Purchasing wheat berries can be surprisingly difficult.

When I started milling my own flour I was very confused. I had such a hard time finding reputable wheat berries that I purchased sketchy bags of grains from e-bay.

Whoops.

Thankfully, you’re not doomed to the fate of random wheat berries from e-bay. (Is that website even still a thing anymore?)

If you’re going to make your own flour, you’re going to need wheat berries.

So, no more gatekeeping. Today I’m walking you through your best (& worst!) options for wheat berries.

Trust me, your bread will improve if the quality of your wheat berries improves.

What are wheat berries?

Wheat berries are the whole grain form of flour.

If stored properly, handled correctly, and not milled, wheat berries will last indefinitely, because the oils inside (the only part of the wheat that can go rancid) is locked away under the hard outer layer of the wheat.

Once you mill wheat berries into flour, however, it’s a different story. Flour starts going rancid almost as soon as the oils inside the wheat berry are exposed to oxygen when it’s milled. Which is why I prefer to mill my own flour–it allows me to eat the freshest, most nutritious flour in the world.

How long do wheat berries last after I purchase them?

Considering that we’ve found viable grains in ancient Egyptian tombs, there’s a good chance the wheat berries you purchase now could easily outlast you.

That being said, it’s ideal to use wheat berries before they’re around 5-10 years old. They loose nutrients over time (although very slowly), which might make your bread not turn out well if you’re using grains older than 10 years.

How should I store wheat berries?

My favorite way to store bulk wheat berries is in 5-gallon buckets in my basement. Make sure the buckets are food grade, opaque, and have well-fitting lids. These lids have served me well for over a decade now, with no pest issues.

Some folks prefer to use Mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, and that works, too. But packing 50-lbs of wheat berries into small bags, just to open them again in a few weeks or months isn’t really my style.

What kinds of wheat berries to buy

There are so many different kinds of wheat berries that it can be very confusing. Here’s a general idea of the different kinds of wheat and their uses. See my full list of favorite grains (and how I use them) here.

Soft wheat

Soft wheat is great for beginner millers to use for pretty much anything other than bread. You won’t want to combine soft wheat with yeast, or anything that needs to develop gluten, as it’s very low in gluten, and your bread won’t rise well. Soft wheat is great for pancakes, cookies, muffins, pastries, brownies, biscuits or any baked good.

Hard wheat

Hard wheat is often sold generically as either “hard red wheat” or “hard white wheat.” They’re both great for making bread, pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, anything that’s a yeast dough needing to develop gluten.

What’s slightly confusing is that “hard white” and “hard red” aren’t exactly kinds of wheat. They’re more of an umbrella term for modern hard wheat varieties. If you want to maximize your family’s nutrition, I highly recommend looking into heritage hard wheats, like Rouge De Bordeaux (hard red), Dakota Snow (hard white), Turkey Red (hard red).

If you want to stick with modern grains, look for companies that label the variety they sell, like this one. Farmers that aren’t transparent about what they’re growing and selling tend to not get my dollars.

Ancient grains

These are, literally, grains that have been around since ancient times. Ancient grains are amazing all-purpose wheat berries that can be used for bread, baked goods, pastries, pretty much anything.

My favorite ancient grains are khorasan (a.k.a. kamut), spelt, einkorn, barley (not good for bread), durum and emmer.

Ancient grains are prize for their nutrition, flavor, and non-hybridized nature.

Alternative grains

I use this term mostly for gluten-free grains good for milling. These would include amaranth, quinoa, buckwheat, millet, and so on. They’re great for gluten-free baking, buckwheat is great for flavorful pancakes, amaranth is great for french toast.

Wheat berries vs. ancient grains vs. heritage grains vs. modern grains

With so many buzzwords, trendy terms, and confusing titles, it can get frustrating. Let’s talk about what these terms actually mean.

Wheat berries is a broad term for pretty much any whole grain.

Ancient grains are varieties of wheat that have been around since ancient times. These were either discovered in tombs or through archeology, and “saved” by growing and saving the seeds.

Heritage grains are varieties of wheat more modern than ancient grains, but untouched by the Green Revolution of the 1960’s, which hybridized and altered almost all varieties of grain.

Modern grains are hybridized, conventional grains grown for large size, quick growing season, and maximum harvests. Not necessarily flavor or nutrition.

Where to purchase wheat berries for fresh milled flour

There are more options for purchasing wheat berries these days than there were when I started milling 11 years ago. (Thankfully–no more e-bay wheat!) No matter where you choose to purchase wheat berries from, your goal is to buy the highest quality grains you can afford. The better quality your wheat, the better your bread will turn out. These are some things to keep an eye out for:

1. Organic. Non-organic wheat berries often contain much higher levels of glyphosate and other pesticides.
2. Moisture content. This one often isn’t on the bag, and if you trust your supplier, you’re likely good to go. Ideally, wheat berries are between 10-12% moisture. This is ideal for milling (too moist and the wheat can ruin your mill!), bread baking, and storage.
3. Cleanliness. Wheat berries should (for the most part) be free of stones, sticks, and not super dusty. Also make note if most of the wheat berries are in tact, or if there’s a large percentage of cracked/broken kernels. They should be mostly in tact.
4. Customer trust & loyalty. Wheat berries that make good bread will have happy, returning customers.

Local producers or bulk food bins

If you have a local wheat farmer, support them! They may not grow ancient grains or trendy varieties, but keeping your food as local as possible is almost always your best option. You can also check your local natural grocery stores (especially if they have bulk bins), as some of them sell wheat berries at a good price.

What I love: easy to restock & supporting local businesses

Azure

If you’re looking for the best prices on bulk wheat berries, Azure Standard is for you. They’re a food co-op where you find a local “drop” and pick up your food order once a month. They work closely with organic farmers to get you great deals on bulk grains. If you’re new to Azure, the code “soulyrested” will save you on your first order.

What I love: great prices on bulk grains

Grand Teton Ancient Grains

These guys are my go-to for ancient grains. They only grow organic, regenerative grains–all while taking care of the soil. You can purchase grains in bags to store yourself, or already-stored grains in buckets. Their grains are always clean, dust-free, and the grains never change hands. With these guys, you’re ordering wheat berries from the same people who planted, harvested, cleaned, stored, packaged, and shipped them.

What I love: FREE shipping (if you “fill a box”), farmer-owned, tested to always be glyphosate-free

Guardian Grains

These folks are doing amazing work keeping heritage grains alive. In fact, they sell the only wheat berry I’ll use for bread now–it’s that good! This small, family-owned wheat farm ships directly to their customers–no middle man, at all. Their flat rate shipping keeps your costs low, and they offered my readers a discount with code “soulyrested,” even on bulk orders! Their farming practices are transparent, organic, and regenerative.

What I love: discounts available (code “soulyrested”), heritage grain varieties hard to find anywhere else, bulk pricing, flat rate shipping

Mockmill & Nutrimill

A decent option, especially if you’re just getting started with milling flour.

Mockmill sells lots of variety of wheat berries, and Nutrimill sells a variety starter pack to get you started–no guesswork.

Amazon

If you’re ordering wheat berries on amazon, be watchful and make sure you’re purchasing from verified, real sellers. Not someone shipping wheat berries from their basement. There are some decent companies selling good grains, though. Like these or these.

Is buying wheat berries in bulk worth it?

Buying wheat berries in bulk is an investment. But it’s so worth it.

Let’s run some numbers, shall we?

Purchasing wheat berries in small quantities not only costs more per pound, but you’ll use them quickly then become frustrated that you’re constantly running out of the grains you need.

One of my favorite benefits of milling my own flour is that I always have un-milled flour on hand in the form of wheat berries.

Purchasing a small bag of Khorasan wheat berries (as an example), I’d spend $6.38 per pound. When I purchase bulk 50-lb bags? My cost goes down to $1.26 per pound.

That’s a savings of $5.15 per pound of wheat berries.

After I’ve used 50 pounds, that means I’ve saved my family $257. Just from buying in bulk. So yes, I’d say buying wheat berries in bulk is definitely worth it.

More like purchasing wheat berries for fresh milled flour:

• Wheat berries: everything you need to know
• The ultimate guide to choosing a grain mill (& 6 questions to ask)
• Why I started milling my own flour
• My wheat berry guide

The post Where to purchase wheat berries for fresh milled flour first appeared on Souly Rested.

If you’re a strawberry fan and would like to add some of that amazing flavor to all the drinks (think Strawberry Iced Latte, Strawberry Fresh Squeezed Lemonade, and Homemade Strawberry Gingerale, just to start), you are in the right place my friend. This  Strawberry Syrup recipe is one you’re going to want to flag (pin it here) and come back to again and again.

Homemade strawberry syrup is one of my favorite ways to use fresh strawberries from the garden (or ones I pick at a local strawberry farm). It’s simple to make, incredibly versatile, and tastes far better than anything you can buy in a bottle. And keep reading if you’re wondering if you can make this with strawberries from the grocery store or even from frozen berries.

The best part? You know exactly what’s in it.

Unlike most store-bought strawberry syrups that are loaded with refined sugar, and artificial ingredients and colors, this homemade version uses simple ingredients, all-natural sweetener, can be customized to fit your family’s tastes, and is low calorie. 

Whether you’re stirring it into an iced latte, mixing it into fresh-squeezed lemonade, or drizzling it over a bowl of yogurt or oatmeal, homemade strawberry syrup tastes like real strawberries. Because that’s exactly what it is.

What Is Strawberry Syrup?

Strawberry syrup is pure deliciousness in a jar, made with strawberries, a little lemon juice, and a sweetener… my preference is allulose. More on that in a minute.  

While many people think of pancakes when they hear “strawberry syrup,” I think this syrup shines as a drink syrup,

Some of my family’s favorites:

• Strawberry iced lattes
• Coffee
• Tea
• Strawberry lemonade
• Mocktails
• Strawberry & Cream Homemade Dr. Pepper
• Strawberry Homemade Coke

I also love drizzling it over a few things. Some favorites around here:

• Yogurt
• Ice cream
• Cheesecake
• Oatmeal

This syrup is a sweet, delicious simple syrup (the recipe isn’t cooked down into a thick pancake-style syrup). And it mixes beautifully into both hot and cold drinks.

Why I Make Homemade Strawberry Syrup

I’ve been growing strawberries for years, and once my strawberry patch became productive, I needed delicious ways to use the harvest before it spoiled.

That’s when I discovered strawberry syrup.

At first, I assumed I’d just buy a bottle from the store. But once I looked at the ingredients in many commercial strawberry syrups, I knew I wanted another option.

Most recipes online use large amounts of refined white sugar. Most store-bought syrups do too.

Instead, I wanted a syrup made with simple ingredients that I could feel good about serving my family.

The result is this recipe, which has become a staple in our kitchen every strawberry season—and long after strawberry season is over.

Why I Use Allulose Instead of Sugar

One thing that makes my recipe different from many strawberry syrup recipes is the sweetener.

I use organic allulose.

If you’ve never heard of allulose, you’re not alone. It sounds like it belongs in a chemistry lab, but it’s actually a naturally occurring sugar found in foods such as figs and jackfruit.

What I love most about allulose is that:

• It tastes very similar to sugar
• It can usually be substituted in a 1:1 ratio
• It contains only a fraction of the calories of sugar
• It doesn’t significantly impact blood sugar levels the way refined sugar does

I’ve tried strawberry syrups made with traditional sugar, maple syrup, and honey.

They’re all delicious.

But I find that allulose lets the strawberry flavor shine through more than the others. The result is a bright, fresh-tasting syrup that tastes like strawberries rather than sweetener.

The downside?

It’s not cheap.

I don’t use allulose for everything, but it’s absolutely worth it in this recipe.

Can you use other sweeteners? Absolutely. If you try another one, leave a comment and let us know the results.

Homemade Strawberry Syrup Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped strawberries (about 12–16 ounces)
• 3 cups water
• 1¼ cups allulose
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

1. Combine the strawberries and water in a medium saucepan.
2. Bring to a boil.
3. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes.
4. When the liquid is deep red and the strawberries are very soft, remove from the heat.
5. Strain out the strawberries.

