For centuries, people of all walks of life have been eating bread. Bread has been synonymous with ‘life’ and ‘prosperity,’ and has entered our lexicon in more ways than one: we use expressions like “get that bread” to mean wealth and success; “daily bread” means sustenance. And yet, for many, “bread” has become a dirty word: gluten intolerances, poor gut health and host of other issues have driven doctors to suggest cutting bread from our diets. What changed?
TL;DR: The flour changed.
How did the flour change?
During the industrial revolution, traditional wheat milling practices failed to keep up with the demand of big cities, and new innovations like Roller mills enabled higher production and less labor. These mills strip out the bran and germ, making a shelf-stable version of flour that can be shipped hundreds of miles away and sit of a store’s shelf for months without going bad.
That sounds like innovation. Why is shelf-stable bad?
There’s a lot of food science we could get into here, but the easy way to think of it is: wheat is an excellent source of dozens of critical nutrients. Most of these are found in the bran and the germ of the wheat. But since those parts will cause the flour to go bad over time, that’s what that gets removed now: stability and sell-ability are prioritized over nutritional value.
So I should just eat whole wheat bread?
Not exactly. Any breads made with the store-bought flours will suffer from the same problems. Even the “whole wheat” flour in stores still has most of the bran and all of the germ removed – and with it, the nutrients. Most of the expensive “whole grain” breads in stores still lean on the refined, processed flour.
So how do I use good wheat instead of processed flour?
The only way to get all the natural benefits of wheat is to use freshly milled flour. We start with wheat “berries” and mill them into flour, then immediately use the flour, maximizing the nutritional content.
What will freshly milled flour do for me?
Anecdotally, bread made with freshly milled flour has reversed chronic health conditions, improved immunity, supported weight loss and more. It’s natural fiber helps many be more regular, and even those with gluten intolerances* can often enjoy it without negative side effects.
*This does not apply to true allergies like coeliac disease.
How we use Fresh Milled Flour
Using freshly milled flour isn’t all that difficult, but it can be challenging to take the leap. Traditionally, if you want to bake bread, you might go to the grocery store and buy a bag of flour; buying whole, unmilled wheat berries is a little trickier. Wheat berries are often sold in bulk containers (25-50lbs), and few vendors offer them – typically only regional co-ops.
Beyond the cost and space of buying the berries in bulk, you also need a mill. From there, you can use your household mill to grind the wheat into flour, and use it mostly like you would regular all-purpose flour.
We use freshly milled flour in everything from our sandwich bread to pizza doughs and homemade pasta. As a result, we’ve been able to transform ‘unhealthy carbs’ into nutrient-rich, filling and better-tasting options.