Learning to Mill Your Own Wheat Berries
Grinding (aka milling) your own wheat berries provides an excellent source of nutrition. Once something is milled it starts to lose its nutrition, it’s best to store milled wheat/flour in the fridge until your ready to use. I typically mix half and half of freshly ground wheat berries with Costco’s organic all purpose flour to give things a lighter & fluffier texture. I use Hard White & Hard Red berries most often. (Read more below)
Grinding your own berries can be very cost effective in helping you purchase Organic berries because you’ll pay less per lb of berries than already milled flour. Let’s compare from Azure Standard –
All Purpose Organic Unbleached Flour 5 lbs for $8.35
Hard White Wheat Berries 5 lbs for $9.76
This ends up being more cost effective because you’ll use 3/4 cup of berries to make 1 cup of flour, then for each measured out cup for your recipe you’ll use 3 to 4 tablespoons less. See below for more explanation.
PLUS the Health Benefits of freshly ground berries is far superior than the flour sitting on the shelf for months (or years) at a time.
Flour at the store must have the bran & germ removed during milling. Because the bran and germ are where the highest concentration of lipids (oils) reside, which are the primary cause for spoilage and going rancid.
So this means your freshly ground berries has nutrition packed right in those tiny little berries! I suggest milling and storing in the fridge or mill on demand which can be difficult lugging out the grinder every day. I generally mill up a larger class containers (see video above) once a week.
What Kind of Mill To Use
You will need a grinder; the one I use is a Mockmill 100 
If you have a Kitchen Aid you could use their attachment, or another brand that uses ceramic grinding stones is best.
What Type of Wheat Berries You’ll Need
Hard White Wheat Berries are used for baking breads and rolls. I’ve also been using Red Wheat Berries that lends a beautiful texture & nutty flavor that we are really enjoying. Azure Standard has the best prices for Organic Wheat Berries- see if there’s a drop near you!
Soft White Wheat Berries are used for baking sweets and cakes
When measuring out the freshly ground wheat berries you’ll use 2/3 cup of wheat berries that will give you 1 cup of flour. When using the freshly ground wheat you’ll want to use about 3 to 4 tablespoons less per “cup” than the recipe calls for.
Einkorn Berries are known as the “Ancient Grain” this grain has never been altered or hybridized- it also has lower gluten so it is a bit different to bake with. You’ll have to do some adjustments with baking, click HERE to read more tips about baking with Einkorn.
Spelt Grain is also an ancient grain that is unique, it holds it’s nutritional value even after being milled. Click HERE to learn how to bake with Spelt.
Baking With Wheat Berries
When mixing up dough with freshly ground Wheat Berries there are a few rules to keep in mind.
- Use about a 3 to 4 tablespoons less in each “cup” that is required in your recipe
2. It’s a good idea to mix up the dough and let it sit for several minutes to allow the flour to absorb the liquid. Then you can assess correctly if you need to add more liquid or flour
3. When measuring out the freshly ground wheat berries you’ll use 2/3 cup of wheat berries that will give you 1 cup of flour. When using the freshly ground wheat you’ll want to use about 3 to 4 tablespoons less per “cup” than the recipe calls for.
If your interested in learning Sourdough Click HERE
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