Tip: Don’t press on the strawberries while straining. Pressing them can force small fruit particles through the strainer, making the syrup cloudy. Save those cooked berries—you’ll use them later.

6. Return the strained liquid to the saucepan.
7. Add the allulose and lemon juice.
8. Bring back to a boil over medium-high heat.
9. As soon as the syrup reaches a boil, remove it from the heat.
10. Allow it to cool completely.
11. Store in a quart-sized mason jar in the refrigerator.

What Do You Do With the Cooked Strawberries?

Don’t throw them away!

Those soft, cooked strawberries are one of my favorite parts of this recipe.

I store them separately in a small jar in the refrigerator and use them in the bottom of my strawberry iced lattes.

Instead of muddling fresh strawberries every time, I simply add a spoonful or two of the cooked berries to the glass.

It’s quick, easy, and delicious.

My Favorite Way to Use Strawberry Syrup: Strawberry Iced Lattes

I love this syrup in tea and lemonade, but my absolute favorite use is a homemade strawberry iced latte.

Honestly, this recipe is worth making just for the lattes.

My Strawberry Iced Latte

In a large glass:

• Add 1–2 tablespoons cooked strawberries (or muddle some in your glass)
• Fill with ice
• Add ½ cup strawberry syrup
• Add 1 tablespoon maple syrup (optional)
• Add 1 cup milk
• Add a double shot of espresso or 1 cup cold brew coffee

Stir and enjoy.

The flavor is bright, refreshing, and tastes like real strawberries—not artificial strawberry flavoring.

Other Ways to Use Strawberry Syrup

My family has discovered all sorts of uses for this syrup.

My daughter loves strawberry lemonade.

My husband likes drizzling it over strawberry shortcake.

Other delicious uses include:

• Yogurt
• Ice cream
• Cheesecake
• Oatmeal
• Sparkling water
• Iced tea
• Hot tea
• Cold brew coffee
• Smoothies

Can You Use Frozen Strawberries?

Absolutely.

While I think fresh-picked strawberries make the very best syrup, this recipe works beautifully with:

• Fresh strawberries
• Frozen strawberries
• Homegrown strawberries
• Store-bought strawberries
• Slightly underripe strawberries
• Even dehydrated strawberries

My favorite variety is an extra-sweet strawberry called Old North Sea, but honestly, any strawberries will work.

I’ve made this syrup many times with berries that weren’t perfectly ripe.

As long as at least some of the berries are sweet and deeply red, you’ll get great flavor.

How Long Does Homemade Strawberry Syrup Last?

This recipe makes about one quart of syrup.

In my house, it rarely lasts longer than a week.

Stored in the refrigerator, it will keep for up to two weeks.

Do not store it at room temperature.

You can also freeze it in ice cube trays for convenient single-serving portions.

If you’d like a smaller batch, simply halve the recipe.

If you’re serving a crowd, double or triple it.

Troubleshooting

My syrup seems too thin.

No problem.

Use a little more syrup in your drink.

My syrup seems too thick.

Add a splash of water until it reaches the consistency you like.

Did I do something wrong?

Probably not.

This is one of the most forgiving recipes I make.

That’s one reason I recommend it for beginners.

What Does Homemade Strawberry Syrup Taste Like?

The best word I can think of is refreshing.

It’s sweet without being overpowering.

The lemon juice brightens the strawberry flavor and makes it taste more vibrant.

What surprises people most is how authentic it tastes.

It doesn’t taste like strawberry flavoring.

It tastes like you’ve simply added real strawberries to whatever you’re drinking.

Why Homemade Will Always Be Better

If there’s one thing I hope you take away from this recipe, it’s this:

Homemade is almost always better than the processed version.

When you buy a bottle of commercial strawberry syrup, you’re often getting large amounts of highly refined sugar and ingredients you would never use in your own kitchen.

When you make your own, you’re in complete control.

You can choose:

• Organic strawberries
• Natural sweeteners
• Lower-calorie ingredients
• Non-toxic options
• The exact sweetness level your family prefers

You can customize every batch.

And when you use that homemade syrup in a strawberry iced latte, a glass of lemonade, or a bowl of yogurt, the difference is obvious.

You’re not tasting a strawberry-flavored product.

You’re tasting real strawberries.

And in my kitchen, that’s always worth the extra few minutes.

Print

Strawberry Syrup

Ingredients

• 2 cups chopped strawberries about 12–16 ounces
• 3 cups water
• 1¼ cups allulose
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

• Combine the strawberries and water in a medium saucepan.
• Bring to a boil.
• Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes.
• When the liquid is deep red and the strawberries are very soft, remove from the heat.
• Strain out the strawberries.
• Return the strained liquid to the saucepan.
• Add the allulose and lemon juice.
• Bring back to a boil over medium-high heat.
• As soon as the syrup reaches a boil, remove it from the heat.
• Allow it to cool completely.
• Store in a quart-sized mason jar in the refrigerator.

The post What Is Strawberry Syrup? How to Make It, Use It, and Why Homemade Is Better first appeared on Souly Rested.

The day my first flour mill arrived I was overwhelmed.

But the truth is, I was overwhelmed even before my mill arrived. And if you’re in the same boat figuring out how to choose a flour mill, I’m here to simplify it for you. After over a decade of milling my own flour and either owning or using 6 different flour mills, I’d say I’m somewhat of an expert.

And today we’re going to find your perfect match. Your flour mill match, that is.

At the end of this post, I’ve created a flour mill “quiz” to help you ultimately decide which mill is best for you based on your lifestyle, budget, and how you use flour the most.

-> If you’re looking for a quick suggestion, scroll down and take the “choosing a flour mill” quiz. <-

Benefits of milling flour at home

There are tons of physical reasons to mill your own flour at home with a flour mill. And we’ll go over those. But the truth? One of my favorite things about milling flour is that it’s therapeutic. Something about the routine of grinding wheat berries into flour is grounding to me.

It’s an age-old practice that I have the ability, thanks to modern countertop flour mills, to do right in the comfort of my own kitchen.

The smell of fresh milled flour, the sounds of the stones working, the feeling of warm, soft fresh flour coming out of the mill can’t be replicated.

So my #1 benefit of milling flour at home after 10+ years doing it? Enjoying the process.

But if you’re not interested in the romanticized benefits of milling flour, let’s talk about all the practical reasons.

Why mill flour at home?

• Nutrition (store bought flour doesn’t contain all the good stuff and is very old by the time it hits your kitchen)
• Flavor (there’s nothing like the earthy, sweet, nutty flavor of bread made with fresh milled flour)
• Variety (to keep things fun and also extra-nutritious, you’re able to play around with turning all kinds of grains into flour)
• Support (I love supporting small family farms keeping regenerative wheat farming alive, while also feeding my family the best grains)
• Security (I’m not a preper by any means, but I love having a secure stash of grains in my basement at all times)
• Therapy (there’s nothing more grounding and relaxing to me than the process of milling flour at home! It’s FUN!)

How to choose a flour mill: the contenders

The two main types of flour mills on the market are stone mills and impact mills.

Stone mills use a traditional two-stone method to grind wheat berries in between grooved stones, resulting in flour.

Impact mills use internal stainless steel “teeth” to pulverize wheat berries into flour.

They’re both great options for home millers.

Choosing an impact flour mill:

The Nutrimill Classic

A great flour mill option for new millers. The Classic mill is an enclosed-style impact mill, meaning that it mills the flour internally, into a built-in bowl, which you remove to access the flour. The Classic mill makes very fine flour, but is limited in milling coarse or cracked grains.

Cost: $329 – $20 with code SOULYRESTED

The Nutrimill Impact

A slightly more compact and a more budget-friendly version of the Classic mill, the Impact mill is the most affordable flour mill on the market. It mills fine flour quickly, but it’s flour bowl is on the small side, which simply means that if you’re milling a lot of flour you’ll have to stop, empty the flour bowl, and mill another round.

Cost: $249 – $20 with code SOULYRESTED

Choosing a Stone flour mill:

The Mockmill 100 & 200

These mills are on-demand, stone-mill workhorses. The numbers at the end are their milling output–Mockmill 100 mills at a rate of 100 grams of flour per minute, and the Mockmill 200 mills at 200 grams per minute. Other than milling speed, these two mills are the same. Inside, the Mockmill utilizes two stones to effortlessly grind wheat berries into flour. Adjust the grind of your flour with a handle on the side.

Cost: $380-$470

The Mockmill Lino 100 & 200

The Mockmill Lino line contains the same internal mill as the Mockmill 100 & 200, but the Linos are housed in a beautiful wooden exterior. So just like we talked about above, the Mockmill Lino 100 mills at a rate of 100 grams per minute, and the Mockmill Lino 200 mills 200 grams per minute. If you want Mockmill power and reliability but aren’t concerned about how it looks on the outside, stick with the Mockmill 100 or 200 to save cash. If you want Mockmill power and a beautiful wooden mill, grab a Mockmill Lino 100 or 200.

My daily-use flour mill is a Mockmill Lino 200.

Cost: $680-$775

The Mockmill Professional

Mockmill offers a professional version of their mills. This means it has a more expensive cooling system than their other mills, allowing for hours of milling without a break. This is really only worth spending the extra money on if you’re using it in a professional kitchen capacity. It’s great for cottage kitchen bakers, sourdough farmstand gals, small bakeries, or other areas where you need to mill VERY large quantities of flour. Most average kitchens don’t need that much flour, though, and find the Mockmill 100/200 offer more than enough power.

Cost: $890

The Nutrimill Harvest

Nutrimill’s stone mill offering is the Harvest mill. This flour mill is popular for it’s beauty and small footprint. It’s a stone mill capable of milling flour from fine-coarse. If you’re in the market for a compact, beautiful stone mill, the Harvest might be for you. As a personal sidenote, the Harvest mill isn’t my personal top choice, especially for beginners. It can be tricky to use, especially if you want fine flour.

Cost: $499 -$20 with code SOULYRESTED

Salzburg natural stone mills

These natural stone mills are becoming popular for their completely plastic-free design. Rather than using manufactured stones like most other mills, Salzburg sources natural granite. They’re pricey, so consider these mills a major investment, but they’re built to last longer than one person’s lifetime. I haven’t personally used these mills, but I’ve heard great things from a couple internet “friends” who have. Also keep in mind there are additional customs fees to have these mills shipped to the U.S.

The Salzburg MT12 model can mill 4,000 grams of grains/flour before needing a rest.

The Salzburg MT18 model can mill 8,000 grams of grains/flour before needing to rest.

Cost: $1,300 – code SOULYRESTED to save %

Other flour mills:

Komo: another stone mill option, but higher price point than Mockmill and hard to find distributers in the U.S.

Hand-crank: romantic, but not super practical for milling enough wheat for making bread, especially on the daily.

Kitchen Aid attachment: mills flour very slowly and ineffectively, and often burns out the motor of your mixer.

Hand crank vs electric flour mill

Hand crank flour mills utilize your sheer upper body strength to turn wheat berries into flour.

Electric mills utilize an electric power source to mill flour.

Although hand-cranking a flour mill sounds romantic (and it can be helpful if the power is out!), it’s not really practical for everyday flour milling. You’ll find yourself tired, frustrated, and defeated all before you even start baking.

I highly recommend electric mills for most home bakers.

Stone mills, impact mills, and burr mills: what’s the difference?

Stone mills use two grooved stones (one on the top, one on the bottom) to grind wheat into flour. On the contrary, impact mills crush wheat by bashing it through metal “teeth.” Burr mills are usually another term for stone mills, although some burr mills can be made of steel. Burr mills are simply any mill that crush grains between two spinning surfaces.

How to use a home flour mill: the basics

Starting out with fresh milled flour can be intimidating. Especially if you’re standing in front of a beast of a flour mill and unsure how to use it. Let’s simplify that process.

