www.sausagemaking.org

Well, if not daily then about three times a week. Here's some pictures of the latest grind:




750grams of wheat in the bowl ready to go into the hopper of the Kenwood grain mill. NB home smoked garlic in the background.




Now we're grinding.




Resulting flour with all the bran. I sieved out 130 grams, which I keep for cereal etc.



Flour after sieving, ready to be mixed with strong white giving about a 60/40mix up to 1000grams.



The finished loaf. This is a huge loaf baked in a tin I got in TK Max. The inside measures 14inches by 6inches. That'll feed the troops!

Nice loaf! Is that a meerkat standing guard on the windowsill?

Dave

Wouldn't it be fun to have a meerkat standing guard in the kitchen. In fact it's 'Bruin the biccy bear' bought when my daughter was 3 years old, she's forty this year, which makes Bruin 37. He is one of those objects you don't know what to do with, but can't throw away!

Ahh! There's no emoticon for green with envy. I've got to have on of those mills. Nice loaf Jenny.
Phil

View more Emoticons :

Doh!

Thanks Dave

Wheels, it is a seriously nice piece of kit, as is the pasta making attachment, but that has to be another thread!

I've got the pasta making attachment, but Spuddy had to remind me how to use the measuring jug

Dave

Dave, what would you do without this forum?

Hi Jen,

I do about three loaves a week, usually with the breadmaker, but sometimes do just a dough and cook it in the Rayburn. My mum has a Kenwood chef with loads of attachments, but not a flour mill and she doesn't use the thing anymore so I may just "borrow" it.

I have read about milling wheat for bread and it appeals as i keep reading of additives to flour to give the shelf life. Do you no longer buy flour at all?? even for cakes etc, and how would you use home milled grain to do flour for, say, a victoria sandwich? Is there a noticeable difference in your own milled grain against flour bought in Tesco?

I can get the grain mill online for �49 to fit the Kenwood model my mum has, and I have found a supplier of organic wheat for flour milling in Lancashire ( I like to keep the food miles low & �18.50 for 20kg bag inc free delivery is their price - is this reasonable? ) so it is an easy way to go with relatively low set up costs.

Sorry for all the questions....I just want to get on and do it!!


Cheers,

Mike.

Edit - correction of wheat price.

Hi Mike,

Yes I do buy flour still. I've been over to Denver Mill this afternoon and stocked up, but I find I am grinding a lot of my own flour now and have made some good fruit cakes as well as bread. I've not tried a sponge, I think that would need more refined flour, or just keep sieving the bran out. I find the flavour more intense with the home ground, and if you leave the bran in you get something like black bread. The more bran you sieve out the lighter the loaf, I usually leave some in for a bit of texture.

HTH

Jen

I've made a sponge but I didn't like it... too 'earthy' for me. However I didn't sieve any bran out at all.

I use hard wheat for breadmaking and soft wheat for making sauces cakes etc.

I find a mix of 50% freshly milled wheat and 50% white flour gives a nice rise and texture.

I've got a granite flour mill that does mill finer than the Kenwood one but is rather expensive so if cost is an issue then just use a kenwood and sieve out big bits of bran. I don't sieve my bran at all unless I run out of white and have to use all freshly milled.

I've just ground some four grain porridge from Waitrose with the Kenwood and made up some fruit and nut snack bars. They are cooling now and look and smell good. I shall try a loaf with it tomorrow, probably mixing it with some home ground wheat.

jenny_haddow wrote:I've just ground some four grain porridge from Waitrose with the Kenwood and made up some fruit and nut snack bars. They are cooling now and look and smell good. I shall try a loaf with it tomorrow, probably mixing it with some home ground wheat.

Oooh I like the sound of those!

Have you tried cracking oat groats in the mill and making porridge? Its delicious, nothing like the stuff you buy. I hardly need any milk to make it creamy because the oat milk is so good!

I've made some good progress on sourcing a grain supply this morning. I decided to call Denver Mill where I buy my flour and ask if they would sell me a bag of wheat. After a long chat with the owner he is happy to supply me with local organic wheat in 25kilo bags @ 60p a kilo or �15. He is planning to expand the shop to include more bread making stuff as he is surprised at the amount of interest there is in home bread making, so any of you within striking distance of Downham Market in Norfolk it could be worth a visit.
At the moment they are working flat out round here to get in the crops, and he is expecting delivery in about 4 weeks time of some very high quality organic wheat from the fields near the mill. Anyway, I'm going to pick up this bag today so I'll keep you posted.

Shirl, I'll give the oat groats a try. Oats are such a healthy grain, I often chuck a few into my bread.

Jen