Why do I mill my own flour?

There are several reasons people mill flour. The ones that come to mind are:

-Taste
-Nutrition
-Variety of grains available to mill is much greater than the variety flours available to most people
-Self-sufficiency in the event of a food shortage or hardship

The first two, taste and nutrition, are the main reasons that I mill.

Taste: We were using store-bought whole wheat flour previously and when we switched to freshly milled hard white wheat, the difference in taste was amazing. We were using the exact same recipes with the exception of the flour. Everything tastes better. Not just a little better - it is "party in your mouth" better. Why does it taste so much better? First, fresh always tastes better anyway. Store-bought flour has been sitting on a shelf for possibly months. If nothing has been removed, the germ and bran will start to go rancid. Rancid food doesn't taste good. If the germ and bran has been removed, you aren't really getting whole wheat flour anyway so you are losing some nutrition.

If taste was the only reason, I don't think that's enough of a reason to mill my own flour. If I want something that really tastes good, I can add enough really tasty ingredients or buy tasty bread from a local baker if I don't mind spending the money. However, if you put taste and nutrition together, then I'll pay attention. In my next blog post, I'll talk about the nutritional reasons I mill my own flour.

As a sidenote, people have asked if milling provides a cost savings. The answer is: it depends on what you compare it to. My flour is more expensive than white flour however it about the same price as a good store-bought whole wheat flour. However, if you compare buying a quality loaf of bread from a bakery to making your own bread from freshly milled flour, home-baked bread will be cheaper but my time is worth something too so it's not fair comparison. So, do I mill my own flour to save money?... absolutely not - it is a labor of love that I do purely because it tastes so good and I know it is healthier for my family.