1. Acquire wheat berries. If you’re not sure which wheat berries to purchase or where to buy them, start here.
2. If you’re using a stone mill, always make sure the mill is TURNED ON before adding wheat berries. If you’re using an impact mill, make sure to add wheat berries BEFORE turning the mill on.
3. Adjust your stones if using a stone mill. To make fine flour, turn your stones until you hear them chirping. Then, turn the stones until they’re just slightly more part. The stones should be just slightly touching, enough so that you hear a low, pleasant “hum,” but not so tight that they’re screeching or high-pitched sounding.
4. Add your wheat berries, if using an impact mill.
5. Mill your flour: if you’re using a stone mill, add the wheat berries to the hopper while the stones are milling. If you’re using an impact mill simply add the wheat berries, adjust the settings to the flour you’d like, and turn the mill on.
6. Enjoy your fresh milled flour!

Which flour mill should I buy in 2026?

While there are lots of options for flour mills, my top picks for 2026 are listed below.

1. Mockmill Lino 100 & 200. These made the list because they truly have it all: versatility, beauty, and functionality. 
2. Nutrimill Classic and Impact. These bad boys are super beginner-friendly, budget-friendly, and they’re constantly sold out, which tells me they’re top choices.
3. Mockmill 100 & 200. The more wallet-friendly Mockmill options, with the same power and functionality of the wooden (Lino) versions.
4. Nutrimill Harvest. These mills are hard to get your hands on in 2026 as they’re constantly sold out. This is a beautiful countertop stone flour mill.

How to choose a flour mill quiz

I know making a big choice like which flour mill will serve your family is a big one. I get it.

So I’ve created this little “quiz” that might help narrow your choices down.

Q1: Are you on a budget?

yes -> either:

• Nutrimill Impact for the most budget-friendy
• Mockmill 100 for the most affordable on-demand stone mill

no -> continue on

Q2: Do you prioritize how your flour mill looks/want to keep your mill on your counter 24/7?

yes -> either:

• Nutrimill harvest (the prettiest mill with the smallest footprint)
• Mockmill Lino (either 100 or 200, both have a beautiful wooden exterior)
• Salzburg natural stone mill

no -> continue on

Q3: Do you bake large batches of bread at a time?

yes -> ether:

• Mockmill 200 (my personal daily-use flour mill) OR Mockmill professional for very long milling times without breaks
• Nutrimill Classic (large batch, closed-container milling)

no -> continue on

Q4: Do you want to minimize the amount of dishes used to mill flour?

yes -> Any model of Mockmill, the Nutrimill Harvest, or Salzburg

no -> Nutrimill Classic or Impact mill

Q5: Are you interested in the variety of grains you can mill, or mostly stick to bread/pastry flours?

variety -> Mockmill 100 or 200

bread/pastry -> Nutrimill Classic or Impact mill

Q6: Are you passionate about your mill having zero plastic in it’s design?

yes -> Salzburg natural stone mills

no -> stick to Mockmill which has very little plastic

Quick guide: what matters most to you?

Budget ->Nutrimill impact (most budget friendly) or Mockmill 100

Aesthetic -> Mockmill Lino. Nutrimill Harvest, Salzburg

Milling large batches of flour -> Mockmill 200 or Mockmill professional or Nutrimill Classic

Less dishes to wash -> Any Mockmill, the Nutrimill Harvest or Salzburg

All-around versatility -> Mockmill 200

Variety in milling -> Mockmill 100 or 200

Sticking to bread/pastry flour -> Nutrimill Classic or Impact

Having zero plastics touching your food -> Salzburg

The all-around best flour mill: Mockmill Lino 200

If it’s in your budget, my top flour mill recomendation is the Mockmill Lino 200. It’s my daily-use, never-lets-me-down flour mill.

It covers all the bases: versatility (can mill anything from superfine flour to course/cracked grains, all with a simple sliding of the hopper), aesthetic (the Lino line of Mockmills all come in a beautiful wooden exterior), speed/volume (mills fine flour quickly, with continuous milling meaning it can mill lots of flour at once), less dishes (due to the on-demand style, it’s a one-dish wonder), and budget (the Mockmill 100 is also available in the wooden Lino model, making it easier on your wallet).

As a bonus, even when Mockmills are sold out, they’re available for sale on backorder, meaning your mill will ship the second it’s available.

Grab your Mockmill Lino 200 here.

The flour mills:

Quick links to all the flour mills mentioned here

More like How to Choose a Flour Mill, simplified:

• The Ultimate Guide to Choosing a Grain Mill & 6 Questions to ask
• Make a Fresh Milled Sourdough Starter from Scratch (step-by-step)
• Wheat berries: Everything you Need to Know
• The Best Sandwich Bread with Fresh Milled Flour

The post How to choose a flour mill, simplified first appeared on Souly Rested.

Make espresso in a moka pot

When I first fell in love with coffee, I was depressed about the price of espresso machines. My instagram explore page was full of  folks making their cup of joe with $700+ espresso machines.

When I found out that most espresso machines are toxic? I was even more depressed.

I knew they had internal plastic parts with hot water running through them all the time and that didn’t sit well with me, but honestly I was willing to turn a blind eye in the name of my morning cup o’ coffee, until I learned that those fancy machines routinely harbor mold, in lots of crevices, well that ruined my dream of saving up for my dream machine.

But I knew buying $7 lattes from a coffee shop didn’t solve any of the above problems.

Enter: the moka pot. The holy grail of non-toxic, affordable at-home espresso.

Still, once I had my moka pot in hand, sometimes my espresso came out good, and other times it was watery or bitter.

Fast forward a couple years and I now make perfect espresso at home every single day.

No toxins. No plastic parts. No bitter, weak, or watery espresso. 

Just me, my $30 stainless steel moka pot, and perfect espresso.

Why use a moka pot?

Using a moka pot to make espresso at home is;

1) affordable (my stainless steel moka pot is only $30!),

2) allows you to avoid toxins (most moka pots are completely stainless steel and free of plastic parts), and

3) makes delicious espresso quickly and easily, once you get the hang of it.

Can a moka pot make espresso?

Technically, moka pots don’t brew true espresso. While I refer to the strong, rich, concentrated coffee that my little moka pots churns out as “espresso,” I’m pretty sure a true coffee snobs would correct me.

Moka pots use the pressure of steam to brew a very concentrated coffee, which I use as espresso in hot or iced lattes, americanos, and even to make the best homemade coffee ice cream.

But I can’t tell the difference between the espresso I make in my moka pot versus espresso I’ve made in “true” espresso machines (which use pump-driven pressure, not steam, to make espresso).

How a moka pot works

Moka pots have three parts:

1. BOTTOM–the bottom part is where the water boils
2. FILTER–the steel filter funnel is the part you fill with coffee grinds
3. TOP–this is where the espresso brews into

To make coffee in a moka pot, you add water to the bottom part, add coffee to the middle funnel part, and wait for the espresso to brew out the top. The water heats in the bottom, pressure builds and pushes the hot water through the coffee grounds in the middle, and the espresso is forced out the top through steam pressure.

Moka pot without plastic

When you’re shopping for a moka pot, look for one with all stainless steel parts (or some glass and the rest stainless steel). Beware of aluminum moka pots, as they often look like steel but they will leach trace amounts of aluminum into your drink… no thank you.

I own 2 moka pots:

1. a small size one for when I’m making espresso for just me, and
2. my 6-shot moka pot for when I’m making espresso for company too.

Moka pots without plastic come in several sizes. The “3-cup “size makes roughly a double shot of espresso, while 6- and 10-cup options make 2 double shots and 3 + double shots worth of espresso in one run.

When deciding on the best size for you, keep in mind that you have to fill the machine every time you use it. The water must be filled (to the base of the little valve), and the coffee funnel must be filled. 

Of course, you can always make extra espresso and refrigerate whatever you don’t use, if you choose a large size moka pot. Or, conversely, you can use a small moka pot multiple times in a row until you’ve made the amount of espresso you need on any given day.

Moka pot vs. french press coffee

Moka pots use finely ground coffee grounds to brew strong, intense, espresso-style coffee, using steam pressure, on the stove. A french press, on the other hand, simply sets on your counter (not the stove) and creates a cup of coffee by steeping very coarse ground coffee in pre-heated hot water before separating the grounds from the coffee with a mesh plunger.

They both take about the same amount of time to create your final cup of joe, but in general the moka pot tends to take a few more minutes overall, from prep time to finished cup of coffee in your hand.

Both a moka pot and a french press can be used to make many different types of lattes, cappuccino, americanos, and cafe au lait if you know the right way to use each machine. Mind you, a pure-bred coffee connoisseur would probably correct me here, but I’ve made delicious ones of all of the above with both machines, at least delicious to me.

Fancy espresso machine vs. moka pot

While moka pots certainly aren’t for everyone, they’re my favorite way to make delicious espresso at home. But if you’re on the fence, let’s talk about the pros/cons of fancy espresso machines and moka pots.

Pros of a fancy espresso machine: Most fancy espresso machines have cool features like steam wands for easy heated and steamed milk and some have built-in grinders as well.

Cons of fancy espresso machine: High price tag, uses many plastic parts including plastic tubes to heat and transport water (which also commonly allows mold to grow), takes up lots of counter/kitchen space. These machines can also be confusing or have a long learning curve to make good espresso.

Pros of a moka pot: My favorite things about moka pots are that they’re small, compact, and easy to store, even in very small spaces. Using a moka pot has helped me reduce my exposure to plastics, and I always have fresh espresso just a few minutes away. Because of their small size, moka pots are also great for traveling, camping, or using in trailers or RVs.

Cons of a moka pot: There are some downsides to moka pots. The biggest downside for me is that if I want a hot latte, I have to heat and steam milk completely separately, while lots of fancier espresso machines include a steam wand. You also have to make the amount of espresso that your moka pot is designed for, every time. As an example, if you purchase a 6-cup size moka pot, you have to make 6 shots-worth of espresso every time you use it.

Best coffee beans to use in a moka pot

Good espresso starts with good coffee. Look for these things when choosing a coffee to make espresso in your moka pot:

• The correct grind. Moka pots require espresso-ground (extra fine) coffee, which is usually one grind size finer than “fine” coffee. Anything coarser, and your espresso won’t brew properly.
• Organic and shade-grown. For smooth, rich, flavorful coffee, opt for organic and shade grown. Coffee naturally grows in the shade, but commercial coffee growers force coffee plants to grown in the hot, unnatural sun, leaving the resulting beans acidic and bitter. Shade-grown coffee is coffee how it should be–sweet, flavorful, and never bitter.
• Mold-free. If you want to reduce exposure to toxins, check that your coffee is tested for mold. Many conventional coffee roasting processes allow for quick and rapid mold  growth. Ick, right?
• This is more of a personal choice, but I’ve found that light roast coffee tends to produce the best tasting espresso in a moka pot. If you’re struggling with bitter espresso, try switching up the roast of your coffee. Light roast coffee packs all the same flavor as darker roasts, but with a sweeter and less bitter finish.

My favorite coffee in the world is tested to be mold-free, grown in the shade always, and certified organic. Use the code “soulyrested” to save on the best coffee, even at already-discounted bulk prices. But don’t just take my word for it–try it out, risk-free. If you don’t love it, they’ll refund you. No questions asked.

How to clean and maintain a moka pot

One of the things I love about moka pots is how easy they are to maintain.

How to clean a moka pot after brewing espresso

On a regular basis, all your moka pot needs is a simple emptying of the filter and a little rinse + air dry. It’s really that simple!

Never use soap to clean your moka pot, and never run it through the dishwasher. Both of these will strip your moka pot of its natural oils and make your espresso taste metallic-y.

Do make sure your moka pot dries thoroughly between uses, or it can rust.

How to deep clean a moka pot

Once in a while the oils will build up too much in your moka pot. You’ll know this is happening if your espresso slowly starts to taste more bitter.

To deep clean your moka pot, fill the bottom chamber of the pot with a 50/50 mix of distilled white vinegar and water.

Place the (empty) coffee filter basket in its usual position, screw the top on, and brew as you normally would brew espresso.

Remove from the heat once the vinegar water has all run through, and dump out.

