I’m often asked by new freshly-milled bakers how to substitute All-Purpose Flour with Freshly-Milled Flour recipes. It’s a little tricky in the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, it’s very easy to do.
Most of us that grind our own flour, want to use recipes that were passed down from either your grandma or maybe it is a recipe that you’ve been using for a while and really want to continue making it. Have no fear. With a little tweaking of the flour, you will manage to enjoy those recipes.
The Truth About Wheat
The anatomy of a seed has four basic components: hull, bran, germ and endosperm.
The hull, which has no nutritional value, must be removed mechanically before human consumption. The bran, is the outermost layer of seed. It contains B vitamins, iron and other trace minerals. It holds soluble and insoluble fiber, along with protein. The bran also provides enzymes that aid in digestion.
The germ is the most nutrient-dense part of the seed. It includes essential fatty acids and it also has vitamin E. The germ is loaded with antioxidants, minerals, B vitamins and lots of phytonutrients. The endosperm is the white flour part of the flour and predominately holds protein and starch. It is not a good source of vitamins and minerals.
Whole Grain Nutrition
Whole grains straight from the field are a near perfect food. They contain vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids and lots of phytochemicals. They give complex carbohydrates, as well as, soluble and insoluble fiber. Fiber is very important for our bodies. It allows our body to alleviate constipation, provides great gut bacteria, supports weight loss, protects from heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.
Every cell in our body requires vitamin E. It is a powerful antioxidant that we need on a daily basis. Vitamin E helps us balance our cholesterol, balances hormones, improves vision, improves muscle strength and may or may not lower both cancer risk and cognitive decline. Phytic acid is found in the bran and is also a powerful antioxidant that binds to heavy metals, preventing the formation of damaging free radicals. When I found out I had mold toxicity in 2023, I actually quit eating my freshly-milled flour for a few months to do a test. I sadly found out it made me feel worse because I was missing all those wonderful nutrients. I was lacking the bran and the germ in my diet.
Real wheat is not the problem. It’s what the manufactures and millers have done to our wheat. They have removed the bran and the germ. From what I stated above, that is huge. We need the “fresh from the field” wheat in our body daily so we can fight off diseases and consume all that nutrition.
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Substituting for All-Purpose Flour
If you are new to grinding your own flour or maybe you haven’t heard of Sue Becker, I highly recommend getting her book The Essential Home-Ground Flour Book. It not only has amazing recipes but Sue goes into great detail in the beginning of the book on the benefits of home-ground flour, the history of milling flour, whole-grain nutrition, all the flours we can grind and how to use them in our baked goods.
Sue Beckers states from her book the following:
Substituting with Hard Wheat Flours
Substituting flour made from low-moisture grains – such as hard wheat, Kamut or barley – for refined white flour generally means using equal amounts. Most yeast bread recipes call for a variable quantity of flour, for example, 4 to 4 1/2 cups. When substituting freshly ground flour, most likely you will need the smaller quantity. (However, the amount will always depend on the moisture content of the grain from which the flour was milled.)
Substituting with Soft White Flours
Substituting soft wheat and other high-moisture grains such spelt or rye for all-purpose or pastry flour – in, for example, cakes, cookies and pie dough – will generally require more than the amount of refined white flour called for in the recipe. You will need approximately 1/4 cup more fore every 1 cup of flour called for in the recipe. For instance, 1 cup white flour = 1 1/4 cups home-ground soft wheat flour. However, if you are following a recipe that measures by weight, no increase in the measure will be required.
Some of My Favorite Freshly-Milled Recipes
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How I Started Grinding My Own Flour
Back in 2011, I met Sue Becker with BreadBecker’s in a town close to me. I listened to her speak about the benefits of grinding your own flour. The lecture was about four hours long. I stayed glued to her conversation the entire time. I was enthralled with all of the information I was hearing for the first time about real wheat. Why is no one else talking about the benefits of real wheat straight from the fields?
I left that lecture excited and with some wheat-berries, her little red cookbook and hoped my husband would be on board. I didn’t even have a grain mill to make the flour but I knew I’d figure it out somehow haha. A friend that went with me to the lecture, said I could come over weekly to grind my flour. I graciously took her up on that offer. My husband ended up buying me my own grain mill that same year for Christmas. Needless to say, I was thrilled. I was already eating pretty clean except the bread. You know, I was still buying bagels, English muffins, tortillas, etc. and of course, I’d eat a sandwich or hamburger bun when we’d go out to eat. I thought to myself, “I can just make these myself, why not?” I found a co-op over an hour away so I joined and would pick up my orders there for the next several years.
Starting My Own Co-Op
Fast forward to 2017, there was another lecture of Sue Becker in another town nearby so my same friend and I decided to go to see if we could learn even more. I had decided that morning before going that I was going to see if I could start my own co-op. When we arrived, I met Sue’s husband, Brad, and asked him about starting my own co-op. I started later that year and I’m proud to say that it’s still going strong. If you are local to me, I encourage you to join – Bread Becker’s North Lake County, FL Co-op. If you would like to see if they have a co-op near you or maybe you would want to start your own like I did, head over to BreadBecker’s for more information. You can even order products online from their website, if that is more convenient.
Grains I Use
When I first started milling my own flour, I basically just used Hard White Wheat. Over the years, I have studied and learned about the health benefits of both ancient and modern grains. When making things like Sourdough bread, yeast bread or bagels, I combine a few flours like Hard White Wheat and Khorasan.
The following are the ones I use today: (Click on the links and it will tell you more about each grain, as well as, where you can purchase them from).
Rouge De Bordeaux Wheat Berries (use code: lhsimpleliving for 15% off)
Learn How To Grind Your Own Wheat
Sources: The Essential Home-Ground Flour Book
John 6:35 ~ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
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