WSJ article on artisan bakers

[Mike Nolan]

Here's another WSJ article on bread, this one on the benefits of breads made with freshly milled flour.

I can't promise this link will work:
http://on.wsj.com/1W7kFBh

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[Italiancook]

Mike, I don't subscribe to the WSJ, so I can't access this article. Curious though -- does it say where to buy freshly milled flour? The few mills I know of are tourist attractions, not working mills.

Thanks.

[Mike Nolan]

Hmm, I was hoping the link would work, did you try it?

No, the WSJ article focused on professional artisan bakers, not home bakers. It did note that some bakers, like Chad Robertson of Tartine, have started milling their own wheat or cutting deals with local millers. It'll be interesting to see if he writes another volume of the Tartine cookbook series that talks about it.

Those of us with home grain mills have long faced the difficulty of obtaining affordable whole grain for milling. I used to be able to get a 25 pound bag of Wheat Montana hard red wheat for about $14, but both local sources no longer carry it. Most recently I paid about $17 plus shipping to order a 26 pound bucket of it from walmart.com. (Walmart has just started offering free shipping on a lot of items, I guess they're trying to compete with Amazon Prime.)

You could look for a grocery store that has a Wheat Montana in-store grinding station, but a nearby store recently discontinued theirs. Not enough people buying it, I suspect.

The article does say that freshly milled flour should be used in 1-2 weeks, and I'm sure any flour you can buy in bags in a store will be a lot older than that. Peter Reinhart noted in one of his books that freshly milled flour should be used right away, within 24 hours, or allowed to age for 2 weeks.

The article touches on but doesn't really explain how sourdough has a lower glycemic index.

• This reply was modified 8 years, 6 months ago by Mike Nolan.

[Italiancook]

Mike, apologies -- I did not try the link. When I used the link to your previous WSJ article, I was denied access because I'm not a subscriber. Unless I didn't read the message correctly.

Yes, the link to this article does work for me. Thanks. And thanks for the info you provided in your post.

[Nina Beyt]

Oddly, I got right to the article. Thanks, Mike. If anyone wants to read it, I copied and saved it. Though you'll miss the photos.

We are so lucky to have a Grist and Toll right here, not only in LA but right in Pasadena, an easy location on my side of town. How that happened, I can't imagine. Also there are classes and "bakes" in their oven and a portable oven they bring out in conjunction with the bread guild I joined. Not that I have taken advantage of this. It's expensive. It is one of those things I would like to join in if I can get control of my "life and all it's complications". 🙂

[Mike Nolan]

I know King Arthur uses mills in Kansas, because they take staff there on an annual 'know your sources' trek. KSU used to sell grain milled as part of their Grain Institute, but I think they've pretty much shut that sales operation down, and 50 pounds of whole grain flour would last me a year, which defeats the 'freshly milled' aspects.

So for most of us, getting your own grain mill and buying wheat berries may be the only way to get freshly milled whole grain flour on a regular basis. The options for buying wheat berries are pretty limited, so that's going to limit your ability to get flour milled to your specifications. Right now I've got both 'hard red' and 'soft red' berries, so I could do a mix, but I don't have the lab equipment to measure protein content, ash content, etc.

I've seen Wheat Montana White Wheat berries in a 25 pound bag in local stores, but haven't bought any. I bought a bag of white wheat flour a couple of years ago, made two loaves with it, and eventually threw the rest out, because we didn't care for the taste.

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