Next, do the same thing, but with just water in the bottom chamber, no vinegar this time. Once all the plain water has run through the moka pot, pour it out, rinse your pot, dry, and put away.

Your moka pot is now deep cleaned and ready to make delicious espresso.

How to make espresso in a moka pot

Once you know a few tips, it’s surprizingly easy to make delicious, nontoxic coffee wtih a moka pot.

EQUIPMENT

• 1 large (6-cup) moka pot

INGREDIENTS

• 18 grams extra fine, espresso ground coffee
• 1 1/2 cups of water

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat water to boiling.
2. Fill the moka pot brew basket to the top with the espresso ground coffee. Unlike with a traditional espresso machine, coffee in a moka pot does NOT get tamped down. Feel free to tap it, to even it out, as you fill it, then simply smooth the top so it’s flat when it’s full.
3. Fill the bottom of the moka pot with boiling hot water, until the water reaches the bottom of the release valve (you can see this release valve on the inside as well as the outside).
4. Gently place the filled brew basket in the bottom part of the moka pot and wipe off any grinds that are on the rim.
5. Tightly screw the top part of the moka pot onto the bottom part, using a towel to hold the (very hot!) bottom in place. 
6. Place the moka pot on the stove, on a medium high heat.
7. Open the top flap so you can monitor the brew.
8. The coffee will slowly start to fill up the top part of your moka pot. When it begins to make a distinctly different sound of sputtering instead of bubbling, instantly remove it from the heat.
9. Carefully carry your hot moka pot to the sink and, with the top flap now closed, rinse the bottom half of the pot under very cold water. This will stop the cooking quickly and prevent your espresso from tasting bitter.
10. Pour out and use your espresso.

Tips for making the best (never bitter) espresso with a moka pot

• • Make sure your pot’s clean. Too much oil build-up makes your espresso bitter. (Scroll up for instructions for deep cleaning your moka pot.)
  • Source the right beans. Organic, shade-grown coffee produces the smoothest, sweetest and least biter (yet flavorful) espresso. I use exclusively this coffee.
  • Use the right grind size–even “fine” grind usually isn’t fine enough, it has to be “espresso grind.” If the grind is too coarse, your espresso simple won’t brew (extract) properly and will be watery and flavor-less. Lots of companies sell espresso ROAST, but make sure the grind size is also for espresso. Or use a coffee grinder to grind your own for the freshest flavor and perfect grind.
  • Loosely fill your brew basket with coffee. Never tamp down coffee in a moka pot. That will impede the boiling water underneath the grounds from bubbling up into the top, slowing down the brewing process, and giving you a bitter, over-extracted cup of coffee. Not to mention the danger that your pressure valve could explode.
  • Start with boiling water, so the espresso brews faster and isn’t bitter. Don’t brew using cool water in your moka pot.
  • Fill your moka pot correctly. Only fill the water to the bottom of the release valve, no higher.
  • Screw the top on tightly before brewing, so the espresso has enough pressure to brew correctly.
  • Replace the rubber ring in your pot every so often (about once a year depending on usage) to keep the pressure strong
  • After brewing, run your pot under cold water to instantly stop the brew process. (Those last few drops of espresso tend to be the most bitter of the whole brew.)

Moka pot iced latte

Here’s how I make an iced latte with a moka pot.

1. Brew your moka pot espresso as usual.
2. While your espresso is brewing, get a glass ready with any flavors/sweeteners you desire, ice, and milk.
3. Pour the hot espresso over the flavored syrups, ice, and milk.
4. Stir to combine, taste test to determine if the ratio is right, and add more milk, flavor, or a splash of cream if needed.
5. Enjoy your moka pot iced latte!

What moka pot is best

There are lots of great moka pots on the market. I eventually settled on this one and this one for a few reasons (yes, I own two. I explain why above). If you’re in the market for a moka pot, keep these things in mind:

• Material–I stick with all stainless steel, but there are some decent steel/glass options as well. Stay away from aluminum moka pots if you’re looking to reduce your heavy metal exposure.
• Size–Choose the correct moka pot size for you. My daily-use moka pot is the 3-cup size. I like my lattes strong, so I use all the espresso that the 3-cup size makes in one latte. My daughter prefers lighter lattes, so she uses half the amount.
• Price–Keep your budget in mind, and look for a moka pot that works best for you. Even the highest-quality moka pots are very budget friendly! I purchased mine for $30 about 3 years ago, and it’s still going strong.

What size moka pot should I buy?

The sizing on moka pots can be confusing. Keep in mind that whichever size you choose, you have to make that set amount of espresso each time you use it.

Let’s break it down.

3-cup sized moka pots

This is my daily-use moka pot size. It makes roughly 2-double shots worth of espresso. For me, I like my lattes on the stronger side, so I use all of the espresso this size moka pot makes in one latte. This size is great for if you’re single, the only coffee drinker in your house, or if you just don’t like to waste any espresso. Makes 1-2 lattes.

6-cup sized moka pots

This size moka pot will make roughly two double shots-worth of espresso each time. This is great for couples (do you always make your husband a latte when you make yours?), when you have a friend over, or if you like really strong lattes. Makes 1-3 lattes.

10-cup sized moka pots

The largest size moka pot (at least in the brand I prefer), this will make over 3 double-shots worth of espresso in each run. This size is great for if you drink really strong coffee, often have company over, or want to store leftover espresso in the fridge for the week. Makes 3-5 lattes.

Why is my moka pot espresso bitter?

There are a few main reasons you’re getting bitter espresso from your moka pot.

1. You’re using the wrong coffee, or the wrong grind size. I stick with shade-grown, light-roast coffee for the sweetest, lowest acid espresso. And make sure you’re using espresso grind. It’s a little finer that “fine” ground coffee, and a little coarser than turkish-grind coffee. The correct grind size is essential to not-bitter espresso in a moka pot. Too fine, the water won’t be able to get through the coffee as it brews. Too coarse, the water will push through the coffee too easily, creating a weak, watery espresso.
2. Your moka pot might need to be cleaned. If the coffee oils build up too much, your espresso will come out bitter. See above for maintenance and deep cleaning moka pot instructions.
3. You’re using either too low or too high heat. If the heat is too high when you’re brewing your espresso, it will taste burnt. If the heat is too low, the water will push through the grounds too slowly, leaving you with a bitter brew. Play around with the temperature of your specific stove and see what tastes the best. For me, I stick with a med-high heat (set to a 7 out of 10) for a perfect brew.
4. You’re not rinsing your espresso. If your coffee is turning out bitter, try running the bottom of the moka pot under cold water for a few second as soon as the brew is done (when it starts “gurgling” or sputtering).

Best non-toxic espresso maker

In my opinion, moka pots are the best non-toxic espresso makers. They’re affordable, completely free of plastic parts, and simple to use. As a bonus, they’re compact and easy to store, as well.

Other non-toxic coffee makers worth mentioning:

• Glass or stainless steel french press
• Manual espresso makers
• Fancy espresso makers that are plastic-free (there are only a couple on the market, this is one that I know to be free of plastic, but haven’t used.)
• Stainless steel percolator (to make “drip-style” coffee)

What you need to make espresso in a moka pot:

More like how to use a moka pot to make espresso at home:

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• Coffee ice cream recipe with no refined sugar
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The post How to use a moka pot to make espresso at home first appeared on Souly Rested.

Want to bake with kamut? Or maybe you call it khorasan? Yes, you can bake amazing things with the grain with the funny names, no matter what you call it.

Bake with Kamut Flour

These are the Kamut wheat berries I use.

Don’t have a grain mill yet? Here’s my Guide to Choosing a Mill & use this Kamut flour in the meantime.

Given that kamut is one of my go-to grains to mill into flour in my grain mill, I love talking about how to bake with kamut flour. Although there are lots of ancient grain flours to choose from, kamut happens to be one of my favorites due to it’s nutritional value, flavor, and all-purpose nature.

Making bread? Kamut will work.

Baking brownies? Grab kamut.

Breading chicken? Kamut will add a delicious buttery flavor.

Making crackers? Great, kamut makes them better.

Crafting a tender pastry? Believe it or not, kamut is great for that.

Are kamut and khorasan the same thing?

Yes, this grain has two names and I’ll explain why.

This ancient grain was originally called “khorasan,” named after the region where it’s thought to originate from.

Kamut? That name was given to the khorasan grain later. Kamut is actually a branded name given to khorasan. Grains sold under the name “kamut” are monitored by the Kamut brand, and have to follow strict guidelines to qualify for the trademark. The upside to purchasing grains labeled “kamut” is that they’re subjected to strict standards, meaning you know you’ll get high-quality grains.

The downside? You’re paying for the trademark. Kamut grains often cost more than khorasan given that the farmers pay for trademark rights.

Essentially, kamut is the “name brand” version of khorasan grain. Think of it like saying “Kleenex” (kamut) instead of simply “tissues” (khorasan).

Kamut vs spelt

Both ancient grains, spelt and kamut, have similar nutritional profiles. They’re both higher in protein than most modern wheat, and they’re both full of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

The key difference in the grains is the flavor. I find spelt to be just a little earthier and maybe a little more bitter than kamut. Kamut’s flavor profile is sweet, buttery, and nutty.

Choose spelt for stronger, slightly wheat-ier flavor in breads and baked goods, or if you’re making more “rustic” style bread.

Use kamut if you’re looking for sweeter, more mild flavor.

Einkorn and kamut (khorasan)–what’s the difference?

Let’s compare the infamous einkorn to khorasan…

Both einkorn and khorasan are ancient grains with a sweet, buttery, mild flavor. They’re both pretty good at being all-purpose grains and can be used for a wide variety of baked goods, breads, and pastries.

There are debates about which grain is older and which originated first. I enjoy using both, and try not to get caught up in the historical assumptions too much. They’re both great, tasty, nutritious grains, m’kay?

One key difference in einkorn and kamut (khorasan) is the size of the wheat berry. Einkorn grains are smaller in size (compared to modern wheat), while khorasan wheat berries are actually larger than modern wheat berries. This impacts your baking, given that einkorn mills into a very fine, powdery flour (because it starts off smaller it’s easier for your grain mill to grind up super fine), whereas kamut mills into a slightly coarser flour, no matter how finely you try to mill it.

Benefits of kamut flour

So why bake with kamut flour?

• For the flavor
• For nutrition
• For food security
• For it’s all-purpose nature
• To preserve history

Kamut flour is hard to beat for a number of reasons, including the ones listed above. I love using khorasan knowing I’m milling the same grains that folks have turned into flour for thousands of years… without Big Ag getting involved and hybridizing the grains. Because they haven’t been hybridized, ancient grains are always going to pack more nutrition into every bite.

Bonus, the buttery flavor of kamut flour is unreal. 

How to store kamut wheat berries

With full knowledge that you might call me crazy, I’ll admit that I currently have 50 pounds of Khorasan wheat berries in my grain storage (aka buckets in my basement). I’m not a preper, but I like knowing I have a lot of the best flour on hand if things go south, or even just if prices rise. Plus, wheat berries can last for thousands of years (crazy, but true).

If you’re thinking of stocking up on Kamut berries, here are a few tips to keep in mind:

1. Make sure you’re sourcing from an organic, regenerative farm if possible. These are amazing.
2. Read up on these Tips for Storing Wheat Berries.
3. And no matter what Never Freeze Your Wheat Berries. Here’s why.

How to use kamut flour in baking

Given its sweet, nutty, buttery flavor, kamut flour is great for baking. Kamut flour (even fresh milled) hydrates similarly to “regular” all-purpose flour, so minimal changes are needed. (More here on how to use fresh flour in any recipe.)

To use kamut flour in baked goods: simply swap kamut for all-purpose flour at a 1:1 ratio. Just to be safe, add slightly less flour than your recipe calls for, let the dough autolyze a little (soak the flour and liquid ingredients before adding the rest) then add the rest of your flour if needed after a 10-minute rest.

