Fresh Milled Flour 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Milling Grains
Get ready to transform your bread, pastries, and baked goods with the game-changing practice of milling your own grains! With our beginner’s guide, you’ll have fresh milled whole grain flour in no time.
Nothing compares to the nutty aroma and incredible flavor of breads baked with freshly ground whole wheat flour. Plus, you’ll be getting ALL the nutrients you’ve been missing from store-bought bread and white flour. Freshly milled flour really is a whole food, and who doesn’t love fresh bread?
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What is Fresh Milled Flour?
Fresh milled flour is just flour made by grinding grains (like whole wheat berries) at home. It includes the bran, germ, and endosperm—unlike store bought all-purpose flour, which has been stripped down and shelf-stabilized. This whole-grain combo means more fiber, protein, vitamins, and flavor!
Most commercial flours are heavily processed to remove the bran and germ for a longer shelf life, meaning they lose a ton of flavor, nutrients, and natural oils. Milling your own flour (or buying from a fresh source) brings you back to the way baking was meant to be—wholesome, delicious, and nutritious.
Freshly milled flours retain all of the nutrients that processed flours often have removed or destroyed during commercial milling. “In fact, of the 44 known essential nutrients needed by our bodies and naturally obtained from foods, only 4 are missing from wheat– vitamin A, B12, and C, and the mineral iodine.” – Sue Becker (Source)
Why You Should Bake with Fresh Milled Flour
Let’s be real—grabbing a bag of flour off the grocery store shelf is super easy and convenient. But once you mill your own flour at home, there’s no going back. Milling doesn’t actually take much longer than scooping flour from a bag.
Freshly milled flour is delicious and full of life. Plus, you get total control over what’s in your flour—no bleaching, no preservatives, no mystery additives.
Bread made with fresh ground flour has this warm, nutty depth that store-bought all-purpose just can’t compete with. It’s like the difference between instant coffee and a French press. If you’ve never tried baking with freshly milled flour, you’re in for a treat. Not only does it taste better, but it’s also healthier and more nutrient-dense than store-bought flour.
Sue Becker (aka the Queen of the Real Bread) has been shouting it from the rooftops for decades: freshly milled flour has vitamins, fiber, and enzymes that start to degrade within days of milling. All-purpose flour? It’s stripped of the good stuff to extend shelf life and prevent it from going rancid. It’s dead bread.
There’s also something empowering about milling your own flour. It feels a little old-school and a little magical.
Benefits of Baking with Fresh Milled Flour
- Taste & Aroma: One of the first things you’ll notice when baking with fresh flour is the incredible flavor. Bread, muffins, and cookies take on a rich, nutty, and slightly sweet taste that you just don’t get with pre-packaged flour and bread. The aroma alone will have your kitchen smelling like a cozy bakery!
- Nutrients & Health Benefits: Freshly milled flour is a nutritional powerhouse. Store-bought white flour is stripped of the most beneficial parts of the wheat kernel—the bran and germ—which contain fiber, protein, healthy fats, and essential vitamins like B vitamins and vitamin E.
- More Fiber = Better Digestion: Fresh milled flour is not only nourishing, but it keeps you fuller longer! This bread isn’t mostly air; your breads will have a little heft to them and be a lot heartier than those made with the sifted, shelf-stable stuff. Check out this list of fiber content in different grains.
- No Additives or Preservatives: Commercial flour often contains bleaching agents, preservatives, synthetic vitamins, and stabilizers to keep it fresh on the shelf. When you grind your own flour, you know exactly what’s in it—just pure, natural grain.
- Works as Sourdough: For sourdough lovers, fresh flour ferments great (and can ferment faster), creating a more complex flavor and a healthier final product.
- Longer Shelf Life (as Whole Grains!): Flour starts losing nutrients as soon as it’s milled. But whole grains can be stored for months (even years) without losing their benefits. By keeping whole grains and berries on hand and milling as needed, you always have the freshest flour possible.
From Gluten-Free to Gluten Full
A fun story about me- I was 100% gluten-free for about 9 years until I started milling my flour. After I had our oldest kiddo, I became really sick with some heart and thyroid issues, and at the time, removing gluten and dairy was what helped me regain my health without having to go the major surgery or medication route.
I was super diligent about not eating those things. And, while I was able to reintroduce raw dairy a few years ago, bringing back gluten was not on my radar until my sister mentioned it to me. I laughed it off, not thinking that would ever be possible for me. But the topic kept coming up in conversations.
I was nervous to try freshly milled wheat at first because I did NOT want to be sick again so I spent a lot of time reading, praying, and then listening to Sue Becker’s talks and podcast on the history and benefits of eating “real bread” as she calls it.
She had several guests on her show talking about eating bread again after being gluten-free and how it helped their health rather than hindered it. It wasn’t the gluten, it was the dead and rancid flour. I needed more vitamins.
