Baking with Sprouted Grains, A follow up

Yes, we are still on this band-wagon. And, while I can’t say I know for sure that in health we’re a whole lot better off, we have completely replaced sandwich bread with homemade sourdough, and slowly I’ve begun using our sprouted flour in all of my baking. Sadly, the effect has been less baking, but I’m catching on to the process, and really enjoying the exploration.

The hardest part, by far, is milling the grain. Though the mill works great, it takes longer than I expected and is loud. If we had a garage I’d stick it out there and let it go, but as it is the kitchen is the only suitable milling area, making the rest of the ‘great’ room sort of uncomfortable on account of the noise. 

Never-the-less, I’m here to say that I’m really looking forward to exploring this more. And, to show some pictures and share some reviews of what baking with sprouted whole wheat flour looks like around here.

Bread. Excellent. My main worry is that, by looking at freshly milled flour compared to store bought, it looks coarse. The texture had me worried baked goods would end up heavy as they tend to with store-bought whole wheat. This is not so at all. We did learn that sifting out a bit of the hulls while we’re grinding seems to really keep the flour from making bricks. Our bread is light and fluffy and sort of melts in your mouth. Perfection. The kids gobble it up and there are no complaints about the crust being hard. Clean plates, and they’ve even requested toast for breakfast several times which has never been a common breakfast option ’round here…

Then there was Drew’s birthday Strawberry Rhubarb pie. The courseness of the flour made me worry about the crispy texture everyone loves in pie crust, I was afraid of rubbery and tough pie that might ruin the little surprise I whipped up for him (he claims this pie is the reason we’re married, so there’s a bit of pressure whenever I make one). But, the only difficulty was the darkness compared to regular unbleached white flour–it was a bit difficult to tell when the crust had browned because it’s darker, but by keeping a close eye on it and watching for ‘moist-ish-looking-bubbles’ on top to disappear, I think I figured it out, and I haven’t heard much but the smacking of lips from Drew–and of course the ‘this is how your mother tricked me into wedlock’ anecdote he loves sharing with the girls. Everyone wanted seconds and thirds and the rest hides safely in the back of the fridge for Drew to devour (and share bits with me) at his leisure.

Even if you don’t sprout, just milling your own flour adds back much of the nutrition you lose in flours from the store which is either rancid or full of preservatives. So, search out a mill that might work for you and if you find a whisper quiet and efficient one, let me know. Thanks.