I am highly considering milling my own flour. Tonya gave me this idea back on our trip to GA, and I recently have done some research on it and I am thrilled at what I learned. Anyone else do this? I would love to hear some ideas and comments about what kind of mills you use. I don't have the money to spend on something fancy and I am perfectly fine with using a hand mill - but do they do the job?
The wheat from which most bread is made has proven to be one of nature's most perfect foods, full of vitamins, minerals, and many trace elements.
The seed of wheat is made up of many parts consisting of three basic categories:
The bran, made up of many layers of vitamins, minerals, and rich proteins, forms the tough outer covering. This part of the wheat also provides valuable roughage which acts like a sponge to absorb and remove unwanted poisons and toxins from our digestive sytem.
The germ is the life-giving part of the seed. It's packed with vitamins B and E, but once milled, it can only last 72 hours at room temperature before going rancid.
The endosperm, (or the white centre) is mostly starch with very few vitamins. This is the part of the wheat that most of todays store bought milled flour is made from.
For centuries wheat was milled into flour with large milling stones which crushed the seed grain into whole wheat flour. There were no supermarkets for selling flour, and so people made their flour as and when they needed it, ensuring minimal time difference between making flour and eating the results.
To ensure today's milled white flour lasts long enough to sit in warehouses and on shop shelves for months on end, todays millers have had to remove all trace of the bran and the germ - losing at least 22 of the 26 known vitamins and minerals in the process, and all of the valuable roughage our bodies need to absorb and remove unwanted toxins and poisons within our digestive system.
You get whiter, fluffier bread, cakes or pastries but you get them at a price. Health problems such as Obesity, Diabetes, Hypoglycaemia, Heart Disease, Bowel Cancer and Tooth Decay are just some of the major diseases on the upswing since the introduction of white flour in the 1900's. Many nutritionalists agree that that white flour and other refined foods are largely responsible.
The wheat from which most bread is made has proven to be one of nature's most perfect foods, full of vitamins, minerals, and many trace elements.
The seed of wheat is made up of many parts consisting of three basic categories:
The bran, made up of many layers of vitamins, minerals, and rich proteins, forms the tough outer covering. This part of the wheat also provides valuable roughage which acts like a sponge to absorb and remove unwanted poisons and toxins from our digestive sytem.
The germ is the life-giving part of the seed. It's packed with vitamins B and E, but once milled, it can only last 72 hours at room temperature before going rancid.
The endosperm, (or the white centre) is mostly starch with very few vitamins. This is the part of the wheat that most of todays store bought milled flour is made from.
For centuries wheat was milled into flour with large milling stones which crushed the seed grain into whole wheat flour. There were no supermarkets for selling flour, and so people made their flour as and when they needed it, ensuring minimal time difference between making flour and eating the results.
To ensure today's milled white flour lasts long enough to sit in warehouses and on shop shelves for months on end, todays millers have had to remove all trace of the bran and the germ - losing at least 22 of the 26 known vitamins and minerals in the process, and all of the valuable roughage our bodies need to absorb and remove unwanted toxins and poisons within our digestive system.
You get whiter, fluffier bread, cakes or pastries but you get them at a price. Health problems such as Obesity, Diabetes, Hypoglycaemia, Heart Disease, Bowel Cancer and Tooth Decay are just some of the major diseases on the upswing since the introduction of white flour in the 1900's. Many nutritionalists agree that that white flour and other refined foods are largely responsible.
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