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Farm Kitchen:  My first grain grinder and wheat  |
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6663 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6663 Posts |
 Posted - Jul 28 2011 : 4:59:59 PM
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I have been wanting to learn about how to grind my own grain to make bread and so I ordered my first grain grinder and 25 pounds of Montana Prairie Gold Wheat. I used a basic bread recipe specifically for hand ground grain from the James Beard cookbook and here are the results. The taste was delicious but it was very dense and course in texture which I found interesting. After some internet research, I have read that I need to add some dough enhancer? so I plan to try that this weekend and see the results. Any tips from experienced bread makers will be appreciated greatly!! I want to perfect a whole wheat loaf with no other flours if possible as my starting point. From there I will add other grains that I can grind and make more complicated recipes. But first the basics. Here are my photos and results. This was just so much fun and I love my new grain grinder@!
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl |
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Okie Farm Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
1674 Posts
Mary Beth
McLoud
Oklahoma
USA
1674 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2011 : 5:56:38 PM
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Winnie, yay for you!! Isn't it neat? Just a few pointers. Get a good sifter that has a handle that turns. You can look on my website on the shopping page to see what I am talking about and see if you can find one near you. You need to sift the fire out of your flour. Our flours at the store are all pre-sifted. This gets the large particles out and adds air to the flour. You can use the large particles (the germ) to sprinkle on the top of your loaves and you can even boil it for cream of wheat. Dough enhancer is great, but it won't solve the denseness. That is caused by either (1) the flour is too heavy (not sifted) (2) the flour hasn't enough gluten in which case you purchase gluten to add or add a high gluten flour to it or (3) the yeast is not very good. The wheat berries for bread and other yeast breads are either hard white or hard red and the wheat berries for pastries, cakes, biscuits, etc is soft white. If you will go to my blog site and click on the 'Alphabetical Index of Posts', go to the bottom to Whole Wheat Sandwich bread, there is a recipe there that I think you will like. I show it adding store bought flour to it, but I make it with all home ground wheat now and my husband is happy with it. I sift and sift the flour prior to use. Hope that helps. And good for you!!
Mary Beth
www.OklahomaPastryCloth.com
www.Oklahomapastrycloth.com/blog
The Sovereign Lord is my strength - Habakkuk 3:19 |
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Aunt Jenny
True Blue Farmgirl
11381 Posts
Jenny
middle of
Utah
USA
11381 Posts |
Posted - Jul 28 2011 : 10:54:35 PM
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YOu can set the grinder to grind finer...I have one that is very similar..wish it were red like yours!! (mine is just silver)
I add gluten flour..but have never tried dough enhancer. I agree with sifting out the coarsest stuff...I use that for hot cereal..yum!
Jenny in Utah
Proud Farmgirl sister #24
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 |
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windypines
True Blue Farmgirl
4316 Posts
Michele
Bruce
Wisconsin
USA
4316 Posts |
Posted - Jul 29 2011 : 3:31:05 PM
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Love your pictures, congratulations on grinding. I have just started also. The bread recipe I used called for 600 kneading strokes, or about 20 minutes. Or 10 minutes in a mixer. I also sifted about 5 times at least as Mary Beth had suggested. Jenny thanks for the idea of using the coarse stuff for hot cereal! I also read on this site about letting your ground wheat sit overnight, it the liquids for the recipe?? What do you girls think of that idea?
happy grinding
Michele |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jul 29 2011 : 4:24:20 PM
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Love the grinder. I have been doing this for about 13 years now. Yes, you need to use gluten and lecithin. I use the Bread Becker's recipe and I will give it to you if you'd like. I use 4 different grains in my bread, hard red, hard white, soft white and kamut and it rises up over the top of the bowl. And also I use a DLX machine to mix it because whole grain wheat needs alot of mixing and kneading to get the elastic texture you want and doing that by hand would take an hour. So my machine kneads for 12 minutes.