To use kamut flour in bread: use at a 1:1 ratio to bread flour, and add 1 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten per cup of flour used. Knead like usual, but keep a close eye as you knead and make sure you don’t over knead kamut dough, as the gluten is more fragile than bread dough made with modern wheat. For best results, try some of the enrichments I describe here, like a tangzhong: How to Use Fresh Flour in Any Recipe

To use kamut flour in pastries: similar to baked goods in general, but if you’re using fresh milled kamut flour, make sure you allow the flour to cool down (don’t be afraid to stick it in the freezer for a few minutes!) before adding butter in things like biscuits, puff pastries, croissant dough, pie crusts, or scones. If you struggle with getting the texture you want, try:  70% soft white flour, 20% kamut flour and 10% barley flour.

To use kamut flour in pasta: given that kamut is similar to durum (the “pasta” flour), it’s great for making pasta. Use in any homemade pasta recipe, 1:1 substitute for all-purpose or durum flour. Just add a little less flour at first, then add more later if needed.

Kamut (khorasan) baking recipes

Khorasan flour can be used in so many recipes.

• Pasta
• Brownies/cookies
• Bread/rolls
• Cinnamon rolls
• Biscuits/scones
• Pastries
• Pie crust/tarts
• Muffins
• Pancakes/waffles

In almost every recipe, kamut can simply replace all-purpose flour cup-for-cup. You might find you need just slightly less kamut flour, though, so add it slowly to your recipes. And you’ll want to understand a little bit about natural enhancers and autolysing your dough. Follow my on instagram for lots of tutorials and fresh flour encouragement, and grab my free tips right here.

If you’re serious about making the best, most nutritious food–easily and deliciously–for your family use code SOULYRESTED to save (you can even stack the code if there is a current sale going on!) and dive into Fresh Flour University.

Milling khorasan (kamut) into fresh milled flour

If you’re like me, you want to get the most nutrition as possible out of the ingredients you’re eating.

In order to eat the most nutritious flour possible, you should mill your own.

To mill kamut flour at home, all you’ll need are kamut whole wheat berries and a grain mill. It’s that simple!

Milling your own kamut flour allows you to preserve 100% of the nutrition found in the whole wheat kernel. Commercial flour manufacturers remove all the good stuff! (The bran + germ, where all the healthy fats and nutrients are!) Not to mention, flour was never designed to be a shelf-stable food. It naturally degrades over time, and milling your own flour allows you to use it right away, when it’s freshest.

Making bread with kamut

Khorasan/kamut flour makes amazing, flavorful bread if you know just a few, simple tips.

Since it is an ancient grain, the gluten that develops through kamut flour is fragile. You can and should still knead kamut bread dough, just take it a little easier than you usually would.

Secondly, consider adding vital wheat gluten to your bread recipes when you’re using kamut flour. It will give your ancient grain bread a little “oomph” that it might need to rise well. If you’re new to making kamut bread or fresh milled flour bread, use 1 tablespoon of vital wheat gluten per cup of flour.

Finally, you might find that bread made with kamut flour rises quickly. Keep a close eye on rise times to prevent over-proofing, and, therefore fallen bread.

The poke test for fresh flour bread

To know when your fresh flour dough is well proofed, use the Poke Test:

Lightly press your finger into your rising dough to test the gluten formation. 

Dough’s response                                       Rise time

Springs back slowly & partially                      DONE

Springs back instantly with no indent          INCOMPLETE

Holds indent permanently                              OVERPROOFED

Substituting kamut flour in place of all-purpose flour

Given kamut flour’s all-purpose nature, you can simply substitute cup-for-cup with all-purpose or bread flour.

How to use kamut/khorasan in any recipe

Use kamut flour in almost any recipe that calls for all-purpose or bread flour. Given that it’s an ancient grain, it might behave slightly differently (kamut hydrates a little slower than conventional flour does), but differences are slight and often not noticeable at all.

Ways to use kamut wheat berries

If you’re in possession of khorasan wheat berries, you might be wondering how else you can use them. Other than milling them into beautiful, golden flour, that is. Here are some of my favorite ways to use kamut berries (well, really any kind of wheat berries, to be honest):

1. Flaking them into “rolled oats” (learn how to flake any grain here)
2. Sprouting them as a nutritious snack, salad topper, or nutritious smoothie add-in
3. Cook them and use in place of rice

Some of My Favorite Ancient & Heritage Grains

The Best Grain Mills

The best grain mill for your family might be different than mine, so I created this Guide to Choosing a Grain Mill to walk you through 6 questions to ask to help you decide the best grain mill for your family.

More like How to Bake with Kamut (Khorasan):

• A complete guide to kamut/khorasan
• A Complete Guide to Choosing a Grain Mill
• Kamut chocolate chip cookies (recipe)
• Make flour at home from start to finish
• Sourdough with fresh milled flour: everything you need to know

The post How to bake with kamut (khorasan) & mistakes to avoid first appeared on Souly Rested.

Sourdough was my original love, before fresh milled flour entered the picture.

Once I started using my grain mill on a daily basis, sourdough fell of my radar for a while. I was so captivated by wheat berries, mills, fresh flour, and fresh milled bread, that my sourdough starter became neglected.

A coincidence? Maybe. 

Once I got a handle on fresh milled flour with commercial yeast, I slowly added sourdough back into my life, with the nutritious addition of fresh milled flour.

But honestly? I gave up a few times. There’s just a steep learning curve with fresh milled flour + sourdough.

But we’ll master it together.

And it turns out that a huge help is to actually start a new sourdough starter, from scratch, with fresh milled flour. Sometimes starters used to commercial flour don’t like being switched over to fresh flour.

Why combine fresh flour and sourdough?

So, if it’s difficult, why bother? I’m glad you asked.

Sourdough is using natural yeast and natural fermentation to make bread. While this process is commonly seen as a more nutritious way to make bread, that’s only half true. You see, sourdough bread is long-fermented, which means that it’s easier for our bodies to digest in the end. It’s already started to “digest” through it’s long, natural fermentation process. That’s a good thing.

What’s not good is that long-fermenting bread made with traditional commercial flour (store bought flour is essentially just highly-processed starch, missing 2/3 of the natural wheat), is simply a missed opportunity. (Learn more about the effect of sourdough fermentation on fresh milled flour.)

Fresh milled flour + sourdough? A long-fermented powerhouse of nutrition, digestibility, and flavor. It’s truly the best bread you can eat. 

Sourdough with fresh milled flour: getting started

If you’re new to milling flour, let’s get started.

You’ll need a good grain mill. You have three options–a stone mill, an impact mill (steel blades), or a hand-crank mill. I personally choose an on-demand style stone mill, but to each his own. Not sure which mill you might want or need? I wrote an entire guide to choosing a grain mill that breaks down everything you need to know.

Next, you need some wheat berries. It can get confusing with tons of variety, but if you’re starting out with fresh flour, you’ll most likely want to stick to either hard white or hard red for making bread like sourdough.

Then you’ll need a sourdough starter (if you’re making sourdough bread, that is). Good news; you’re in the right place! We’ll cover the whole process of making a fresh milled sourdough starter from scratch, right here.

It’s that simple!

Wheat berries for sourdough starter

Wheat berries can be confusing.

But, when it comes down to it, most wheat berries (ground into flour) can be used to feed your sourdough starter. Just be sure to keep in consistent so your starter knows what to expect. However, my personal preference is to use fresh milled rye flour to feed my starter on the daily. This is for two reasons: 1) my starter is happier, bubblier, and more active when it’s fed rye, and 2) rye is the most affordable grain I purchase.

Great options for fresh flour to feed your sourdough starter include:

• Rye (my personal choice)
• Hard white
• Hard red
• Einkorn
• Khorasan (A.K.A. Kamut)
• Spelt (my second favorite)
• Durum
• Alternative (GF) grains

What fresh milled flour is best for sourdough

The flour you’ll use to feed your sourdough starter and the flour you’ll use to make sourdough bread may or may not be the same. For instance, I personally use rye flour to feed my starter every day, but I stick with grains like Turkey Red (a hard red wheat) or Dakota Snow (a hard white wheat) to make sourdough bread.

Make sure you don’t try to use any soft wheat berries or low-gluten grains to make sourdough bread.

AVOID using:

soft white wheat

soft red wheat

rye

ancient grains (if using, no more than 50%)

In general, stick with hard grains (hard white, hard red) for the best results with sourdough bread. Later one once you’ve mastered fresh milled sourdough bread, experiment with other grains. But I recommend keeping it as simple as possible when you’re starting out.

How to make a fresh milled sourdough starter

Without further ado, let’s make a fresh milled sourdough starter, from scratch. Making a fresh flour sourdough starter is a simple process of mixing flour and water together, but it does take some patience as you wait for it to become active.

I recommend using fresh milled rye flour, but other options are hard white/red wheat, spelt, einkorn or khorasan.

Day 1: In a clean jar, mix equal parts water and flour by weight together, stir well, and cover with something breathable (NOT airtight). Let sit. You can measure with volume or weight, just keep the flour and water in a roughly 1:1 ratio.

Day 2: Discard about half of your starter, then feed it. The easiest way to make sure you’re feeding the proper amounts at first is to weigh how much starter you have, then feed it the same weight in both flour and water, making sure it’s a thick, pancake batter-like consistency. If it’s thinner than that, add a little more flour. 

As an example, if you have 25 g of starter, feed it 25 g of flour and 25 g of water.

Day 3: Discard half of your starter (again), and feed it the same amount of flour and water that the starter weighs.

Days 4-6: Continue this feeding pattern, feeding every 12-24 hours. I like to feed my starter first thing each morning to stay in a routine. You should start to see bubbles and some activity in your starter by now.

Week 1-2: Your starter should be bubbling, doubling in size after it’s fed, and looking happy by the beginning of week two. But don’t try to make bread with your starter before it’s actually active and established. In the first few weeks, even if a starter looks active and happy, it most likely isn’t strong enough to make bread with yet. Be patient and try making discard recipes with your starter at first (like discard crackers or overnight griddle cakes) before diving into fresh flour sourdough bread.

Feeding sourdough starter with fresh milled flour

If you’re used to feeding your sourdough starter store bought flour and are transitioning it to fresh milled flour (or starting a brand-new fresh milled starter), you’ll notice differences. Because fresh milled flour is so different from commercial flour, your starter will react to it differently.

You’ll notice that your starter rises and becomes active more quickly. That’s because fresh flour is alive with nutrients that your starter loves. The downside? It also stays active for much shorter times. A fresh milled sourdough starter needs routine in order to thrive, and is much less flexible than a commercial flour starter. When I was feeding my starter commercial flour, skipping a feeding or two here and there? No big deal. With a fresh flour starter? Skipping a feeding or two leads to crusty tops, very sad starter, and a longer bounce-back time than with commercial flour.

A fresh milled starter needs to be fed very regularly and routinely to survive.

How and when to feed a fresh milled starter

Your best bet is to feed your fresh milled sourdough starter every morning, when possible. I’ve personally found that my fresh milled starter isn’t happy in the fridge, so I keep mine at room temperature. If you’re able to keep your starter in the fridge, feed it once a week.

My method for feeding my starter is very eyeball-ed and simple.

1. Discard starter if it’s starting to have too much “bulk” to it. I don’t like to feed massive amounts of starter, I see it as a waste of flour. Save the discard for recipes later.
2. Add filtered water to your starter until it’s watery and “murky” looking. How much water you add depends on how much starter you want the next day.
3. Mix the starter + water together.
4. Add flour until your starter becomes thick and well-mixed. I aim for pancake batter-like thickness.
5. Fresh milled starters soak up a little more water than conventional flour ones, so keep it just a tad less thick as you’re feeding it than you’d like it to be in the end.