I went all in after that (which is how I usually do things anyway) and bought the mill, 25 pounds of wheat berries, and immediately started baking bread. That first loaf, which wasn’t beautiful, tasted like heaven after not having “real bread” for so long.
And now, a few years into freshly milling wheat, I am still healthy and actually feel better than I did when I was gluten-free.
How to Get Started with Fresh Milled Flour
Start with quality grains, invest in the right equipment, and practice proper techniques. Whether you’re baking bread, pastries, or exploring gluten-free options, home-milled flour will transform your baking experience. Your first batch of fresh-milled flour awaits!
- Invest in a Grain Mill – There are several types of mills. You can get an electric mill (fast and easy) like Mockmill, Nutrimill, or Wondermill, a KitchenAid attachment, or a manual stone mill (great for off-grid baking). There is an extra cost up front because this is an investment in your health. It is worth it, I promise! Choose a mill that suits your baking volume and budget. Read about why I LOVE my Mockmill 200.
- Choose Your Grain(s)– Wheat berries and grains come in different varieties (read more about my favorite grains to use):
- Hard Wheat (red or white): High in protein, best for yeasted doughs like bread, rolls, and pizza dough (great all-purpose or bread flour replacement).
- Soft Wheat: Lower protein content, great for pastries, cakes, and cookies.
- Ancient Grains: Spelt, einkorn, and rye have unique flavors and are great for adventurous bakers.
- Gluten Free Grains: Buckwheat, corn, oats, and rice give even more range to your baking.
- Get Storage: Buy in bulk and keep extra wheat berries long term in a food grade bucket, only mill what you need when you need it.
- Find Recipes – You can adjust your own recipes or find new favorites. Fresh flour absorbs more liquid than store-bought flour, so you might need to tweak hydration levels and play around with your recipes before you perfect them. Snickerdoodle cookies are a great first recipe!
Tools for Fresh Milled Baking
In addition to a grain mill, there are a few optional tools that make the transition to milling go a little smoother.
- Digital Kitchen Scale: Measuring by weight gives you more consistent results than measuring by volume.
- Storage: Keep grains safely long term, and buy in bulk for the best price.
- We buy large pet food containers, but you can also use 5-gallon buckets with gamma lids.
- We also add in desiccant packs to prevent moisture.
- Avoid leaving wheat berries in paper or plastic bags from the store—pests love them, and moisture can seep in.
- Instead of opening and closing a large bucket every time you need wheat berries, transfer a smaller amount to a working container (like a glass jar) for daily use. This helps keep the rest of your supply sealed and fresh.
- LABEL IT! Once I grabbed what I thought was hard wheat but turned out to be soft wheat…let’s just say there was no big rise.
- Dough Scraper: Makes cutting, moving, and shaping dough a breeze!
- Stand Mixer (or bread machine): A more powerful mixer is needed for fresh milled grains as they are heftier and you don’t want to burn the motor out.
Ingredients to Keep On Hand for Milling & Baking
Here’s a little pantry list for your flour-milling adventures. They are not all required and I don’t use all of these, but it gives you a good idea of what you might need if you are following recipes you’ve found online. You can find many of these in bulk online— Amazon, Azure Standard, Bob’s Red Mill, and local co-ops are great starting points.
- Vital Wheat Gluten (I never use this, but MANY great bakers include it in their recipes)
- Sunflower Lecithin (I usually use egg yolk instead)
- Xanthan gum or psyllium husk (may be needed for gluten-free baking)
- Arrowroot or tapioca starch
- Olive Oil, Butter, or Coconut Oil
- Sweeteners like Sugar, Brown Sugar, Coconut Sugar, Maple Syrup, or Honey
- Active Dry Yeast or Instant Yeast
- Sourdough Starter
Tips for Fresh Milled Flour
So, you’ve fallen down the whole grain rabbit hole and now you’re staring at a bag of wheat berries thinking, “What have I done?” Welcome, friend! I’ve been there, clutching my first bag of hard white wheat like it was a newborn. The journey from all-purpose flour to fresh milled isn’t just about changing ingredients—it’s about changing expectations.
You can always start with a 50/50 blend when you begin to get a feel for it. Mix half all-purpose and half fresh milled to ease into it. Try my Half Whole Wheat Sourdough Boule to start.
As you get more comfortable, go full fresh. Keep a bake journal (yes, nerdy—but super helpful). Jot down how much liquid you used, how the dough felt, how it baked up. You’ll start spotting patterns quickly.
Start small with basic wheat berries like hard white and soft white, and soon you’ll be experimenting with unique grain combinations. Nothing beats the satisfaction of creating truly wholesome baked goods from scratch.
- FMF (fresh milled flour) Absorbs More Liquid: You may need to increase water or milk in your recipe slightly (5-10%) if you using a normal recipe – I always recommend starting with fresh milled flour recipes before trying to adjust your own.
