts
Angie
Buckley
WA
USA
1547 Posts |
Posted - Jun 10 2011 : 11:38:03 AM
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I will often add some gluten flour to my whole wheat breads. I find when I grind it as I am making bread it makes the bread lighter. I don't grind and let it sit in the cupboard. I have a Nutramill electric grinder which I really love. My family got if for me a couple of years ago for my birthday. I do need to find a back up hand grinder in case of power outages or world chaos. =)
Do what you love, love what you do. |
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OKCookee
Farmgirl in Training
45 Posts
Chris
Oklahoma
OK
USA
45 Posts |
Posted - Jun 10 2011 : 11:49:31 AM
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I purchased a Wonder jr. grinder a couple of years ago. I've used it some, with some wheat we purchased through our Oklahoma coop. Have had trouble with it being too heavy - glad for the info about the barley flour - and the shifting! Hugs, Chris
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest".
Matthew 11:28
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windypines
True Blue Farmgirl
4316 Posts
Michele
Bruce
Wisconsin
USA
4316 Posts |
Posted - Jun 10 2011 : 1:21:19 PM
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Thanks for all the information ladies. So do you all keep and grind the different kinds of wheat,for whatever you plan on baking? Or is there one type that would work for all?
I do have the steel plates, and the stone plates with this grinder. Use the steel for coffee, and the stone for flour? Or is it still not a good idea to use the same grinder? There again, I don't have any friends that grind their own coffee. So I don't know anything about that either.
How long can you store fresh gound flour? Or is it a good idea just to grind what you are going to use?
I have so many questions!
Any one grow your own wheat,or use their own combined wheat? I do have oats that I grew, and were grown organic. The seed was probley not organic, but what would you use oat flour for? Could I use my own oats? Thanks for all the great advice. I willsee if I can get that book. I am very excited to do this. Does it really taste so much better then boughten flour?
Michele |
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Okie Farm Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
1674 Posts
Mary Beth
McLoud
Oklahoma
USA
1674 Posts |
Posted - Jun 10 2011 : 2:08:19 PM
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Michele, I keep hard white wheat and hard red wheat berries for breads, soft white wheat berries for pastries/biscuits/donuts/muffins/pie crust/etc, rye berries for rye bread, barley berries to mix with my flours for breads, 9 grain berries for mixing with other flour for breads and oat groats as well. I grind the oats to add to flours for breads to add protein and fiber and flavor if I am making an oatmeal bread but I also have an oat roller and roll the groats to make fresh oats for hot oatmeal. It's amazing.
My son combined wheat this weekend and brought me a 50 lb bucket of hard red wheat right off the combine. Today's combines are pretty amazing. They do everything in one fell swoop rather than having to send to the grainery for dehulling. Very little chaff and just berries. I still have to clean it of dirt, bugs and rocks, but will grind it when it is cleaned. That's a neat feeling to make bread out of the berries from a farm you know.
Mary Beth
www.OklahomaPastryCloth.com
www.Oklahomapastrycloth.com/blog
The Sovereign Lord is my strength - Habakkuk 3:19 |
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windypines
True Blue Farmgirl
4316 Posts
Michele
Bruce
Wisconsin
USA
4316 Posts |
Posted - Jun 11 2011 : 05:01:08 AM
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MaryBeth that is amazing all the berrries you grind. Did you teach yourself or grow up doing this?
So I could use my own oats to grind and roll for oatmeal? They were grown for animal feed, does that make any difference? How long can the oats/wheat sit around before you grind?
Thnaks Lillian for the book suggestion. Angie I had heard of using gluten in wheat breads to make them rise better, but have never tried it.
Thanks for all the great info.