Print

fresh milled sourdough starter, step-by-step

Ingredients

• rye flour see notes
• water

Instructions

• Day 1: In a clean jar, mix equal parts water and flour by weight together, stir well, and cover with something breathable (NOT airtight). Let sit. You can measure with volume or weight, just keep the flour and water in a roughly 1:1 ratio.
• Day 2: Discard about half of your starter, then feed it. The easiest way to make sure you’re feeding the proper amounts at first is to weigh how much starter you have, then feed it the same weight in both flour and water, making sure it’s a thick, pancake batter-like consistency. If it’s thinner than that, add a little more flour.
• Day 3: Again, discard half of your starter, and feed it the same amount of flour and water that the starter weighs.
• Days 4-6: Continue this feeding pattern, feeding every 12-24 hours. I like to feed my starter first thing each morning to stay in a routine. You should start to see bubbles and some activity in your starter by now.
• Week 1-2: Your starter should be bubbling, doubling in size after it’s fed, and looking happy by the beginning of week two. But don’t try to make bread with your starter before it’s actually active and established. In the first few weeks, even if a starter looks active and happy, it most likely isn’t strong enough to make bread with yet. Be patient and try making discard recipes with your starter at first (like discard crackers or overnight griddle cakes) before diving into fresh flour sourdough bread.

Notes

I recommend using fresh milled rye flour, but other options are hard white/red wheat, spelt, einkorn or khorasan.

What you’ll need to make a fresh milled sourdough starter from scratch:

More like make a fresh milled sourdough starter (step-by-step):

• Which wheat berries to use (a simple guide)
• Sourdough with fresh milled flour: what you need to know
• Sourdough bread recipe made with fresh milled flour
• The best fresh milled flour blueberry muffins
• Join Fresh Flour University today & learn all the tips it took me 7 years to master. Use code SOULYRESTED to save $$.

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Muffins were one of the first “successful” things I made with fresh milled flour.

With blueberry muffins always being a hit around here, I was determined to make fresh milled flour blueberry muffins right off the bat. Granted, I didn’t open up my grain mill and make good muffins right away, but after a few attempts, once Bill said “keep this recipe!,” I knew I had created a keeper.

Why use fresh milled flour?

Instead of feeding your family “regular” homemade muffins for breakfast or as a snack, why not offer them superfood blueberry muffins, just by changing what flour you’re using? Using fresh milled flour turns normal muffins into a multi-vitamin, offering your body so many nutrients.

Regular all-purpose flour from the store? It’s so old and processed that it’s essentially just nutrient-less starch to your body. Fresh milled flour? A complex, nutrient-packed flour that folks swear doesn’t spike their blood sugar. Even though fresh milled flour blueberry muffins are still, well, muffins, they’re something you can feel amazing about feeding your family.

Learn about my top 5 benefits to milling fresh flour.

Can you make muffins with fresh flour?

Absolutely.

I’d argue that fresh flour makes the best muffins!

While this recipe is super straightforward, there are a few things to keep in mind. Fresh milled flour behaves differently than store bought flour does, given the fact that it’s a whole grain flour. It’s packed full of antioxidants, protein, and minerals, but the bran and germ that make it nutritious can also make muffins dense, gummy, or not rise.

This recipe uses soft white wheat to keep it simple and straight forward (if you own a grain mill, you most likely have soft white wheat berries in your pantry), but if I’m feeling fancy I’ll swap the soft white wheat for einkorn, Khorasan (kamut), or barley (or a mixture).

How to make fresh milled, gluten-free blueberry muffins

If you’re looking to make gluten-free muffins with fresh milled flour, try using oat groats, milled into fine flour (don’t mill rolled oats!). For better texture, add 2-3 teaspoons of a starch to the muffin batter. Some starches could include:

Arrowroot powder

Cornstarch (or a chickpea alternative)

Tapioca starch

Fluffy fresh milled muffins: tips & tricks

I’ve picked up some tips for making better muffins throughout the years. Some are fresh flour specific, and some can be applied to any recipe, made with any flour.

• Fill your muffin tins/liners enough. You want them to be about 2/3-3/4 full to achieve tall, bakery-style muffins. 
• Don’t skip the dairy. Using sour cream, Greek yogurt, or thick buttermilk will help your muffins stay soft, non-crumbly, and retain their moisture/softness for longer.
• Don’t lessen the sugar too much. Turns out, sugar not only makes muffins taste amazing, but also helps them retain moisture, be tender but not crumbly, rise higher, and brown nicely without burning. If you reduce the sugar too much, you’ll have dry, crumbly muffins that go stale very quickly.

• If you’re struggling with your muffins being gummy in the center, try letting your batter sit for 10-15 minutes before baking. You’ll find that this recipe doesn’t specifically call for letting the batter sit–because I simply don’t find it necessary and I’m usually eager for a fresh-from-the-oven muffin ASAP. But try adding this step if your muffins don’t come out as well as you’d like.
• Don’t overmix your batter. Just make sure there aren’t any huge lumps or pockets of flour at the bottom of your bowl, and you’re good to go. Mixing your batter too much will make muffins tough, as you’re actually developing gluten, which we want in bread dough but want to avoid in muffin batter.
• Don’t overbake your muffins. As soon as the centers are set, remove them from the oven and let them cool. If you want to use an instant read thermometer, cooked muffins temp at 190-200 in the center.

The best blueberry muffins are made with fresh milled flour

If you’re looking to upgrade your classic blueberry muffins, look no farther than making them with fresh milled flour.

Not only does whole grain flour simply taste better, it also offers a depth of flavor that isn’t easy to explain. If you’ve ever used whole wheat flour from the store, ditch that thought in your mind. Plastic-y, stale, playdough-y is what comes to my mind. Fresh milled flour is a whole different story. Rich, nutty, buttery, wheat-y tasting–yes–but in the best, warm way.

The soft sweetness of muffins pairs so well with the rich flavor of fresh milled flour. Trust me, once you try them you can’t go back. Especially cut in half, grilled in a hot cast iron skillet with butter? Forget about it.

How to prevent dense whole wheat muffins

When we think of words like “whole wheat,” “whole grain,” or “stone-ground,” we often think “dense, heavy, crumbly.” But that doesn’t have to be the case. With this recipe, and a few thoughts to help you adapt any muffin recipe you should ever want to make, you’re well on your way to whole wheat muffins that break all the serotypes. 

1. Use the right ingredients. Adding ingredients like Greek yogurt/sour cream, buttermilk, liquid oil, eggs, all combine into a magical creation: soft, moist whole wheat muffins that makes everyone ask for the recipe.
2. Use the right flour. Make sure to stick with soft grains, or ancient grains (with lower gluten potential) for the best muffins. Using hard grains (like hard white wheat) will result in more gluten forming in the muffin batter, leading to tough muffins. No thanks.
3. Bake at the right temperature. If your oven runs cold, consider upping the temperature by a few degrees. You really want a nice, pre-heated oven, hot and ready to go when your muffins go in. If the oven is still preheating, or the temperature is running low, your muffins won’t rise quite as high.
4. Add toppings. The texture of coarse sugar or a nice streusel not only adds a bakery-style touch, but also helps improve the texture of the muffin overall.

What wheat berries make the best muffins?

Almost any wheat berry can be used to make muffins. However, softer grains (soft white wheat), and ancient grains (einkorn, spelt, khorasan) will make better muffins than harder grains (hard white, hard red, durum).

Best wheat berries to make muffins:

Soft white wheat

Einkorn

Khorasan/Kamut

Spelt

Wheat berries to NOT use in muffins:

(These grains can be used, but for best results, mix 50/50 or even 25/75 with a grain listed above.)

Hard white/hard red

Durum

Rye

Print

The best fresh milled flour blueberry muffins

Servings 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 2 ¼ cups soft white flour
• ¾ cups coconut sugar*
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• ¾ cup greek yogurt or sour cream
• ½ cup liquid oil
• ½ cup milk
• 1 teaspoon either vanilla or lemon extract
• 1 ¾ cups blueberries either fresh or frozen
• Coarse sugar for sprinkling, optional

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 350.
• In a large bowl, mix all the muffin ingredients together, except the blueberries. After the batter is mixed well, gently fold the blueberries in.
• Ladle batter into greased muffin tins, filling each well about ¾ full.
• Sprinkle the tops with sugar, if desired.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, until they’re golden, a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, or a thermometer reads roughly 200 degrees.

Notes

*If you don't have coconut sugar on hand, substitute traditional cane sugar.

What you’ll need to make blueberry muffins:

More like the best fresh milled flour blueberry muffins:

• How to make rolled oats with an oat flaker (and why you should!)
• Whole wheat pumpkin muffins
• The best sandwich bread with fresh milled flour
• Wheat berries: everything you need to know

Shop all my favorite grains and wheat berries here, and shop grain mills here.

Follow along on my fresh milled flour adventures on Instagram (@souly.rested) and Facebook.

The post The best fresh milled flour blueberry muffins first appeared on Souly Rested.

As a former dairy cow owner, I’ve seen first-hand the power of colostrum. 

So I’m not surprised to see that “colostrum” has become a trendy buzzword across social media. If it’s good enough to sustain the vulnerable lives of days-old calves, it certainly has superfood benefits for our bodies as well.

My favorite way to enjoy the benefits of colostrum? In a Vanilla Colostrum Latte. It’s naturally sweet (no sugar), it’s creamy and vanilla-y, it’s made with the highest-quality coffee in the world (for added antioxidants!), and it’s offering my body tons of nutrients it desperately needs.

What is colostrum?

Bovine colostrum is the first milk that cows produce after they give birth to a calf. It’s packed full of protein, vitamins, essential minerals as it’s designed to nourish calves during their very first and very vulnerable days outside the womb.

Before you come for me, don’t worry. The colostrum I use and love make sure the calves get their fair share of colostrum before it’s packaged for humans to enjoy.

Why do people take colostrum?

A properly-sourced bovine colostrum is extremely nutritious. While it’s still a buzzword going around, colostrum is being studied for it’s benefits;

• Supporting immune health
• Containing compounds associated with gut support
• Supporting healthy digestion
• Used by athletes to help support recovery and muscle growth
• Strengthening hair, skin, and nails 

Adding colostrum powder to your morning latte is an easy way to make your coffee more nourishing while also incorporating a superfood ingredient that many people use for gut and immune support, digestion support, muscle recovery, improved hair, skin, and nails, and overall wellness.

Learn more about colostrum straight from the source–dairy farmers themselves with this Colostrum 101 guide.

How to know if your colostrum is real

There are lots of bad colostrum powders out there. Even *ehem* some of the huge, popular brands going around. Some things to look for in a high-quality colostrum (that’s not just a waste of money, but actually REAL, first-milk bovine colostrum); the color, the smell, the taste, the fact that it’s third-party tested, it’s labeled “whole” colostrum, NOT “skimmed.”

Let’s talk about colostrum, and how to know if your colostrum is real, or if you’re being ripped off.

The color

Real, high-quality colostrum powder should be noticeably yellow. Not pale yellow, not white. A golden, butter-y-yellow color is ideal. If your colostrum powder is just white, it’s most likely lacking all the amazing nutrients that we’re specifically looking for.

The smell

High-quality, nutritious colostrum should smell like, well, dairy. If it smells very off-putting, it most likely wasn’t handled correctly. If it smells like nothing, it’s most likely not a colostrum that’s worth your money.

The taste

Good bovine colostrum should taste creamy and milk-y. Not watery, weak, or sour.

Third party-tested colostrum

Check your labels. If your colostrum isn’t third-party tested, there’s a good chance you’re not getting what you think you are.

Whole colostrum, NOT skimmed

“Skimmed” colostrum powders have been stripped of most of their nutrients, leaving behind technically-colostrum-powder, but it’s void of almost all the nutrients that we’re looking to enjoy. On the other hand, “whole” colostrum powder is real, full-fat, not-skimmed, as-it-should-be colostrum.

The colostrum powder I use daily checks every single one of these boxes. It’s produced by generational dairy farmers I trust because they’ve been doing what they’re doing for, well, generations.

Colostrum recipes

While I’m partial to this vanilla colostrum latte recipe to enjoy my colostrum, get creative! There are tons of ways to incorporate colostrum into your daily life.

Add colostrum to a yogurt bowl/parfait

Make a colostrum smoothie by simply adding colostrum powder to your favorite smoothie

Make a hydrating colostrum electrolyte drink by adding unflavored colostrum powder to your usual electrolyte powder/drink.

