The flour on the left (the browner, coarser one) is an organic fresh-ground whole wheat. On the right, the commercial whole wheat flour is obviously finer-ground and lighter in color (it’s the Dakota Maid brand, a very consistent and tasty product). So many of you have asked about grinding your own wheat to make whole grain breads, that I decided to try it myself.
OK, I didn’t really grind it myself, I sourced fresh-ground wheat from Sunrise Flour Mill at the Mill City Farmer’s Market, next to the Guthrie Theater in downtown Minneapolis. After Zoe and I did an event and booksigning there, Marty Glanville of Sunrise Flour came by to say hello. She gave me a great home made whole grain bread to try, made from her fresh-ground whole wheat, and I was sold. The flavor is, well, very fresh.
It’s not an absolute requirement for whole wheat bread, but here’s a little on my first experiments with this great flour. Considering how different the fresh-ground product looked compared with commercial whole wheat, I was surprised at how easily this stuff was able to be used in our Master Recipe– with no changes. After some whole wheat talk, a little about the West Coast leg of our book tour (Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco). Continue reading
