Milling Around with Chrys and Shellie

September 10, 2024

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Milling Around with Chrys and Shellie

Shellie here, and I want to start with a bit of disclaimer. I’ve not been in the milling life for long, but I am all in. I can’t see myself ever going back to eating or serving “dead bread” to my people. It’s not just what I’ve been learning about storebought flour and bread products and what has been done to our food to make it shelf stable and convenient. It’s truly information that’s hard to ignore once you understand the enormity of it. Here’s the shortest possible story:

Whole-grain kernels have three parts — the bran, endosperm, and germ. These give us phytonutrients, vitamins, and antioxidants, which work together to protect us against chronic disease. Our refined grains, on the other hand, get rid of the bran and germ in the processing and replace them with additives. We, the consumers, lose the beneficial fiber and important nutrients we can’t get any other way while unwittingly consuming harmful chemicals.

All this being true, I’m also in it the milling life for the long term because of the actual experience our family is enjoying with this delicious bread, (and rolls, and cookies, and muffins, etc.) Our bodies are noticeably responding. The health benefits of true bread are real and measurable. Fresh milling is also doable, even in the busiest of lifestyles. I’ve compiled a list of the basic products you’ll need to get started below, along with a few of my favorite recipes and the bread Chrys and I baked in the video.

Product Links

The mill: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UI37N8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_image?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hard White Wheat (used for bread):

https://a.co/d/faLzGPH

Soft White Wheat (used for most other baked goods like cookies and muffins):

https://a.co/d/cSiNXFi

One of the tools that can help you incorporate fresh milled bread into your lifestyle is a bread machine. You don’t have to have one and there are less costly versions but here’s one I recommend with confidence:

https://a.co/d/gizKGiR

Let’s Get Baking! The Bread Recipe from our video clip: https://grainsinsmallplaces.net/everyday-sandwich-bread-made-with-fresh-milled-flour-easy-recipe/

INSTRUCTIONS

Mill the flour
Then, to a microwave safe bowl add water, milk, and butter and microwave until the butter is melted completely.
Add water/milk/butter mixture to stand mixer bowl, then add sugar, egg, and salt. Mix to combine.
Then, add flour to the stand mixer, and start to mix until all the dry flour is gone.
Cover and let it sit at room temperature for at least 15 minutes, up to 2 hours to allow the fresh milled flour to absorb the liquid.
Then, add the instant yeast. Start to mix the yeast in until combined.
Start the kneading process. This could take 25 minutes with fresh milled flour, or less. This varies greatly, so the best way to check if the dough is done being kneaded, is to check for a windowpane test. (A windowpane test simply means you can stretch a little of the kneaded dough between your fingers and see through it without it tearing.)
Once a successful windowpane test is done, then, cover the dough and let it rise until doubled. This will typically take 1 to 2 hours.
After the dough has doubled in size, then, divide the dough in half. I like to use some oil on my hands and work surface to help with the wetter stickier dough.
Press each piece flat, then roll up to shape. Make sure there is some surface tension.
Place in a parchment paper lined 4×8 bread pan, and cover for about 40-50 minutes until puffy looking.
Preheat oven to 350*F towards the end of this second rise time.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 190*F.
Take bread out of the oven, and out of the bread tins right away, and place them on a wire cooling rack.
Let cool for at least one hour before slicing.
Slice to desired thickness and enjoy!