Add colostrum powder to oatmeal or overnight oats

Make protein colostrum energy balls or granola bars for a nutritious snack

Vanilla colostrum latte recipe

Making a vanilla colostrum latte is as simple as making your espresso (I use a cheap, non-toxic mocha pot to make mine), frothing the colostrum and optional vanilla bean paste into your milk, and combining the espresso and colostrum/milk. Hot or iced, you have a delicious and super nutritious latte.

Brew a double shot of espresso.

Froth one serving of colostrum powder into about 20 oz of milk. Add vanilla bean paste, if using.

Gently heat the milk for a hot latte, or add ice for an iced latte.

Pour the espresso over the milk.

Enjoy your superfood vanilla colostrum latte.

What coffee makes the best colostrum latte?

Unless you’re using the right coffee, adding colostrum to your latte is like sticking a Band-Aid on a broken arm. It’s not going to be very effective.

Did you know that conventional coffee is rumored to be the most heavily treated (sprayed) crop in the world?

But it turns out that shade-grown, low-acid, carefully roasted, organic coffee (in other words, how coffee should be) is high in antioxidants and is actually nutritious? If you care about your health, an easy (and affordable) switch is to order high-quality coffee beans in bulk. Then you’re stocked up on nutritious coffee that costs pennies per serving.

I personally trust these guys to fill my daily cup of joe. Their coffee is grown generatively and in the shade (making it naturally low-acid and easy on the stomach), without any chemicals, and is roasted to perfection, never allowing mold to develop. And they’re third-party tested just to make sure.

Print

Vanilla colostrum latte

Servings 1 latte

Ingredients

• 1 double shot espresso
• 1 serving vanilla colostrum powder
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste optional
• 20 oz whole milk or milk of choice

Instructions

• Brew your double shot of espresso
• If making a hot latte, gently heat your milk.
• Using a handheld frother, whisk the colostrum powder and vanilla bean paste into the milk. Add ice for an iced latte.
• Pour the espresso over the vanilla milk. Enjoy your delicious vanilla colostrum latte!

More like vanilla colostrum latte recipe:

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• All my favorite coffee supplies

The post Vanilla Colostrum Latte Recipe first appeared on Souly Rested.

When I first started out with fresh milled flour, I wanted to know the cost of milling my own flour.

But I was virtually alone in the fresh flour world and couldn’t find the numbers, so I pulled them together myself.

Fresh flour: is it worth it?

Tradwife influencers weren’t a thing. No ladies in long skirts were showing up on social media, with fancy tabletop mills, kneading their bread daily. Google was essentially void of answers. There were hardly any books published about fresh flour, aside from a few dusty ones I uncovered at thrift stores, or general “whole wheat” cookbooks.

In fact, when I penned an article many years ago about why I mill my own flour, I thought my math was thorough. Oh, how times have changed.

Comment after comment has rolled in, asking me to update my math, be more consistent, use all one type of measurement, and so on. Okay, okay. Years-ago-Michelle was just doing her best to figure out this “grain mills and wheat berries and fresh flour thing,” ‘mkay?

So today I’m updating the math and answering the all important question–fresh milled flour: is it worth it?

That’s for you to decide, I’m just here to help you run the numbers.

Why mill your own flour?

First, let’s briefly cover why we’re even talking about fresh milled flour in the first place.

Store bought white flour is heavily refined, removing the bran and germ from wheat—where most of the fiber, vitamins, minerals, and natural oils are found. Flour is also heat-treated bleached, and other ingredients added to enhance baking performance.

When we mill our own flour (especially if we’re milling ancient grains!), we’re able to provide our bodies with all the nutrients naturally contained in wheat–including the healthy oils that go rancid quickly if we try to store it after milling into flour. Essentially, wheat naturally contains vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and all sorts of other micronutrients our bodies thrive on. Modern, commercial, white flour? Not even in the same ballpark.

My top reasons for milling my own flour include:

1. To save money (we’ll break this down later)
2. To eat a variety of nutritious grains (different types of grains contain different nutritional profiles!)
3. To eat locally & support organic farm families (who knew flour could be a local health food, and philanthropic?)
4. To be prepared (I’m not a prepper, but I love the idea of having buckets of unmilled flour on hand, always)
5. To enjoy the flavor (It took a while for my white-bread-tastebuds to adjust to fresh flour, but now I can’t go back!)

Cost of getting started with fresh milled flour

In order to mill fresh flour, you’re going to need to invest in a grain mill. Technically you can attempt to use a coffee grinder, blender, or food processer to mill wheat berries into flour, but you’re not going to like the result. Plus you risk burning out an expensive appliance.

Most home grain mills range from $250-$900. I’ve used the most affordable grain mill on the market, as well as my daily-use grain mill, which is on the pricy end. They all function well and get the job done.

To get started with fresh milled flour, you’ll also need wheat berries. To secure the best prices, you’ll want to order them in bulk. Depending on your source, the quality of wheat you’re purchasing, and the shipping costs, you’ll usually spend around $50-$100/50 lbs of wheat berries.

Another optional start up cost is investing in a high-quality mixer. While this isn’t a need, it’s very helpful in making good bread with fresh milled flour. Fresh flour bread dough needs to be kneaded longer than doughs made with store bought flour, and you need a mixer that will handle the extra kneading time. I’ve used this one every single day for almost a decade without issues.

Cost breakdown to start milling flour

So to break it down, start up costs for milling fresh flour include:

a grain mill ($250-$900) + wheat berries ($50-$100) + optional mixer ($250-$550, depending on model) = $550-$1,550

These prices are on the high end, as well as include optional costs.

Truthfully, you can start out milling flour for as little as $250 (cost of an affordable grain mill), and a few wheat berries from Amazon or your local bulk/natural foods store.

Quick answer… fresh milled flour: is it worth it?

Yes, milling your own flour not only saves money, but also offers your family invaluable nutrients that store bought flour is missing. With an upfront investment, a small learning curve, and some wheat berries, you’re on your way to keeping more cash in your wallet while enjoying the benefits of eating the highest-quality flour in the world.

Is fresh milled flour worth it?

Alright, here’s the nitty gritty.

When I was purchasing flour from the store, I purchased organic King Arthur flour, all-purpose. These days, a bag of that same flour (per their website) costs $10.95 for 5 lbs (let’s round up to $11, shall we?).

So $11/5 lbs = $2.20 per pound of organic flour.

In comparison, I currently spend $64/50 lbs organic, hard white wheat berries.

So $64/50 lbs = $1.28 per pound of organic, fresh milled flour.

(Keep in mind that 1 pound of wheat berries translates directly to 1 pound of flour, unless you’re sifting it, then there will be some loss in weight.)

That’s a $0.92 savings per pound of flour I use.

Now, obviously there are some other factors involved (purchasing buckets to store bulk grains, taking up space in your home/basement, and so on).

Does fresh milled flour save money?

Let’s use the math above to take it one step further. An average loaf of sandwich bread uses about 1 pound of flour to make.

According to Google, the average American family consumes 2-4 loaves of bread per week. At a savings of $0.92 per pound of flour (and therefore per loaf of bread), that’s a weekly savings of $3.68.

Although that doesn’t seem like much, that adds up to almost $200/year.

And, on top of that, your family is receiving far more nutrients from the fresh milled flour than store bought flour could ever provide.

Quick reference of store bought flour versus fresh milled flour

How long until a grain mill pays for itself?

Think of it this way: in 1 1/2  years or less, you’ll have paid for your grain mill simply in flour savings. Please do keep in mind that these numbers aren’t exact. For instance, maybe your family exclusively uses ancient grains, or maybe you’re used to budgeting for non-organic flour at the store. I don’t know your personal numbers, but these savings reflect the dollar amounts I saw/saved when I made the switch to fresh milled flour from conventional flour.

These savings only consider bread, imagine how much more you save when you add in other baked goods and any other flour-based products you might be purchasing (tortillas, bagels, desserts, muffins, and so on).

Also, keep in mind that some grains are actually much cheaper than the $1.28/pound I used as an example above. For instance, organic rye is one of the most affordable grains I can purchase (only $0.80/pound!), so I use rye often in brownies, my sourdough starter, and in these chocolate chip cookies made with fresh flour to keep costs down.

So to use rye flour instead of the commercial flour I was purchasing from the store is a $1.40/lb savings.

Homemade cookies just got much cheaper (and more nutritious!).

When fresh milled flour might NOT be worth it

Although I’ve personally seen the financial, health, and lifestyle benefits of fresh milled flour, I fully admit it isn’t for everyone.

• Fresh milled flour might not be for you if you don’t naturally enjoy baking. If you rarely use flour, don’t eat many carbs, or simply don’t find yourself with any desire to bake bread or make fresh baked goods, you might find your grain mill collecting dust.
• If you can’t afford to invest in a grain mill and wheat berries right now, it might be best to save up until you can.
• In a very limited space, it’s hard to store wheat berries. And they’re much pricier to purchase in smaller quantities instead of in bulk. That doesn’t mean milling your own flour still isn’t worth it, it will just take you longer to see the savings.
• If you’re extremely pressed for time (to the point where pausing to mill flour for 5 minutes before making bread dough just doesn’t fit in your schedule), then fresh milled flour might be tough for you right now. You might want to invest in this grain mill and make your fresh flour in large batches to keep on hand in the fridge when you need it, or maybe you’ll want to wait and revisit the idea when your life is slower and you have time to enjoy the process.

More about fresh milled flour

• How to use a grain mill
• Should I freeze wheat berries?
• Sourdough bread with fresh milled flour
• Kamut chocolate chip cookies
• Grab all my fresh flour tips and more recipes too

The post Fresh milled flour: is it worth it? first appeared on Souly Rested.

There are a lot of nuances of fresh flour that make it very different to bake with than commercial flour. Which is good. It should be different.

But often the biggest hurdle for a newbie is figuring out how to use a grain mill correctly.

How to Use a Grain Mill

We’re going to cover it ALL here, even the questions you haven’t asked yet, so take a deep breath and dive in with me.

I own 4 grain mills. And I’ve been milling my own flour for almost a decade. I hit a lot of road blocks and almost didn’t overcome a few obstacles, so I’m here to make sure that doesn’t happen to you.

Let’s just say, I went down the rabbit hole of grain mills so you don’t have to.

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Tips for using a grain mill

By now it’s no secret that I’m a huge advocate for milling your own flour. I know how to use a grain mill to make flour, and ever since I learned this skill I’ve been shouting about it from the rooftops.

But once people hear about fresh flour, or even once they own their own grain mill, one of the most common questions I get asked is “how do I use this thing, anyways?” And I get it. Staring at a brand-new, confusing, beast-of-an-appliance can be intimidating.

But I’m here today to completely remove that overwhelm. Hopefully this information will equip and empower you to not only learn how to use your grain mill with confidence, but to ditch dead store flour, once and for all. Together, you and I, we’re part of the Fresh Flour Movement.

We’re flouring like rebels. We’re not only ditching dead, refined flour, but replacing it with the best substitution out there: fresh milled flour.

Why do I need a grain mill?

Just in case you’re seeing this and not fully on the fresh flour trend yet, let’s back up for a second.

Flour used to be a superfood. Back in the day, flour was grown, milled, and baked locally. In fact, REAL flour, when it’s kept unrefined and unsifted, can only last for short periods of time before going rancid. This is actually good news, because the sooner flour is used after being milled, the more nutrients are maintained.

But commercial flour mills came along and realized that if they took flour (real, wholegrain flour that’s literally just stone-ground, 100% whole wheat flour, containing all the parts of the wheat berry), and heated, sifted, and processed that flour, they’d end up with a shelf-stable version of the flour they started out with.

Turns out that processing something to oblivion can do wonders to profit margins.

But, unfortunately, nothing for our bodies.

Wholegrain flour, in it’s pure, unrefined form contains all three parts of the wheat berry (the kernel of wheat plants that’s ground into flour): the bran, the germ, and the endosperm. Modern flour only contains the endosperm, which is the starchy part that doesn’t contain oils, minerals, and antioxidants the way the bran and germ do.

