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Benefits of Freshly Milled Flour
Freshly milled flour seems to be all the rage right now and for good reason. Many people are making the switch from conventional store bought flours to freshly milled flours and once I learned about the many benefits I knew I had to make the switch for my family. In fact I felt so strongly about it that I used an old coffee grinder to mill the grains while saving up for my dream mill. I was able to transition my family, who had been gluten free for more than decade to freshly milled einkorn flour and the difference it has made for us has been huge. Even people who are truly gluten intolerant or have Celiac’s can benefit from freshly milled gluten free flours like millet, sorghum, or rice.
Here are just a few of the many reasons you might want to consider making the switch your self. Freshly milled flour is nutritionally superior. It’s glyphosate free. Wheat berries can be stored for decades. It’s s also cheaper. I save my large family hundreds of dollars by milling our own flour. Check out my favorite place to bulk buy grains for the best price, Azure Standard.
Keep reading to learn more about the many benefits of freshly milled flour.
Nutrient Retention
From the moment a grain is milled it begins to lose nutrients. Whether you’re using traditional wheat flour, organic flours, or a gluten free flours, within 72 hours of milling a grain there’s little to no nutritional value left. When buying flour from the store it’s often been sitting on the shelf for 3-6 months or longer. Freshly milled flour if used within 24 hours retains 90-95% of its nutrients.
In addition to rapidly losing nutrients from the moment it is milled store bought flours are processed in such a why that further depletes it’s nutrients. They are stripped of the germ and bran, which is where many of the nutrients come from, in order to help prolong the shelf life.
Store bought flours are then fortified with synthetic nutrients and preservatives. These additives are often made from harmful cancer causing ingredients like petroleum and coal tar. You can read more about synthetic vitamins and minerals here.
Lastly when the bran and germ remain intact as they do with freshly milled flours they provide important enzymes that help us to digest the grains properly. Not having these enzymes in store bought flours is just one of many reasons people have trouble digesting grains.
Glyphosate
Glyphosate aka round up is an herbicide that conventional wheat is treated with. Yes you read that correctly! The wheat that later becomes your flour and is in other products that line the grocery store shelves is sprayed with glyphosate. In fact the use of glyphosate on wheat is largely responsible for so many people being gluten intolerant. Glyphosate literally destroys our gut lining and is also a carcinogen. Read more about it here.
We made the switch to freshly milled flour and use organic einkorn wheat berries that are certified glyphosate free. After a decade of being gluten free my family is able to enjoy delicious baked goods, sourdough bread, and more without the hassle of gluten free baking.
Even if you are an individual who is truly gluten intolerant or have Celiac’s you can still benefit from milling your own gluten free grains. Because let’s face it gluten free products are still full of preservatives and additives that can be harmful to our health.
Store your wheat berries for decades
As previously mentioned store bought flours are heavily processed and full of preservatives to help prolong the shelf life. Even still these nutritionally depleted flours have a limited shelf life from anywhere to a few months to a couple years depending on how old the flour was when you bought it.
Conversely wheat berries, when stored properly, have a shelf life of 30+ years. Making them an ideal addition to your food storage. Whether you’re a big time prepper who wants to have several years worth of food for your family or you just like to have a few months of extra supplies on hand just in case wheat berries are a must.
You never know when you might lose your job, experience a natural disaster, or have a prolonged power outage. Being able to mill flour and bake anything is an easy way to be prepared for anything. Find my favorite manual mill here. That way even a prolonged power outage won’t keep your from your freshly milled flour.
Better Quality
Another major benefit of freshly milled flour is the quality. Everything made with our freshly milled flour not only tastes better but just comes out better. Better texture, better look, better taste, better in every way! It’s hard to find ways to describe just how much better baking with freshly milled flour is but suffice it to say I will never go back to store bought flours. You just can beat the quality that freshly milled flour gives you.
Save Big
If all the previously mentioned benefits weren’t enough you’ll save a lot of money in the long run. While it’s true milling your own flour will mean investing in a mill, that mill will pay for it’s self within a year depending on your family size and how much flour you use. For my large family of 8 our mill paid for itself within 6 months. Shop my favorite mills by Nutrimill and save an additional $20 with my code MELHOLISTICLIFESTYLE20
Once your initial mill investment is out of the way you’ll save so much money on flour every month.
Pound for pound wheat berries cost a fraction of the cost that store bought flours cost. You can get organic, certified glyphosate free, wheat berries for $1.50-$2.50 a pound. Whereas organic store bought flour will easily cost you $4-$5 a pound.
Our wheat berry of choice is organic einkorn and we get our berries from Azure Standard for just over $2 a pound. If I were to buy organic einkorn flour I would easily spend $6 a pound.
Azure Standard carries a variety of wheat berries that are even cheaper. You can also find gluten free grains like millet, sorghum, and buckwheat.
Not only will you spend significantly less on flour but once you start making things from scratch with your freshly milled flour you’ll save even more. From bread to cookies to cakes making things from scratch will always be cheaper.
Time Investment
You might be reading this thinking everything sounds great but wondering if you even have the time to start milling your own flour.
As a busy homeschool and homesteading momma of 6, let me reassure you, milling your own flour doesn’t take much time. If you have a high quality mill like the ones at Nutrimill you can mill several cups of flour in minutes.
Even when I was milling half a cup at a time with a coffee grinder while saving up for my mill it really didn’t take that long.
If I know ahead of time everything I will be baking that day I can mill all the flour I need for the day very quickly. Even if I find myself needing flour at the last minute I can mill what I need in less time than it takes to bloom yeast or soften butter.
Final Thoughts
In a nut shell freshly milled flour provides a nutritionally superior flour that is glyphosate free, cheaper than store bought flour, and tastes a thousand times better.
I am always looking for simple changes I can make to better my families health and to save my family money. Milling my own flour is an easy change that accomplishes both goals without compromising quality.
Get your mill and grains and start milling your own flour today! And don’t forget my code MELHOLISTICLIFESTYLE20 to save an additional $20 off at Nutrimill.