Make your own fresh flour at home

That bag of flour from the grocery store might have a picture of beautiful wheat on the label, but the wheat grain must make few stops along the way to the store until it becomes flour. Because oils in the wheat germ can oxidize and become rancid, steps must be taken to remove the fiber-rich bran coating and nutritious wheat germ. In addition, it is bleached with peroxide or chlorine gas to give it a "healthy" white color, and mixed with preservatives like sodium benzoate to retard spoilage. In all, the wheat will go through up to 30 different procedures until it becomes the flour you buy in the shop.

Comparing commercially prepared flour with fresh whole grain flour is like comparing apples and oranges. Since you prepare the flour just when you need it, there is no time for oxidation or spoilage to occur. And with no bleaches or chemical additives, the flavor is richer and nuttier, preserving the grain's original taste. The texture is softer and finer than store-bought flour, with a sweetness that commercial flour doesn't possess. You can also experiment with different grains like oat groats (dehulled oats), rice, triticale, kamut, spelt, buckwheat, barley, rye, millet, teff, quinoa, amaranth, sorghum, soybeans and dent (field) corn.

It's easy to make your own flour at home. Just pour the grain into a mill and watch fresh flour pour out. We recommend the Sana Grain Mill, which is a beautiful machine constructed of the best quality beech wood sourced from environmentally-managed forests. The 360 watt electric motor provides plenty of power for grinding wheat and other dry grains quickly and quietly - up to 100 grams/minute. The 85mm grinding stones are made from a mixture of corundum and ceramic, which makes them extremely durable and strong. By turning the grain hopper, you can adjust the coarseness of the flour produced. Anything from coarse cereal flour to ultra-fine cake flour is possible with the Sana Grain Mill. Made in Germany, it has a 12-year warranty so you can be sure that this machine will be a centerpiece in your kitchen for many years to come.