Traditional flour
For my birthday, I got a KoMo grain mill for making “stone ground” flour. I made flour according to the instructions and was very disappointed. All across the internet were either similar instructions, or “follow the instructions that came with your mill”.
Instead, I have been experimenting. I find that the traditional idea of milling “midlings”, bolting, and re-milling produces a much better flour, resulting in baked goods with better texture and better flavor. The bran sifted/bolted out of the midlings is added to our morning oatmeal where it adds nutrition and a pleasant nutty flavor. Nothing from the wheat is wasted.
No, I have not mastered milling – I have only gotten far enough to recognize that it is a craft that takes real skill. I recognize that my little mill will do much more than the manufacturer’s instructions indicate. And, the bread from the improved home-milled flour is much better than bread from commercial flours or bread baked from recipes in baking books that say, “follow the instructions that came with your grain mill”.
And, the traditional flour, resolves some issues I have had making sourdough pancake and sourdough waffles. I was never quite satisfied with sourdough pancakes and sourdough waffles made from either commercial white flour or commercial whole wheat flour. And yet, baking powder was a Victorian invention, so some time back in history, sourdough pancakes and sourdough waffles must have been real things – but we mostly hear about sourdough pancakes in Paul Bunyan Lumberjack stories. Well!, using freshly milled, traditional flour, sourdough pancakes, waffles, crumpets, “scones”, “buns” and etc, take on a real glory.
I can make the kind of white flour baguettes that one finds in most good baker’s shops, but yesterday when a sick friend needed a real treat, I baked her a sourdough baguette from traditional fresh milled flour. This morning (Sunday) my wife got sourdough waffles – made with less than half the egg, sugar, and butter in most modern waffle recipes, and they were excellent. The fresh/traditional flour needs less “support” to make a good product. Much of what I learned as a pastry man/baker is unnecessary when using better flour.
This is not about my skill as a cook, but the fact that sourdough starter and traditional (fresh) flour are very easy to combine to produce superior products. (Easier than white flour and sourdough.) The converse is that the white flour produced from the roller mills that become popular after 1870, was easier to store and transport without vermin infestation, and thus cheaper. And, white flour with baker's yeast produces more voluminous bread faster, and cheaper.
My takeaway is that Paul Bunyan’s cook had a quern and ground his flour fresh! He had an assistant mill the flour into midlings, bolt the midlings, and then re-mill into “fines”. (What all the details were, I do not know!!) The resulting flour produced legendary sourdough breads and pancakes – even under lumberjack camp conditions.
