Milling your grains
Let’s start with why
A few years ago I was introduced to this totally foreign concept to me called “milling at home”. At first, I imagined to be a lengthy and complicated process, but I was still interested in learning more. So a good friend of mine took me to this amazing store called Bread Beckers. It was love at first sight! But I was still not sold on the whole process (upfront cost, buying in bulk, etc…), so after doing some research I found that the flour that is sold at the stores it has absolutely no nutritional value, even worse, it has been treated with so many chemicals that it becomes bad for you. So now I was trying to figure it out how to make this work for me and my crazy busy schedule. But I realized that milling my grains is just as simple as grinding my coffee beans. When I first talked about it with my husband his first question was how much is it going to cost me and if this was going to be a phase. Luckily enough I have another friend that had a NutriMill and had just decided to go Paleo, so lo and behold, she gave me the mill! I couldn’t wait to get some grains and start cranking some yummy baked goods. I have to say, from that moment on, I have never looked back! My biggest win was when my husband ate a piece of bread I had just made and he said he could taste the difference between the freshly milled bread and one made with store-bought flour. Another big win was when we were on vacation and we had bought bread at the store and my kids said that they missed my bread. It sure made this mama’s heart grow 3 sizes bigger.
Where to start
I would highly suggest in investing in an electric mill, such as a WonderMill. It’s very fast and very low maintenance since most parts cannot get wet, there’s no constant washing. Some stores that sell the grains will also mill them for you if you don’t own a mill, but one of the issues with that is oxidation. So the ideal would be to only mill what you are going to use immediately. You might find a hand mill for a cheaper price, but this is one thing I will say, go ahead and splurge, your time is a precious commodity.
Another option if you have a VitaMix is to buy the grains container. My husband gave it to me for Mother’s Day and at first, I was a bit skeptical, but after using it a few times, I really like it for smaller quantities. And that’s my only concern, the size. So if this is your only option and if you have a lot of grains to mill, you will have to do it in batches.