Mary Beth, I have never sifted my flour because I want all the grains in the bread. And it has never hindered the bread rising. I have a Whispre Mill grinder set on the courest setting and a hand grinder. All my friends who make bread have the same machines too. But that's us.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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Okie Farm Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
1674 Posts
Mary Beth
McLoud
Oklahoma
USA
1674 Posts |
Posted - Jul 29 2011 : 4:50:03 PM
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Kristin, I like to use the large pieces for cream of wheat cereal. Yummy. But I also sprinkle them on top of my bread for crunchiness. I just find that sifting makes the bread light as a feather - not dense at all. But that is the way that my dh likes it. He won't eat a dense bread. So glad that you all are having such great success.
Mary Beth
www.OklahomaPastryCloth.com
www.Oklahomapastrycloth.com/blog
The Sovereign Lord is my strength - Habakkuk 3:19 |
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Nanniekim
True Blue Farmgirl
206 Posts
Kim
Arizona
206 Posts |
Posted - Jul 30 2011 : 1:21:52 PM
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I don't add dough enhancer or extra wheat gluten to my bread. I even use 1/2 hard red wheat along with the hard white and my bread isn't too heavy as long as I knead it for a long time. In my mixer I let it go for about 10 minutes like was stated above. You can also try letting it rise twice instead of just once. My sister-in-law does that but I never do! Good luck.
Kim |
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emsmommy5
True Blue Farmgirl
1547 Posts
Angie
Buckley
WA
USA
1547 Posts |
Posted - Jul 30 2011 : 4:11:31 PM
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Here is the bread recipe I use. A friend recently gave it to me and it is the best recipe I have ever found!!!
3 C warm water
1/3 C oil
1/3 C honey
1 and 1/2 TBL yeast
Mix for 1 minute. Let sit for 10 minutes until spongy. (I start grinding my wheat - hard red - at this point on a fine setting and I don't sift it at all)
Then add 1 TBL salt and 4 or more cups of wheat flour until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead 2 minutes. Shape into big ball. Cut into 3 loaves. Place in greased loaf pans. Let rise to just the top of the pan. **DO NOT PREHEAT THE OVEN!!!*** Put the risen loaves in the oven and turn it on to 350 and bake for 30 minutes.
You can use potato water in place of the plain water or add 3-4 TBL dry instant potato flakes for a softer grain. I will sometimes add 1 Tbl of gluten flour when I think about it.
It also makes a fabulous whole wheat cinnamon loaf (think a BIG cinnamon roll) and I mixed in italian seasoning, minced garlic, dried tomatoes, dried red/green pepper and sliced olives the other day... it was AMAZING!!!
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 - Jul 31 2011 : 04:18:37 AM
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thanks for the recipe, will have to give it a try!
Michele |
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levisgrammy
True Blue Farmgirl
9440 Posts
Denise
Beavercreek
Ohio
USA
9440 Posts |
Posted - Jul 31 2011 : 09:36:28 AM
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Good for you! I have an electric grinder so I applaud you for going with this. I probably should use a hand grinder and gain some arm strength. :)
I only use hard red wheat, straight from the grinder unless you want the other stuff sifted out. I use lecithin (dough enhancer). Are you kneading by hand or a mixer with dough hooks? I use the mixer as I can make four loaves that way with the recipe I use. Let it rise and punch down a few times before shaping your loaves and letting them rise as this will make a big difference in the height of your loaves.
farmgirl sister#43
O, a trouble's a ton or a trouble's an ounce,
Or a trouble is what you make it!
And it isn't the fact that you're hurt that counts,
But only--how did you take it?
--Edmund C. Vance.
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Red Tractor Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
6663 Posts
Winnie
Gainesville
Fl
USA
6663 Posts |
Posted - Jul 31 2011 : 1:59:12 PM
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Here are the results of today's efforts to make better bread and I am thrilled. Mary Beth, I found a sifter like you recommended and used it to sift the flour 3 times before mixing and I could not find dough enhancer but I found Arrowhills Vital Bread Gluten and used 3 teaspoons. Mary Beth, your recipe is delicious and now I think it will be easy to continue moving forward and creating a better loaf with more practice.
Thanks FarmGirls for all of your great tips too!! Angie, I love that idea of a savory loaf and cinnamon so I plan on trying those as well.
Winnie #3109
Red Tractor Girl |
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Okie Farm Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
1674 Posts
Mary Beth
McLoud
Oklahoma
USA
1674 Posts |
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Farm Kitchen: My first grain grinder and wheat |
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My first grain grinder and wheat
