Pour whole grains in and out comes fresh!
Milling fresh wholesome full of nutrition flour is so simple!
Pour the grains in; out come beautiful fresh milled flour.
Grain Milling basics only requires two things:
- A Grain Mill
- Whole Grains, Corn or Beans
In this article I will show how to mill your whole grains, corn and dried beans. So, get out your grain mill and grains so you can follow along with me and see how simple it is.
Happy Milling 😊
What You Need
Milling Grains only requires two things:
1. A Grain Mill
2. Whole Grains, Corn or Beans
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Important: Read all the instructions to your specific grain mill.
In this article I will focus on the NutriMill: Classic Grain Mill, Harvest Grain Mills and Impact Grain Mill; but, most grain mills work similarly.
Prepare New Grain Mill
Step 1: With a very lightly water dampened soft cloth, wipe the outer parts only of your mill.
Note: Remember, water and flour make paste. So, NO WATER should really every have to come in contact with the inside of your grain mill. If the inside needs to be wiped out, only use a very lightly water (no chemicals) dampened rag and allow ALL parts to dry completely before use.
Step 2: For new grain mills, make sure your mill is clean on the inside from the manufacturing process, simply mill 1-2 cups plain white rice; then discard it.
Grain Mill Attributes
Each grain mill will have a hopper and flour container or exit spout.
The hopper is where you will pour your grain into and the flour during the milling process will either go into a container or out the spout into a bowl. Be sure to have a bowl to catch the milled flour before turning on the mill.
Having your grain pre-measured and ready to pour into the hopper is helpful.
Per your mill instructions, turn on your mill and pour your grain, corn or beans into the hopper.
Click this link to check out the different grain mill options: Grain Mills
Cleaning your mill:
Technically, your grain mill should not need to be ‘cleaned’ because the only thing going in it is DRY grains, corn and beans.
To help get all the flour out of your bowl or container, I recommend getting a natural bristle, usually hog hair, brush. You can find them in the paint section.
Keep it with your mill.
How Much Grain to Mill?
You will need to calculate how much flour you need. It’s simple.
Divide number of cups of flour needed in your recipe by 1.5.
Example: 4 cups flour needed divided by 1.5.
4 ÷ 1.5 = 2.66 cups grain needed
1 cup grain will produce approx. 1-1/2 cups flour, depending on the fineness or coarseness.
Keeping in mind, when working with freshly milled whole grain flour, you may need a little more or a little less flour in your recipe.
Any extra flour, simply keep in an air-tight container in the freezer until next time.
Freshly Milled Flour Nutrition
Whole grain flours have their highest nutrition at the time of milling. The beautiful vitamins in the freshly milled flour will soon oxidize away, approximately 72 hours-ish. Therefore, it is best to use the flour soon after milling to take advantage of the nutritional bounty.
Actually, that’s the whole point.
Fresh – Fresh – Fresh
Also, keep in mind, freshly milled flour can not sit in your pantry for a long period of time; it will go rancid because the oils and germ are still present.
Storing Freshly Milled Flour
Because of the oxidation process the vitamins in freshly milled flour will be soon lost, even if stored in the freezer.
It’s like putting a banana in the freezer. It’s still going to turn black. That’s oxidation.
So, if you do need to store freshly milled flour, place it in a freezer type bag and squeeze out as much air as possible. Even though it will lose some nutrition it is still hands-down better than the dead flour on the grocery shelf.
Milling Corn & Beans
Milling corn and beans uses the process as the grains. The only difference is you may need to adjust the milling fine/coarseness control for the desired texture.
Cornbread made from freshly milled corn is so delicious!
Power-up your baked goods by adding some beans in with your grain when you mill. You won’t taste them once baked.
Also, bean flour makes a great thickener.
Easy Peasy!
See, there really is nothing to milling your own fresh whole grains, corn and beans.
Check out my other posts in the tab: Milling Grains
