Breadmaking

Why Grind Your Own Grain?

Grinding your own grain is a valuable investment in your health and the health of your loved ones.  Within 24 hours of being ground, flour has lost 45% of it's nutrients.  Within three days, it has lost
80-90% of it's nutrients.  Imagine how much nutrition is available in store-bought flour!   Chew on this... They have actually found grains of wheat in tombs of Pharoahs.  And when they ground this 5000 year old wheat, it still contained all of its 26 essential vitamins and minerals!   When you take the time to grind your own grain, you can be sure that your family is getting the nutrients they need.

How Do I Grind My Own Grain?

Grinding your own grain is easy with an electric mill.  I have personally used the Nutrimill, a product of Kitchen Resource, for about a year now.  I can testify that it works wonderfully!  The process is simple:  Add grain to the top of the machine (called the hopper), put on the hopper lid, and turn on the mill.
Nutrimill 760200 Grain Mill
Buy from Amazon.com
 In under five minutes, you can have 20 cups of freshly ground flour, bursting with all the nutrients God intended.  You may also mill other things like lentils, dried corn, rice, barley, and popcorn (to name a few).  The low temperature process keeps the grain at or under 118 degrees, ensuring that the nutritrients of the grain are kept intact.

Who Has Time To Knead Bread Dough?

I thought the same thing when I considered making my own bread.  I did knead for awhile, but last year I decided to try a mixer.    I wanted to buy one that would last.  Who wants to send a big piece of equipment in for repairs often?  So I did a little research and found that Bosch makes the best mixers.  They are one of the only companies willing to put in a big enough motor to knead dough without burning out.  I purchased the Bosch Universal about a year ago.
Bosch Universal Kitchen Machine
Buy from Amazon.com
 It has been mixing my bread dough every week for 52 weeks and shows no signs of slowing down:-) To make bread with a mixer, you need to buy a special attachment called a dough hook.  It is very cool to watch the dough get kneaded with the dough hook, knowing that you now have ten minutes freed up to do other things!

Okay, I have my mill and my mixer, how do I get grain?

Purchasing bulk grains can be simple if you have a coop in your community.  If you desire to get really good prices, you can actually purchase directly from the grain companies.  But this can be troublesome, for you usually need a group order of 4,000 lbs or more.  There is a gal nearby me who has purchased tons of grain and stores it in her basement to sell. 
If you call Wheat Montana (1-800-535-2798),
they may be able to give you the name of someone
who orders wheat from them regularly.
Also visit: www.wheatmt.com
 Maybe there is someone in your area who has done the same.   I have found that  Prairie Gold, Hard White Spring Wheat (from Montana Wheat), makes the most wonderful bread!  Recently I purchased some organic white wheat from my coop and I have had trouble getting the same big, beautiful loaves of bread!  I highly recommend Prairie Gold wheat if you can get it at your community. 

The Best Bread Recipe...

This recipe has produced countless big beautiful loaves of bread in our home!  I have mixed the Prairie Gold Wheat with Kamut and also Spelt, and the bread was just as good, but when you do so you may need to add more or less flour to get the dough right.

Prairie Gold Whole Wheat Bread
#1 Blend in mixer bowl with dough hook on #1, and let come to room temperature (if flour was just ground, it will make everything the right temperature):
  • 4 c. Prairie Gold flour
  • 1/2 c. potato flakes
  • 3 T. Yeast
#2 Add, and mix for 1 minute:
  • 3 c. warm, not hot, water
  • 3 T. buttermilk powder + 2 c. warm water (OR 2 c. warm buttermilk)

#3 Cover and let sponge 15 minutes.

#4 Add, and mix into sponged mixture:

  • 1/2 c. olive oil
  • 1/3 c. honey
  • 4 t. salt
  • 2 T. vital wheat gluten (opt.) - I don't use this
  • 3 T. dough enhancer (opt.) or 1/8 t. vitamin C powder (opt.) - I use the dough enhancer

#5 With mixer on speed one, add flour one cup at a time until dough begins to clear sides of the bowl (about 9 cups).  Knead for 6-8 minutes.

#6 Oil counter and hands.  Divide dough into 4 equal loaves and put into 4 greased 8 inch loaf pans (I use 10 inch).  Turn oven to warm, set timer for 20 minutes.  Turn off oven when it is heated and light goes off.  After bread has risen (15-30 min.), turn oven to 325 degrees, leaving bread in oven.  Check bread after 20-25 minutes.  It should be slightly brown on top, pull away from sides of pan, and slide easily from pan.  The bottom of the loaf should be slightly browned and sound hollow when done.

Yields 4 loaves of bread, but can be halved to make 2 loaves by hand.