Making/grinding flour

[frugal-one]

Today I used my VitaMix to make oat flour from old fashioned oats. It was SO easy!!!! The bread I made, however, was as heavy as a brick but it inspired me to try my hand at making other flours. Anyone have any suggestions for books, websites or recipes to help me along?

I found this at my local library and am on the list...

http://www.linkcat.info/cgi-bin/koha/opac-detail.pl?biblionumber=1136489

[lessisbest]

I've been milling flour from grains/seeds/beans for about 25-years and teach classes on it. I own a bevy of mills, including a Vitamix, which is a high-speed blender, not a mill, and there is a difference. The Vitamix doesn't mill flour as fine as a Nutrimill or a Wonder Mill. The finer the flour the finer the bread texture. The opposite is true for coarse flour. What type of wheat did you use?

Which bread making technique did you use? For wholegrain breads I'd skip the direct dough method (the more modern adaptation of bread making) and use a sponge method. Soaking the flour will improve the bread characteristics. Bran is like a little sponge, so sponging helps soften those sharp bits of bran that can cut the gluten strands during kneading, and using a sponge method also allows the gluten to absorb moisture, developing it without a lot of manipulation (kneading).

How did you proof the dough? I suggest getting a dough rising bucket. It is an opaque plastic tub with a tight fitting lid (a plastic ice cream tub will work). They are available from King Arthur Flour, but I get mine from my local restaurant supply store. There they are called a food storage container. An opaque plastic container with a tight-fitting lid - STRAIGHT sides that have graduated markings. When you are ready for the first rise, you pat the dough into the bucket and snap on the lid. Note where the dough is (example: 1-quart), and when the dough has doubled in bulk (2-quarts), it is ready for the next step. When you place dough in a slant-sided bowl, you really can't tell when the dough has doubled.

With wholegrain breads you want the dough to rise just BELOW double. Wholegrain flours don't have the extensibility processed bleach and unbleached flours have, so going anything beyond "double" is actually over-proofing the dough.

There is a substance in wheat germ - Glutathione - that breaks down the gluten. You can overcome Glutathione by adding some ascorbic acid powder. I add 1/8 t. per loaf. It will aid in preventing the gluten bonds from breaking down; and repair gluten bonds. The additional acid also promotes yeast growth. You will also find wholegrain recipes that use vinegar or lemon juice. They accomplish the same thing. If you are making naturally-leavened breads (sourdough using a starter), they are already naturally acidic and adding an acid is NOT necessary.

Bread is a very humbling thing. As a former Foods Judge at County Fairs, I have to be able to tell people what wasn't right about their bread, so I've spent decades studying the subject. Go to your local library and get "CookWise" by Shirley O. Corriher and read the first 99 pages. If they don't have it, have them get it through Inter-Library Loan. That will be a great place to get started about bread making.

[kimberlyf0]

Great advice. I'm wondering if you used any flour in the bread other than the oat flour? By itself oat flour doesn't have enough gluten to maintain the structure of the bread.

I ground grain in my vitamix for more than 10 years before buying a mill, and I never had problems with whole wheat flour causing brick loaves (although I certainly agree that the flour is finer from the mill). I generally made bread machine dough or used a mixer (both being direct dough methods, I suppose). I also used the vitamix to grind einkorn for sourdough.

Good luck - bread making is lots of fun!

[lessisbest]

Good point kimberlyf0. I guess I just assumed the oat flour was used in a multi-grain loaf of bread with wheat flour. I generally mill oat flour from whole oat groats, not oatmeal. Any blender, food processor, or even small amounts in a coffee/spice mill, will make oat flour out of oatmeal - it doesn't have to be a high-speed blender like a Vitamix. For good measure, I'll add a tasty recipe that uses oat flour.

BANANA CRUNCH CAKE

crunch topping:
3/4 c. oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned oats, uncooked)
1/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
2 T. butter or margarine, melted
2 T. chopped nuts
1/2 t. cinnamon
Combine all ingredients; mix well.

cake:
1/2 c. butter or margarine
2/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1 c. mashed banana
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 c. ground oat flour*
3/4 c. all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1 t. salt
1 t. soda
1/2 c. chopped nuts, if desired
[Note: I also add 3 T. flaxmeal.]

Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy; blend in banana, eggs and vanilla. Gradually add combined dry ingredients, mixing well after each addition. Stir in nuts. Pour into greased 9-inch square baking pan; sprinkle crunch topping evenly over batter. Bake in pre-heated 350° oven 40-45 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

How to make your own Ground Oat Flour
1. Place 1-1/2 c. oatmeal (quick or old-fashioned, uncooked) in a blender or food processor.
2. Blend or process for about 60-seconds. Makes about 1-cup of ground oat flour.
3. Store in tightly covered container in cool dry place (or refrigerator or freezer) up to six months.
4. Use for baking, breading, thickening or dredging and browning. When used in baking, substitute up to, but not more than, one-third (1/3) of the all-purpose flour called for with oat flour.
5. Oat flour can also be made by milling oat groats for those who prefer freshly milled flour.

NOTE: Baked goods made with Ground Oat Flour tend to be heartier, more tender, and sometimes a little crumbly. Like oats, Ground Oat Flour is deeper in color than all-purpose flour to begin with, so don't be concerned if your wholegrain foods look a little differently in color from ones you used all-purpose flour in.

[Dhiana]

That's a lot of great info, Lessisbest!
I've been having fun just experimenting and found I really like the taste and texture of my breads best when I've added Almond Meal/Flour to it. In my recipe it is about 15%.

[frugal-one]

Thanks all. I will try your recipe nest time Lessisbest. I made a banana, blueberry bread with apple juice as the sweetener. I had a hard time telling when the loaf was done. It ended up being a doughy brick. My DS ate it anyways. He does not eat sugar so he appreciated the effort even though it was not the best.

[lessisbest]

Thanks all. I will try your recipe nest time Lessisbest. I made a banana, blueberry bread with apple juice as the sweetener. I had a hard time telling when the loaf was done. It ended up being a doughy brick. My DS ate it anyways. He does not eat sugar so he appreciated the effort even though it was not the best.

So you made a quick bread, not a yeast bread.....(LOL) never mind!

You may not realize how much fructose is in apple juice (a sugar that goes directly to the liver) and it contains approx. 28 grams of sugar per cup while Kool-Aid contains 18 grams per cup. I don't consider it a good substitute for sugar, and it may actually be worse than sugar in some applications.

Helpful Hint: You can cut slices of less-than-perfect quick bread and use it to make French toast, or cube it and make bread pudding out of it, as a couple options.

[frugal-one]

So you made a quick bread, not a yeast bread.....(LOL) never mind!

You may not realize how much fructose is in apple juice (a sugar that goes directly to the liver) and it contains approx. 28 grams of sugar per cup while Kool-Aid contains 18 grams per cup. I don't consider it a good substitute for sugar, and it may actually be worse than sugar in some applications.

Helpful Hint: You can cut slices of less-than-perfect quick bread and use it to make French toast, or cube it and make bread pudding out of it, as a couple options.

Didn't know that about apple juice. I searched and bought "real" juice with no added sweetener. This is probably the same for apple juice concentrate... sigh.

[awakenedsoul]

The Tassajara Bread Book is excellent. I used to make a brown rice bread recipe they had. It was a heavy bread, but nutritious and delicious!

That's great that you are grinding your own flours. I bake all of my own breads, but have never done that.

[Stella]

My father-in-law gave me his spare grain mill a few years ago and I grind my own whole wheat flour with it. It's kind of fun and it makes very tasty bread.