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Home Milling with my Mockmill
Since I got my Mockmill, I’ve been using it several times a week in my bread baking, pasta making, and for cookies and other treats. Milling whole grains meshes perfectly with my three intertwining goals as a baker/cook: great flavor, high nutritional value, and convenience. The food I make has to taste good for my family to eat it; it has to be nutritious for my family’s health and well-being; and the preparation process has to be efficient and fit into my busy day. The Mockmill makes extra flavorful fresh flour that’s higher in nutrition, and it’s easy and fast to use: a win on all three fronts.
*Scroll down for links to recipes that use only home milled flour*
FLAVOR
Fresh milled flour is more aromatic and stronger in flavor than flour that has been stored for months, and being able to use it right away avoids rancidity from the oxidation of oils. Milling at home is not just a flavor win because of freshness, though, it’s also about discovering new flavors and ways to use the mill e.g. realizing I can make fresh corn tortillas or black bean farinata or chickpea pasta.
I also get inspiration from other Mockmill users e.g. @nmuvu on Instagram, who puts all sorts of things in her mill, including dried herbs and mushrooms. Creative dishes aside, one of the most rewarding thing about milling at home has been exploring wheat, specifically discovering the different flavors, aromas and dough behavior of so many wheat varieties.
Some wheat is less thirsty; some is more stretchy. Some wheat smells like grass, and some like cinnamon. Some wheat tastes nutty, and others are earthy or a little sweet. I can play with flavors and customize the flour combinations in so many ways.
Top row: Einkorn, Warthog Hard Red Winter, Hard White Spring, Sprouted Hard Red Spring, Turkey Red.
Bottom row: Rye, Durum, White Sonora, Ethiopian Blue Tinge Emmer
Not pictured but also beloved: Red Fife, Spelt, Emmer, Kamut, Soft White Winter, Pima Club, Yecora Rojo, Rouge de Bordeaux, Bolles, Serafino Rye, Bono Rye
For example, here was an extra soft and nicely flavored all whole grain flour sourdough bread at roughly 70% turkey red wheat and 30% white sonora wheat.
Soft bread using 70:30 turkey red-to-white sonora
NUTRITION
All this fun experimentation would be enough for me to enjoy home-milling on occasion, but I’m a frequent miller because the resulting flour is also more nutritious than using whole grain flour that has been sitting on a shelf for a time. When you mill whole grains, you unlock nutrients; and using the flour right away minimizes the degradation of vitamins and minerals.
Whole grains are nutrition storage units (consuming them is correlated with longevity) and unlike flour, they can be stored for a minimum of six months under normal conditions (cool, dark closed containers) and years under optimal conditions (vacuum sealed or frozen).
I love being able to keep a broad inventory of wheat berries and other whole grains on my basement shelves, where temps are in the 60s, without worrying about spoiling, and milling at home has inspired me to use flavorful whole grain flours in just about everything, even the family’s treats.
CONVENIENCE
I have the Mockmill 200 and now the Mockmill Pro 100, and both models are easy to use. The Pro doesn’t require calibration, and the original Mockmill has easy-to-follow calibration instructions.
I find that milling into a mixing bowl is just as easy as scooping flour out of a bag or bin, and when a recipe calls for sifting flour, milling into the mixing bowl is effortless “sifting.”
The Mockmill is also durable, and I say this as someone whose superpower is breaking or, as I like to call it, “deactivating” things. Last year, I accidentally milled flax seeds several times on too fine a setting, essentially making flax butter on the mill stones. Once I realized I shouldn’t have done this, I was able to remedy the issue in a few minutes by running rice through the mill. This video shows how easy it is to clean the Mockmill.
Home milling with the Mockmill enhances the flavor and nutrition of what I cook and bake. It’s easy to use, hard to break and as you can see below, looks great on my counter.
The Mockmill Pro, occupying its permanent spot in my kitchen.
RECIPES WITH ONLY FRESH MILLED WHOLE GRAIN FLOURS
Here are instructions for converting sourdough recipes to yeast and vice versa.
