Milling your own flour sounds like a big step. It isn't. You need whole wheat grain, a mill, and a little patience with your first couple of loaves. Here's what to know before you start.

Why hard wheat?

Wheat is sold as "hard" or "soft", and the difference is protein. Hard wheat has more of it, and more protein means the flour can form more gluten, which is what gives bread dough its strength. That makes hard wheat the one to choose for bread. Soft wheat suits cakes, biscuits and scones, where you want a tender crumb.

Our biodynamic hard wheat is Demeter certified, grown in Victoria, and has a protein level above 12%.

What you need

  • Whole wheat grain. You'll also see it called wheat berries.
  • A grain mill. A benchtop mill made for grain does the job. A blender won't grind fine enough for bread.
  • Kitchen scales. Weigh the grain, not the flour.

How to mill it

  1. Weigh out what the recipe needs, plus a little. You get close to the same weight of flour as the grain you put in, but a little is always left in the mill. Adding about 10 grams extra covers it.
  2. Set the mill as fine as it will go. For bread you want the finest flour your mill can make. Every mill is different, so expect to adjust it over your first few goes.
  3. Mill only what you'll use. Fresh flour is at its best straight away.

Baking with fresh flour

Fresh-milled flour doesn't behave like flour from a packet. Three things catch people out:

  • It drinks more water. Hold a little water back, then add it gradually until the dough feels right.
  • The dough is a bit weaker. Mixing for two or three minutes longer helps.
  • It can prove faster. Wholegrain dough is lively, so watch the dough rather than the clock.

For your first loaf, don't go all in. Replace about a third of the flour in a recipe you already know with fresh-milled, and keep the rest as your usual white flour. Once that works, raise the share loaf by loaf.

Fresh flour is whole grain: the bran and germ are still in it. If you want a lighter loaf you can sift some of the bran out with a fine sieve, but most home millers leave it in.

Storing a big bag of grain

Whole grain keeps far better than flour, which is why it makes sense to buy it in bulk. Look after it and it will last.

  • Get it out of the bag. Tip it into airtight, food-grade containers. Lidded buckets work well.
  • Keep it cool. Somewhere between about 4 and 16°C is ideal. A cool cupboard or pantry floor beats a warm shelf.
  • Keep it dry. Moisture is what spoils grain.
  • Freeze it if you're worried about pantry insects. Two or three days in the freezer in small bags, then a day back at room temperature before you seal it away.

Stored like this, whole wheat keeps for a year or more. Check the best-before date on your bag. Use your oldest grain first.

Storing fresh flour

Flour is a different story. Aim to use fresh-milled flour within a week, and keep anything you won't use in the next few days in an airtight container in the fridge.

Ready to start?

You'll find sizes, current price and delivery details on the hard wheat page. We ship heavy bags Australia-wide, except WA.

Allergen note: wheat contains gluten.