Estimated time: 20 mins.
It is time to move away from monoculture. Milling your own flour is an act of delicious anarchy.
This tutorial is about how to mill your own Botanical Blends. What is clear to me is that we have all been blindly baking according to the monocultural and intensive agricultural methods that have been the root cause of the loss of diversity in our diet and in our environment. When you consider the way we approach our bread and bakes – well, it’s almost absurd. Even the most radical sourdough bakers, who are well known for being against the mass-produced system, are unknowingly and unwittingly condoning it by following the structure of that very system. Creating your own diversity blends and milling your own flour isn’t just about baking to nourish – it is also about challenging the system.
Do we always have to use stoneground, fresh-milled wholegrain flour?
Yes, we use wholegrain organic flour of some kind in every recipe. We often use spelt, einkorn, emmer and rye wholegrain, but if you don’t have a mill, then you can just use organic wholegrain stoneground flour instead. I appreciate that this kind of flour isn’t always available, so, don’t get frustrated. The recipe will still work with a modern wholegrain roller-milled flour. You might find that these flours ferment at a slightly different rate, because modern wheat has a different structure, so always bear that in mind. In the main, they will just take a little longer to ferment, so you will need to adjust your timings accordingly.
Why do we specify in our formulas how a flour is milled?
The way in which the flour is milled affects the rate of fermentation. White roller-milled flour has more surface area, so it absorbs water faster. Stoneground flour (produced through the traditional process of grinding grain between two millstones) has more enzymic activity, nutrients, bran and flavour, and ferments faster. Differing milling processes also affect the rate of assimilation of carbohydrates, which can then affect blood sugar balance.
Which grain mill do we use to mill our own flour?
At the School, we use Mockmill grain mills to mill our grain and Botanical Blends. We use the Mockmill Pro 200 at the School for faster milling, however Mockmill’s most affordable model, the Mockmill 100, is also ideal.
To help you choose the right mill for you, please read all about Mockmill and how to mill your own flour.
Club members also get a 5 per cent discount off Mockmill grain mills – see your Club Member Discount page.
Further reading and resources:
Here you can find out about the different Botanical Ingredients we use in our blends.
Our very own Botanical Blend No. 2: Meadow Blend is pre-made and available to buy in our shop, ready to mill yourself. This is the very first of our own Botanical Blends. All our blends are designed so that you can mill them yourself to create a fresh, high-diversity and nutritionally beneficial flour.
We have also set up a Milling Hub, where Club members and bakers from all over the world can submit details of all the different ingredients they use and where to buy them.
