Okay, so today I’m gonna share my little adventure with making “ground up flour.” I know, sounds kinda basic, but trust me, it was more involved than I thought! Let’s dive right in.
First things first, I started with the grains. I decided to go with a mix of whole wheat berries and some rye berries I had lying around. I measured out roughly two cups total – eyeballing it, you know? Then, I rinsed them really well under cold water. Got rid of any dust or weird floaty bits.
Next, the drying process. I spread the rinsed grains out on a clean kitchen towel and let them air dry completely. This took a good few hours, maybe even half a day. You gotta make sure they’re bone dry, otherwise, your flour will be a sticky mess.
Alright, now for the fun part: grinding! I used my trusty old coffee grinder. Yeah, yeah, it’s not a fancy flour mill, but it gets the job done. I poured a small amount of the dried grains into the grinder – don’t overload it! – and pulsed it a few times to get things going. Then, I let it run continuously until it looked like flour. The key here is to not overheat the grinder. I did it in short bursts, giving it a rest every now and then.
After grinding, I sifted the flour through a fine-mesh sieve. This separates the finer flour from the coarser bits (the bran). What’s left in the sieve, I just ran through the grinder again until it was finer. I repeated this sifting and grinding process until I had used up all the grains.
Finally, I stored the freshly ground flour in an airtight container in the fridge. Keeps it fresh for longer, you know? And that’s it! Ground up flour from scratch. It definitely had a nuttier, more complex flavor than store-bought flour. I used it to make some rustic bread and it was delicious. Would I do it again? Probably, if I’m feeling ambitious. But for everyday baking, I’ll probably stick to the pre-made stuff, haha.
Anyway, hope you found this helpful. Happy grinding!
