Some facts:- Within 72 hours of milling wheat, 90% of its nutritional value has dissipated.
- All-purpose white flour has to have vitamins replaced which were removed in the milling process. Only the endosperm remains in white flour, while essential nutrients, oils, and fiber is found in the bran and germ.
- Any "whole wheat flour" you purchase at the store is missing lots of the nutritional value of freshly-milled-today whole wheat flour.
- When you buy something that is marketed as "whole wheat bread" chances are you are eating enriched white flour, and that it has carmel color added to make it darker colored (to trick you!) and of course, it has high fructose corn syrup in it. If you want true (store bought) whole wheat bread, the first ingredient should be "Stone ground whole wheat flour."
(source: http://www.healthbanquet.com/fresh-milled-flour.html)
Ok, so since I've recently decided to be uber picky about the bread I buy and eat and feed my family, I've discovered that there is no bread on the market (that I can afford) that meets my expectations. Hence, I have decided to make my own bread. Secondly, since I have decided that there is no wheat flour on the market that meets my expectations, I have also decided to mill my own wheat berries.
I have a great recipe (thanks to Aunt Sue for lending me Pantry Secrets, which you can make in just 1 hour!) and today I bought a grain mill (ok, the hand crank kind, but it's what I could afford for now...) I just baked my first loaves of fresh-milled whole wheat bread and they are beautiful and delicious. This bread is better tasting, has way more nutritional value and is therefore better for our bodies (I am a huge advocate of fiber!!!), and is infinetly cheaper than store bought bread.
(Ok, I confess that the milling was kind of a workout. It took me 20 minutes to grind enough flour for these two loaves, so I will definately be investing in a NutriMill in the near future, but for now Chris will do the milling for me, but not even a day in advance, mind you).
Ingredients: Freshly milled whole wheat flour, Sugar, Salt, Yeast, Soy Lecithin, Water. That's it!I am hooked, and I feel so liberated!
7 comments:
Awesome Jenny! Way to go. I absolutely love homemade bread, and I love that it's better for you! You really are superom.
wow, very impressed. I have been lately making bread and rolls in my bread maker and it's so yummy but that's as far as I'll go for now. I'm not that in to flour to mill my own!
This reminds me of the Little Red Hen for some reason. Just ask Chris "who will help me mill the wheat?" and it sounds like he will....and therefore get the end result.
What is "Soy Lecithin"?
At $3 and $4 for a loaf of real whole wheat bread, you are really getting a bargain. The problem is, homemade bread is so delicious that I can eat half a loaf fresh out of the oven.
When you were a baby, I paid for a Bosch mixer by baking whole wheat rolls and selling them. The biggest expense was the yeast until I found a way to buy it in bulk. (I was stuck home with 3 pre-schoolers and day care kids anyway, but I don't think I'd have the energy to do it now.) Mom
congrats! keep it up!
my mouth is literally watering.
Can you post the recipe or do I need to hit up Ant Sue?
Hi Cousin,
I have been milling fresh whole wheat and then making "soaked wheat bread" it is even more nutritious that using fresh wheat that is dry. You soak the wheat in water with apple cider vinegar for 8 - 24 hours then add dry flour, salt, honey, yeast, and olive oil. It tastes far better then the other recipes I've used and is healthier. BTW - you can store fresh wheat in the fridge for 5 days without the nutrition disappearing. The freezer can store the flour without loss for 2 months. Your loaves are far prettier though! Let me know how it goes!
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