The solution? Mill your own flour. In order to mill flour, you’re gonna need a grain mill.

How to use an impact grain mill

There’s a difference in how you can use impact grain mills vs. stone grain mills. If you’d like a full break down of the differences (and how you can choose which one is best for you), read this post all about impact vs. stone mills.

Using an impact-style grain mill is very simple. Let’s walk through the steps of using an impact mill to turn wheat berries into flour:

1. Put your mill together, making sure the canister is attached fully, any/all filters and cups are securely in place, and the canister lid is fully closed.
2. Adjust the texture of your flour by changing the dial on your mill. Do this before milling your flour, if possible.
3. Pour your wheat berries (or grains of choice) into the hopper of your mill. Don’t turn the mill on without having grains in the hopper, as this can damage your mill if done routinely.
4. Allow the mill to run until all the grains are fully milled and there are no grains left in the hopper. Do not turn off the mill mid-milling, and don’t turn the mill off until you can hear all of the grains are done milling, even if all the grains are gone from the hopper. In other words, you don’t want any grains left in the milling mechanism of the mill, or partially-milled grains can easily go rancid, especially if you don’t use your mill routinely.
5. Remove the flour canister only once your mill is done milling, and the motor has stopped running.
6. Remove the flour from the canister, clean the filter and filter cup if advised by your mill manufacturer, and use your flour as needed.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a few important notes about using an impact mill, though.

While most impact mills can mill almost anything, from wheat berries to dried chickpeas, some things like larger beans or chickpeas can be tough to actually–physically–feed through the hopper into the grinding mechanism. If I’m milling chickpeas through my impact grain mill, I blitz them in my blender for just a few seconds to get them a bit smaller and easier to mill, before milling them into flour.

Impact mills, due to their nature of using steel impact heads to, essentially, beat wheat berries into flour, tend to make a finer flour in the end, but have a harder time making course flours or meals. So while impact mills are amazing for making fine flour, don’t be surprised if it’s tough to make coarsely ground cornmeal or cracked wheat in an impact-style mill.

How to use a stone grain mill

Unlike impact mills, stone mills are an on-demand grain mill, meaning they don’t use a closed-canister style, but rather an open-hopper style. You’ll see the flour come out of the spout as soon as you dump wheat berries into the hopper. You’ll need to use your own bowl to mill your flour in to.

Using a stone grain mill is really easy;

1. Turn your mill on. Never dump wheat berries into a stone mill without turning it on first.
2. Adjust the stones, if needed. The cool thing about stone mills is that you can actually hear how course or fine your flour will come out. As you get used to the different sounds, you’ll be able to easily adjust your stones to get just the right courseness or fineness you’re looking for. Some mills (like my mockmill) also have numbers/labels to make this process easier, especially if you’re new to using a stone mill and unfamiliar with the sounds of the stones.
3. Pour your wheat berries (or other grains) into your mill.
4. Adjust the stones again, as needed. The great thing about stone mills is that you can see the flour coming out, and adjust the stones to change the courseness of the flour, all while the mill is running. The tighter the stones are, the finer the flour will be, and vice versa.
5. When you’ve milled as much flour as you need, turn the mill off and use your flour. Allow the mill to run for just a few second after the last of your flour comes out, just to make sure the stones are free of any last bits of flour.

If you’re concerned about keeping your flour as nutritious as possible, you can use an instant read thermometer to temp the flour as it comes out. If your flour gets hotter than you’d like, turn off your mill, give it a rest, and come back to mill the rest of your flour later. There’s some debate on how hot is too hot for nutrient loss with stone milled flour, but I personally think that anything under 120 degrees is ideal.

I’ll show you the differences in impact vs stone mills & get you thinking about how to choose the right one for you in this video:

How to make flour with a grain mill

In order to make flour in a grain mill, you just need a few things.

• Wheat berries (or other grains)
• A grain mill
• A bowl (if using a stone mill)

Turning wheat berries into flour with a grain mill is as simple as allowing your mill to do the work, but there are some considerations and tips I’ve learned along the way that might be helpful to know.

–> Use only clean, dry grains. After investing in a grain mill, the last thing you want is to hurt your mill. Checking the grains you’re milling before using them can go a long way in maintaining your grain mill for years to come. Remove any small stones or other debris that you might find. If you happen to find small, round, dark brown seeds, those actually won’t hurt your mill. They’re Vetch seeds, which are a common cover crop used in rotation with wheat at many organic farms.

–> Learn as much as you can about your mill. User’s manuals can be helpful as well as talking to other people who have the same mill you do. There are little tips and tricks that you might not think of that others have. With time, you and your mill will get to know each other and you’ll learn the ins and outs of your specific machine.

–> If you’re ever in doubt, run rice through your mill. Rice acts as a “cleaner” for grain mills, especially stone mills. If anything ever seems “off,” or if you feel your stones or impact plates might be at all gummed up, milling rice can help clear out any issues before they become problems.

How to use the Nutrimill Harvest grain mill

The Harvest grain mill was my first mill that I got almost a decade ago. While following the general instructions for using a stone mill above will work with the Harvest grain mill, I’ve learned that it has its own particular way it likes to be used. Here are my best tips for using the Nutrimill Harvest grain mill.

I’ve found that the Harvest mill is the most difficult to get very fine flour from out of all the mills I’ve tried. It can be done, though, with a bit of practice. First, disregard the little tab that’s supposed to show you where to turn the knob for fresh flour. Instead, simply listen to the stones and use the flour that comes out as a guide. I’ve also found it’s helpful to turn the mill on, pour your wheat berries in when the stones are somewhat close but not super tight, then adjust the stones to be even tighter once the wheat berries are actively milling. For some reason the Harvest mill seems to not like tightening the stones all the way until the wheat berries are actively grinding, then you can tighten the stones more for finer flour. Once your flour is done milling, open the stones up some while it’s still turned on to allow any flour left in the mill to come out.

Consider double milling your flour through the Harvest mill. When it was my primary mill I was using, I got into the habit of milling my grains through once into somewhat of a cracked grain, then milling my flour from that. It seemed to really help give the mill a jump start on cranking our fine flour. Flour itself can also be milled back through the harvest, just make sure to pour the flour into the hopper at the rate it mills to avoid gumming up the mill, rather than dumping all the flour into the hopper at once, like you would do with wheat berries.

Finally, adjust the types of wheat berries you’re using. If you can’t get fine flour, try milling different grains. Just as an example, Einkorn tends to produce very fine flour, while Kamut and Spelt are harder to mill into fine flour.

How to use the Nutrimill Classic grain mill

The Nutrimill Classic grain mill makes the finest flour of any mill I’ve used. If I’m looking to make large quantities of very fine flour, the Classic is my favorite mill for the job. And although it’s very easy to use, there are a few tricks I’ve learned along the way to make life easier when using the Classic mill.

First, MAKE SURE the flour canister is fully pushed into the mill before using it. There’s a faint line showing where the canister needs to be, and if it’s not fully attached, flour will spew everywhere. I mean everywhere. Not that I know from experience or anything, ahem.

Make sure you use the filter and cup that come with the Classic. Not using the cup or filter can destroy the mill, as they’re both essential in allowing the machine to run properly. Also make sure to flick or knock the flour off of the filter after every use, washing with water only as needed.

If you’re having trouble removing the lid from the flour canister, try using a layer of flour on the rubber part of the lid. This will allow the lid to stay securely on, but will also allow you to remove the lid with ease when the time comes. I’ve fought battles with that lid many times before learning this trick.

How to use the Nutrimill Impact grain mill

Using the Nutrimill Impact grain mill is very similar to the classic grain mill, with a few differences.

First, make sure your hopper and flour canister are clicked securely in. Since the Impact mill is designed to be more compact, the hopper and flour canister can be stacked and stored separately from the actually mill part, which makes it better for small spaces and storing it away when needed.

Make sure the clip on the outside of the flour canister is secured and clicked in before using the Impact mill. The clip will seemingly stay put when it’s just sitting there, but needs to actually be clicked down to be secure while milling. If it’s not, it will “puff” while the flour is coming out.

Since this mill is mainly designed for making fine bread flour, you’ll have to skip past a few settings on the mill before wheat berries will pass through. The 1-2 settings are mainly just used for smaller grains, while the 3rd setting is the main one to use for wheat berries, sometimes even setting 4-5. It seems backwards, but you’ll have to turn the knob more times for courser flour. The Impact mill comes with a sticker to place on the knob to help you remember which setting is which, but I found that it doesn’t say on long, so you’ll want to just get into the habit of turning the knob a certain number of times to get the desired fineness.

How to use the Mockmill 200 grain mill

The Mockmill is my everyday mill. It’s a stone mill that mills flour on-demand. While it’s very simple to operate, there are a few things to keep in mind.

The 100 and 200 mills are rightly named. The Mockmill 100 is able to mill 100g of wheat per minute, while the Mockmill 200 is able to mill at the speed of 200g per minute. The white mills are the same internal mill as the wooden ones, just with a different outer shell.

There are numbers on the outside of the mill’s hopper than can be used as a guide for milling coarseness. While it’s helpful to reference, as with the Harvest mill, ideally you’ll develop an ear for the sounds of the stones that will allow you to decide for yourself which setting is best for what you’re making with your flour.

If you’re using your Mockmill to make cornmeal or chickpea flour (or to mill any other large-sized things), make sure to place the “lid” on the hopper as it’s milling. I’ve found that if I don’t there’s a good chance large particles will “pop” and fly into my already-milled flour as the rest of the corn or chickpeas are continuing to mill.

If your stones seem gummed up, make sure to mill rice through your Mockmill to clean the stones off.

How to clean a grain mill

Technically, grain mills don’t really need to be “cleaned.” At least, not in the traditional sense. With impact mills, you will need to clean the “parts” after use, like the filter, filter cup, and flour canister/lid. But the actual milling heads inside impact mills don’t really need maintenance or regular cleaning. You are free to mill rice through your impact mill anytime, and that will help clean the milling heads if there happens to be any residue inside the mill. Keep in mind that impact mills can’t be taken apart, and you’ll never actually see the inside of your mill, unlike stone mills.

Unlike impact mills, stone mills may need a bit of cleaning sometimes. The good news is that modern stone mills are self-sharpening, so they don’t need any maintenance in that way.

But if you mill anything out of the ordinary, or mill flour for longer periods of time than usual, you may find that the stones “gum” up a little bit. No worries, just simply mill some rice through your mill, playing with what level of coarseness seems the most effective in cleaning the stones. Stones can also become “glazed” at times, which milling rice will also help clean up.

If your stones are really gummed up for some reason, you may need to use a DULL (butter) knife to carefully cut lines into the gummed up stone before milling rice. Always make sure to unplug your machine before taking it apart to inspect the stones!

Never, ever use water to clean the inside of your mill, regardless of what kind of mill you have. If the outside of your mill needs a cleaning, using a damp rag usually does the trick. Sometimes using a small bottle brush can help clean out your mill of any lingering flour.

Using a grain mill for gluten-free flour

While I’m not gluten-free, I have many good friends who are, and they’ve saved a ton of money milling their own alternative grains. Do keep in mind that for a grain mill to produce truly gluten-free flour, you’d have to purchase a brand-new grain mill (not pre-owned or refurbished) and only ever mill gluten-free grains in it. Even cleaning your stones with rice won’t fully remove the residue and oils of other grains milled, which could lead to exposure to gluten just by using the same grain mill for wheat and alternative grains.

There are lots of gluten-free grains, seeds, and legumes that are perfect for milling;

• Oat groats
• Chickpeas
• Rice
• Buckwheat
• Millet
• Quinoa
• Amaranth
• Teff

My favorite gluten-free “all-purpose blend” is  70% oat flour, 30% chickpea flour.

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More like How to Use a Grain Mill:

• Guide to Choosing a Grain Mill
• Why I mill my own flour
• How to make flour at home from start to finish
• Wheat berries: everything you need to know
• Take a FREE crash course on choosing the right grains

The post How to Use a Grain Mill first appeared on Souly Rested.