Artisan Breads
Whole Grain Sourdough Rustic Country Loaf
Basic Whole Wheat Yeast Bread
Traditional Whole Grain Miche
Slow Lazy Sourdough Bread
Bolles Wheat Sourdough
Yecora Rojo Sourdough Breads
Rouge de Bordeaux Sourdough Breads
Spelt Bread Recipe
Whole Emmer Sourdough Bread
Tourte de Seigle 100% Rye Bread
Whole Grain Kamut Sourdough Bread
White Sonora Wheat Sourdough Bread
Spelt and Kamut Whole Grain Sourdough
Whole Wheat Oat Porridge Sourdough Bread
Maple Oat and Wheat Sourdough Bread
Whole Grain Cranberry and Walnut Sourdough Bread
Corn Cheddar Jalapeno Sourdough Breads
Broa de Milho Portuguese Corn-and-Rye Bread
Grain Mash Sourdough Anadama Bread
Lithuanian Black Rye Sourdough Bread
Panis Quadratus Ancient Bread of Pompeii
Whole Wheat Tsoureki (Greek Easter Bread)
Whole Grain Challah
Turkey Red Turkey (Shaped) Bread
Whole Grain Desem Bread
Chia Pudding Sourdough Bread
Spelt and Rye-Scald Sourdough Bread
Einkorn Sourdough Hearth Bread
No Knead Whole Wheat Sourdough
Sandwich and Pan Breads
Whole Wheat Sourdough Hokkiado Milk Bread
Naturally Leavened Rye and Oat Bread
Naturally Leavened Einkorn Bread
Danish Rugbrod
Gluten Free Fermented Buckwheat Bread
Home Milled Cornbread
Pizza, Bagels, Rolls, Baguettes, Ciabatta
Whole Grain Sourdough Pizza
Spelt Thin-Crust Pan Pizza
Whole Grain Sourdough Bagels
Whole Grain Turkish Simit
Whole Grain Potato Dinner Rolls
German Souls Bread Schwabische Seelen
Scottish Bannocks with Oat and Sprouted Wheat Flours
Whole Grain Baguettes
Whole Grain Spelt Sourdough Ciabattas
Flatbreads, Crackers
Whole Wheat Pita Bread
Organic Rye Crackers
Organic Heritage Graham Crackers
Piadina Italian Flatbread (Emmer Variation)
Whole Grain Spelt Matzos
Faina Chickpea Flour Pancake
Knekkebrød — Norwegian Crisp Bread
Pasta
Emmer Wheat (Farro) Pasta
Sprouted Wheat Pumpkin Pasta
Desserts and Sweets
Cookies
Whole Grain Ginger Snaps
Oatmal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Almost Granola Bar Cookies
Einkorn Chocolate Mint Chunk Cookies
Biscotti Traditional and Whole Grain Kamut
Spiced Embossed Shortbread Cookies
Whole Wheat and Rye Chocolate Chip Cookies
Raspberry Pistachio Pinwheel Cookies
Pies, Tarts, Buns, Crumbles, and Crisps
Whole Grain Sourdough Date Rolls
Whole Grain Chelsea Buns with Cinnamon and Sage
Whole Grain Pop Tarts
Pastiera Napoletana
Apple Pie with White Sonora Wheat Crust
Emmer Wheat Pie Crust (Blueberry Filling)
Canadian Butter Tarts
Strawberry Rhubarb Einkorn Crumble
Spelt and Oat Apple Crisp
Cakes, Muffins, Brownies, and Quickbreads
Moist Whole Wheat Apple Sharlotka Cake
Heritage Wheat Strawberry Shortcake
Butternut Squash Bread with Dark Chocolate and Walnuts
Whole Wheat Carrot Muffins
Ancient Grain Zucchini and Chocolate Chip Muffins
Khorasan (Kamut) Brownies
Organic Heritage Grain Banana Bread
Mămăligă (Romanian Corn Porridge)
Experiments and Research
Scalding Experiment with Spelt Sourdough
Baking Bread with Low Gluten Wheat
Whole Grain Sourdough Long vs. Short Autolysis
Fermentation Increases Antioxidants in Whole Grains
How to Get an Open Crumb with Whole Grain Sourdough Bread
Challenging Sourdough Starter Convention
Sourdough Microbiomes and Bread Flavor
How to Sprout Grains
Demystifiying Sourdough Bread Baking
Einkorn Sourdough Hearth Bread (Testing Methods)
No Knead Whole Wheat Sourdough (Hydration Comparison)
Home Milling with my Mockmill