Nowadays, many people are placing greater importance on the quality of the food they consume and products they purchase. The trend toward choosing fresh milled, whole grain, organic flour is no exception. At brodflour, we’re passionate about this cause (duh) and figured it was time to start a conversation around the importance and benefits of using fresh-milled flour.

From Canada, With Love

All of our grain is sourced from local Canadian producers. Whether you choose to purchase our fresh-milled flour or prefer milling your grain at home, it will be damn-near impossible to import a sack of wheat berries for home baking from another country of your choosing. This means you’re likely using wheat from local Canadian producers, too.

Canadian grain farming has a long history and remains a massive part of the Canadian agriculture industry. Out of a total of 44.6 million tonnes of exported crops in 2018, wheat contributed to 18.2 million tonnes. The long-standing cultural tradition of producing and exporting wheat has made our country one of the best in growing high-quality, flavourful grains. One of our favourite grains to use in our bread, Red Fife, was developed in 1842 by Dave Fife, a farmer in Peterborough, Ontario.

Your Gut Will Thank You

Despite the increased popularity in the fight to villainize gluten (don’t get us started), bread made with fresh-milled flour contains an abundance of healthy vitamins and minerals. When fresh wheat berries are ground, the whole grain is still intact, including the bran, germ, and endosperm. The bran is the fibrous outer part of the grain that contains most of the nutrients, including B vitamins and minerals. The germ also has a host of good nutrients – B vitamins, vitamin E, phytochemicals and healthy fats – to name a few. Finally, the middle part of the grain, the endosperm, is the starchy component that contains trace amounts of proteins and vitamins.

Many commercial wheat products use refined flour. The process of refining flour strips away the bran and germ during milling, leaving only the endosperm. Commercial wheat products using refined flour may consistently produce more airy and fluffy bread and pastries but the product is rendered nutritionally inferior.

So Will Your Tastebuds

Through the milling process, essential oils within the wheat berries are released, adding to the complex flavour of the grain. The longer flour sits on the shelf, the duller the minerals and essential oils become. This is why it is important to bake with your fresh milled flour within a couple of days to yield the most flavourful loaf.

Using fresh-milled flour also allows you to control what wheat you’re using. For example, at brodflour, we use Prairie Hard Red flour as our high-protein bread flour. If you opt to use a shelf-stable bag of bread or all-purpose flour, you don’t necessarily know what wheat the flour is made from. Choosing fresh-milled flour gives you the freedom to play with different grains depending on what flavour you’re after. Spelt flour, for example, is characterized by a nutty flavour and aroma, whereas rye flour has more of a sweet tanginess to it.

We’re biased, of course, but bread made with fresh-milled organic flour is just all-around better – whether you’re looking for bread with more nutritional value and better flavour or want to support Canadian producers.

brodflour admin

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