grains

WoodGrain Mill

WoodGrain Farm’s certified organic flours are freshly ground on our 12″ granite stone mill, fashioned from Kispiox Valley birch.  The heavy stones turning at a slow speed keep the grain cool as it is ground, preserving the taste and nutritional quality of the whole grain. 

An advantage of quarried granite mill stones, as opposed to manufactured composite stones (common in most modern ‘stone mills’ ), is that the outer bran peels off the grain in large flakes instead of being shredded by the gritty surface of composite stones.  The intact bran flakes are gentler on the digestive system, and are easy to sift out if you desire a lighter flour.

Stoneground flour – with nothing added or taken away – acts differently in recipes than common ‘wholewheat’ flour.  If flour is not labelled stoneground, chances are it is refined white flour with some bran re-added.  But it does not retain the nutritious germ of the kernel – even if the label says 100% whole grain – as the essential oils in the germ shorten its shelf life.  Stoneground flour contains the germ and also the nutritious inner bran, as well as the fiber-rich outer bran of the kernel, and should be used fresh.

 

Freshly Stone Milled Flour

Keep stoneground flour cool in a breathable paper bag, or freeze if you will be keeping longer than a month.  If you are unaccustomed to baking with stoneground flour, try blending with untreated white flour in your recipes.

Our Certified Organic grain is grown on a small-scale, harvested with a 1940’s Massey Harris Clipper combine and cleaned with an Cockshutt fanning mill.  We also like to grow out test plots of  heirloom varieties of various grains, with about 40 different types presently in our collection.

Read the story of our hand-built stone mill in the Canadian Organic Grower:

Recipes

Organic Dark Rye Bread