Michele |
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Ms.Lilly
True Blue Farmgirl
826 Posts
Lillian
Scotts Mills
OR
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - Jun 11 2011 : 06:00:04 AM
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| I buy my Hard Red, Hard White and Soft White berries by the 50 pound bags and store them in plastic bucket with a gamma lid in the pantry. Also kept on hand in smaller quantities are buckwheat, rye, kamut, corn,barley and spelt. As far as oats and oat flour go I use alot of oat flour. I just put some oatmeal in the blender and wala-oat flour. I pruchace my oats as oatmeal, it is quite cheap for a 25 pound bag of oats. When I grind up some berries I usually do a gallon ziplock bag full and keep it in the freezer so it is ready to use when needed. Most used in my house is the Hard White Wheat. I am with Mary Beth on the coffee thing. Go buy a seperate coffee grinder. |
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Okie Farm Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
1674 Posts
Mary Beth
McLoud
Oklahoma
USA
1674 Posts |
Posted - Jun 11 2011 : 11:54:47 AM
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Michele, like Lillian, I buy my grains in 25 or 50 lb lacks and then put them into 5 gal or 2.5 gallon buckets with either gamma lids or snap on lids. I use the gamma lids on the grains that I am using immediately because they are so easy to take off. Also like Lillian, I grind enough to fill a gallon ziploc bag and then keep that in the freezer until I need to grind some more. On the oats, I am not sure about it being for feed. Normally, you want to buy "food grade" grains because sometimes the feed grain is treated with stuff that humans don't need to be eating.
I have an oat roller, the type if which I am going to be carrying online - just have to get the photo up - and it is wonderful. I make fresh oatmeal and usually roll enough to also fill a ziploc bag to keep in the frig. You can't store your ground grains at room temps because once they are ground, they start breaking down pretty fast and go either stale or rancid. As long as your grain remains in a bucket with an oxygen absorber (and I add bay leaves to discourage bugs) the unground grain will last for a loooongggg time!
And no, I wasn't raised like this. My family thinks I'm a little daft. Had to learn this on my own with some help from wonderful friends and lots of reading. :-)
Mary Beth
www.OklahomaPastryCloth.com
www.Oklahomapastrycloth.com/blog
The Sovereign Lord is my strength - Habakkuk 3:19 |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jun 11 2011 : 12:05:23 PM
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I use hard red, hard white, soft white and kamut in my bread recipe. I never use the exact same amounts every time though. I use honey, olive oil, eggs, milk, gluten, lecithin, yeast and salt. My recipe makes 3 loaves or a little over 3 dozen rolls. I grind what I will be using that day and if there is a little left over, I have a bag in the freezer that I use for dusting the counter to make the laoves. I have a Whisper Mill grinder and a DLX mixer that has a flaker attachment. I could get all kinds of other attachments like a meat grinder, but they are expensive. I also sometimes add nuts and seeds too. And ground flax seeds or wheat germ.
I use the Bread beckers recipe. I got their book. And I also got a book called Grains Of Truth: WHole Grains the Easy Way by Donna G. Spann alias "The Bread Lady". It's a great book that tell about each grain and it's history and what it's best used for. Great book. Lots of recipes too.
I am going to be making bread later this evening. It's too hot right now.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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Room To Grow
True Blue Farmgirl
974 Posts
Deborah
Kingston
Georgia
USA
974 Posts |
Posted - Jun 11 2011 : 2:07:44 PM
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I got flax seed and quioa(sp) seed. We didnt plant it this yr. But we are planning on planting it next yr. We had to really watch our money and couldnt get someone to plow a place for us to plant it. But I wanted to plant these 2 grains because I read it was the 2 easiest ones to grow. Then we will buy a grinder...I have a coffee grinder that I use to grind my herbs. I dont drink coffee.
Deborah
we have moved to our farm...and love it |
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Okie Farm Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
1674 Posts
Mary Beth
McLoud
Oklahoma
USA
1674 Posts |
Posted - Jun 11 2011 : 2:44:16 PM
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Deborah, flax is really good for you, as is quinoa. Depending on your grinder, most that do flours do not do well with flax because it is so oily. An electric coffee grinder is what I use to grind my flax. I then add that to my flours for bread or use it on salads, etc. I would like trying to grow it as well.