- Conversions: A general rule of thumb (this can vary by grain) is that hard wheats can be substituted for AP flour 1:1, and then soft wheats you may need to add an additional 1/4 cup for every cup of AP flour a recipe calls for. Of course, this can vary and you need to practice!
- Autolyse: Always mix fresh milled flour and liquid and let it rest before adding the other ingredients when you make bread! It needs this time to help the bran hydrate and gluten form. I try to do 30-60 minutes minimum. Even with muffins and pancakes, I like to let the batter rest at least 5-10 minutes before baking.
- Best Fresh: For the fullest nutrition, I recommend using milled flours on demand. Freshly milled flour starts oxidizing immediately and loses vitamins like B and E quickly (source). You can freeze it to slow nutrient loss if needed, but best to just mill what you need.
- Structure: Fresh milled flour behaves differently in dough than AP flour. You might find recipes turn out a bit stickier or denser than you’re used to—but don’t panic. It’s just the flour doing what it was designed to do: hearty breads nourishing you! You’ll also be able to tweak as you learn more. Preferments or starters like Sourdough, Yudane, Tang Zhong, Poolish, or Biga can also help create more structure, flavor, and softer breads.
What Can You Bake with Fresh Milled Flour?
Anything! The possibilities are endless, but what to make first? Here are some of our favorite recipes to bake with freshly milled flour:
- Easy Dinner Rolls – Soft and fluffy and perfect for every meal
- Cookies – Wholesome flavor and perfect texture
- Crescent Rolls – Add your own fillings for easy breakfasts and lunches
- Muffins – Packed with fiber and a delicious nutty taste
- Sourdough Bread – A great 50/50 recipe for the ultimate flavor and texture
- Pie Crust – Super easy recipe
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Every flop is a lesson—and I’ve had some truly ugly loaves that tasted amazing, but don’t let that stop you from trying again. You will mess up. You will have gummy middles and crumbly crusts and think, “WHY DID I DO THIS?” But then you’ll pull out a loaf that smells like heaven, and then it’s all worth it.
Give yourself permission to experiment. Be patient. And don’t compare your whole grain loaf to a store-bought white sandwich bread—they’re playing different games.
- Dense bread? Autolyse longer, try a preferment or starter, or experiment with more water.
- Sticky dough? Don’t panic—wet dough is good dough. Use a bench scraper instead of adding flour to create more structure.
- Weird texture? Let your dough rest more before kneading, or bake it slightly longer (around 200-205 degrees internal temp is good).
- Bugs in your Grains? Worried about weevils? Freezing your wheat berries for 3-4 days when you first buy them can kill off any potential insect eggs (yep, it’s a thing). After that, you can store them at room temperature.
Where Do I Buy Wheat Berries or Grain?
If you’re going to dive into the world of fresh milled flour, you’ll need a good stash of wheat berries—those little powerhouses of flavor, nutrition, and baking magic. But where do you find high-quality wheat berries? There are more and more places offering whole grains, but here are a few of my favs:
- Mockmill has a great variety to start you in your milling journey
- Azure Standard has great local pickups, so you don’t have to pay crazy shipping prices
- Central Milling is a great brand with lots of choices
- Farmer’s Storehouse has a big variety and free shipping over $80!
- Country Life Foods has a great variety
- Amazon even has a variety of wheat berries available
- Local Health Food Stores & Co-ops
- Amish & Mennonite Stores: These stores often sell in bulk at great prices!
If you love baking and want to take it to the next level, fresh milled flour is a total game-changer. You’ll get better taste, improved nutrition, and superior baking results—all while enjoying the process of making something truly wholesome from scratch.
Milling your own flour might seem intimidating at first, but it’s a game-changer once you get the hang of it. And it’s pretty satisfying knowing you’re feeding your family real food—straight from the grain.
If you’ve made it this far, congrats—you’re basically a fresh flour nerd now. And I mean that in the best way. This shift isn’t just about bread. It’s also about the joy of doing something nourishing with your own two hands. I hope my story inspires you to try milling your own flour and savoring truly homemade bread.
Have you tried baking with fresh flour? Let me know in the comments!
FAQs About Fresh Milled Flour
Mostly, yes! You may need to adjust hydration since fresh flour absorbs more liquid.
It’s best used right away for peak freshness. Unlike all-purpose flour, fresh milled flour has a short shelf life. I do not recommend storing it, but rather storing the whole berries and grains.
Yes, but there are many options—from affordable hand-crank mills to high-speed electric or impact mills.
Hard white and soft white are great beginner grains.
Not unless you need a specific texture. Most people use it unsifted for full nutrition.
Over time, yes—especially when buying wheat berries in bulk. Plus, you get way more bang for your nutritional buck.
