Generally Yes a finer flour will produce a lighter loaf but their is also the possibilty to use technique such as a poolish with wheat or rye and get a light loaf.
I can't directly answer your question, but I use a burr mill and grind my whole grain 3x. I have no problems with the bran destroying the gluten network (I did have problems with a 1x grind). I also add ascorbic acid (Vit' C). Once I did both of those things, the fine grinding and the addition of Vit' C, all of my gluten problems disappeared. I also add lecithin, but for other reasons.
Can your stone mill grind flour to an ultra fine consistency? I have heard of some that can only grind once to a certain consistency and that's it. Running the first grind through again does something negative to the stone. I don't need an answer, it's just something for you to find out about your mill.
Steve, I have been grinding at home for a year or two. Your post was the most reasoned explanation of why to add vitamin C, so I did it today for the first time using Hamelman's baguette with 33 % poolish. I made two identical loaves, with vitamin C added to the final loaf of one of the two. Over the 3 hour bulk fermentation, I did not see much difference, and didn't see a difference in the final proof. However there was a better oven spring with the vitamin C loaf and it came out taller . Thanks for the post.
What flour mill did you buy?
What grain are you milling?
Generally Yes a finer flour will produce a lighter loaf but their is also the possibilty to use technique such as a poolish with wheat or rye and get a light loaf.
Dan
I can't directly answer your question, but I use a burr mill and grind my whole grain 3x. I have no problems with the bran destroying the gluten network (I did have problems with a 1x grind). I also add ascorbic acid (Vit' C). Once I did both of those things, the fine grinding and the addition of Vit' C, all of my gluten problems disappeared. I also add lecithin, but for other reasons.
Can your stone mill grind flour to an ultra fine consistency? I have heard of some that can only grind once to a certain consistency and that's it. Running the first grind through again does something negative to the stone. I don't need an answer, it's just something for you to find out about your mill.
Steve, I have been grinding at home for a year or two. Your post was the most reasoned explanation of why to add vitamin C, so I did it today for the first time using Hamelman's baguette with 33 % poolish. I made two identical loaves, with vitamin C added to the final loaf of one of the two. Over the 3 hour bulk fermentation, I did not see much difference, and didn't see a difference in the final proof. However there was a better oven spring with the vitamin C loaf and it came out taller . Thanks for the post.