Mary Beth
www.OklahomaPastryCloth.com
www.Oklahomapastrycloth.com/blog
The Sovereign Lord is my strength - Habakkuk 3:19 |
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Room To Grow
True Blue Farmgirl
974 Posts
Deborah
Kingston
Georgia
USA
974 Posts |
Posted - Jun 11 2011 : 7:03:13 PM
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Well Mary Beth I gues I will have to get another coffee grindeer...maybe a bigger one..
Deborah
we have moved to our farm...and love it |
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windypines
True Blue Farmgirl
4316 Posts
Michele
Bruce
Wisconsin
USA
4316 Posts |
Posted - Jun 12 2011 : 04:10:52 AM
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Thanks ladies for your help. I am planning on going to a great Mennonite store in 2 weeks. I am hoping they have a varaity of wheat berries available. I think I will get an actual coffee grinder, as suggested,to do coffee. Does fresh ground coffee actually taste better? (I know it has to)
Do you put the flour though the grinder more them once? Till you get the right consistancy? Then shift shift shift! Should be interesting!
Michele |
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ddmashayekhi
True Blue Farmgirl
4759 Posts
Dawn
Naperville
Illinois
USA
4759 Posts |
Posted - Jun 14 2011 : 3:17:56 PM
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Good luck grinding your flour Michele. I know you'll be an old pro at it in no time!
Dawn in IL |
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Crystal Koelzer
Farmgirl in Training
44 Posts
Crystal
Cosby
MO
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Jun 14 2011 : 9:45:31 PM
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| This is a subject I have been wondering about for a while now. A year ago my son was diagnosed with celiacs and can have no gluten which is in wheat. I make a blend of flour for baking that uses Sorghum, Millet, Potato starch, Tapioca starch, corn starch, sweet rice flour. I would love to grow the sorghum and millet myself if possible. Does anyone know if sweet rice flour and brown rice flour is just the regular rice that is ground or a special rice? Can you grind rice? I do not have a grinder yet either. I really like to have everything figured out before I start. |
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Ms.Lilly
True Blue Farmgirl
826 Posts
Lillian
Scotts Mills
OR
USA
826 Posts |
Posted - Jun 15 2011 : 07:00:14 AM
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| I have not tried to grind up rice before. Hmm....sounds like I might have to give it a try. |
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windypines
True Blue Farmgirl
4316 Posts
Michele
Bruce
Wisconsin
USA
4316 Posts |
Posted - Jun 15 2011 : 10:55:04 AM
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got a book on order from the library. Grains of Truth, I think that was the title. Can't wait to read it! thanks for the encouragementDawn, I need all I can get. Crystal, I don't have an answer for your question. I hope someone does.
Michele |
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windypines
True Blue Farmgirl
4316 Posts
Michele
Bruce
Wisconsin
USA
4316 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2011 : 05:00:21 AM
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Got some wheat and rye to grind. The book is at the library. So will wait till I look at that, I think! Not sure how to start this process. I did put the wheat in the freezer for now. Is it best to get it to room temp before grinding?
I did pick up a cheap coffee grinder. That has been kind of fun.
Michele |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6663 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6663 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2011 : 05:28:48 AM
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Wow, this if a great wealth of ideas! I am a new farmgirl and oddly enough have been investigating the purchase of a small grain grinder for learning. Our kids are grown and we don't eat a lot of bread but I would like to learn about grinding flours. Can any of you suggest a specific grinder that would work for someone who will be doing a small amount of grinding and baking? I was looking at the Retsel Little ARk stlye. Seems well made and user friendly for small kitchen use. What other ideas do you suggest?
Thanks! |
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Okie Farm Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
1674 Posts
Mary Beth
McLoud
Oklahoma
USA
1674 Posts |
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Crystal Koelzer
Farmgirl in Training
44 Posts
Crystal
Cosby
MO
USA
44 Posts |
Posted - Jun 19 2011 : 9:43:29 PM
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| Thanks Mary Beth! Do you know what type of rice sweet rice flour uses? |
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Farm Kitchen: Lets talk grinding our own flour |
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Lets talk grinding our own flour
