Hi Andrew, what a timely article! I bought a Komo mill a couple of weeks ago and am slowly learning to use it effectively, and I have to say, there is a noticeable effect on taste, it makes a huge difference! I have a question though - I’m originally from Austria, and part of the reason I bake my own bread is because it is so hard find good bread in the US. But the German bread baking books I use caution that if you mill your own wheat-based flour (this does not apply to rye), you should let it “ripen” for a week or two before baking bread with it to improve its bread-baking characteristics. I have never seen this in US-based baking books. Do you know anything about that?
Glad you found these articles helpful, congrats on the new mill.
As for your question: "aging" flour can improve its baking performance, as certain compounds in the flour oxidize which allow it to form stronger gluten bonds. (This is the same set of reactions that chemical "bleaching" of flour achieves in a more rapid way.)
But the consensus among bakers seems to be that the flavor advantages of fresh-milled flour outweigh the performance advantages to aging. In other words, if you want the benefit of fresh milling, you should use the flour within 24h of milling.
There also seems to be a temporary dip in performance, meaning that the flour is good during the first 24 hours or so, and good or better after a few weeks of aging, but does exhibit a loss in gluten-forming capability in the interim.
Most bakeries that mill their own flour do use it right away, so if it works for them, it should be good for us home bakers too!
I sometimes use a tiny bit of ascorbic acid in my just-milled flour after reading that some professional bakers use it as an oxidizing agent in freshly milled flour for this purpose. To be honest, I haven't noticed a big difference, but I haven't done a side-by-side comparison bake yet. Any thoughts?
I bought an electric wonder mill (a micronizing impact mill, not stone) last year when it became difficult to buy whole wheat flour. It really is astonishing how much better the flavor of freshly milled wheat is compared to store bought flour. Aside from flavor, I recently learned that many whole wheat flours at the grocery store actually have had the germ removed to prevent rancidity, so we’re really not getting the nutrition we think from “whole wheat” flour. I’ve been making pancakes using 100% freshly ground kamut flour and they really are significantly better than white flour pancakes, which is pretty astonishing. I’ve had great success using 100% freshly milled flour for pizza dough, English muffins, and pitas. For those I usually use a blend of hard white wheat, spelt, and kamut. Over the past month or so I’ve been trying to get a 100% whole wheat sourdough recipe working. I was inspired from a video I saw on the Full Proof Baking YouTube channel. She got a 100% wheat loaf to get a nice rise with an open crumb, which I didn’t even realize was possible! It’s pretty difficult, in my experience, to figure out the optimal hydration for the flours you’re using, but even when the loaves aren’t picture perfect they still taste amazing.
Hi Andrew, what a timely article! I bought a Komo mill a couple of weeks ago and am slowly learning to use it effectively, and I have to say, there is a noticeable effect on taste, it makes a huge difference! I have a question though - I’m originally from Austria, and part of the reason I bake my own bread is because it is so hard find good bread in the US. But the German bread baking books I use caution that if you mill your own wheat-based flour (this does not apply to rye), you should let it “ripen” for a week or two before baking bread with it to improve its bread-baking characteristics. I have never seen this in US-based baking books. Do you know anything about that?
Thank you! Love your blog!
Ruth—
Glad you found these articles helpful, congrats on the new mill.
As for your question: "aging" flour can improve its baking performance, as certain compounds in the flour oxidize which allow it to form stronger gluten bonds. (This is the same set of reactions that chemical "bleaching" of flour achieves in a more rapid way.)
But the consensus among bakers seems to be that the flavor advantages of fresh-milled flour outweigh the performance advantages to aging. In other words, if you want the benefit of fresh milling, you should use the flour within 24h of milling.
There also seems to be a temporary dip in performance, meaning that the flour is good during the first 24 hours or so, and good or better after a few weeks of aging, but does exhibit a loss in gluten-forming capability in the interim.
Most bakeries that mill their own flour do use it right away, so if it works for them, it should be good for us home bakers too!
Very interesting, thanks for the speedy reply. And I’m very glad, it’s hard to set freshly-milled flour aside for a week!
I sometimes use a tiny bit of ascorbic acid in my just-milled flour after reading that some professional bakers use it as an oxidizing agent in freshly milled flour for this purpose. To be honest, I haven't noticed a big difference, but I haven't done a side-by-side comparison bake yet. Any thoughts?
I bought an electric wonder mill (a micronizing impact mill, not stone) last year when it became difficult to buy whole wheat flour. It really is astonishing how much better the flavor of freshly milled wheat is compared to store bought flour. Aside from flavor, I recently learned that many whole wheat flours at the grocery store actually have had the germ removed to prevent rancidity, so we’re really not getting the nutrition we think from “whole wheat” flour. I’ve been making pancakes using 100% freshly ground kamut flour and they really are significantly better than white flour pancakes, which is pretty astonishing. I’ve had great success using 100% freshly milled flour for pizza dough, English muffins, and pitas. For those I usually use a blend of hard white wheat, spelt, and kamut. Over the past month or so I’ve been trying to get a 100% whole wheat sourdough recipe working. I was inspired from a video I saw on the Full Proof Baking YouTube channel. She got a 100% wheat loaf to get a nice rise with an open crumb, which I didn’t even realize was possible! It’s pretty difficult, in my experience, to figure out the optimal hydration for the flours you’re using, but even when the loaves aren’t picture perfect they still taste amazing.