My Wondermill is coming tomorrow . . .

[lalaithnil]

and I need advice on what to do with it.

We know we need wheat berries to make our flour, but we've never made bread before. Well, dh did as a boy, but not with fresh milled flour. Can I just use any bread recipe? What about cookies and muffins and cakes (oh my!)
Anyone willing to share tips and/or recipes with a newbie?

[abh5e8]

sure. do you have a mixer, too? what kind of bread do you want to make? this is what i use for whole wheat yeast bread with a mixer...we love it!!

2.5 c warm water
2 c freshly milled whole wheat flour
1.5 T SAF yeast

put in mixer, mix a bit and let sit for 15 - 30 mins.

then add:

1/3 c coconut oil
1/3 c raw honey
1/2 package vital wheat gluten (can skip if you like) and start mixer.

add freshly milled whole wheat flour 1 - 2 cups at a time until bowl becomes clean. let knead another 5 - 10 mins. then, finally, add 2.5 t salt and let mix in.

put some oil in bread pans and on hands. form 2 loaves and place in oiled loaf pains in warm oven, let rise ~ 1 hour (i usually set oven to 100 for about 10 mins and then turn it off).

leave pans in oven and turn it on to 350. bread is usually done 20 - 25 mins after oven gets to 350. but i look for a brown top and hollow sound when tapped.

you can double or triple this depending on the size of your mixer.

[4MKfam]

If you don't have wheat berries yet, remember that "hard" wheat is for breads, "soft" wheat is for lighter things (like you'd use whole wheat pastry flour for --muffins, pastries, etc.). The manual is extremely helpful.
We started out with a bucket of hard white winter wheat and it's been pretty well-accepted by the fam. We did a lot with whole wheat before, so we're used to it more or less, but I figured the white wheat would be better accepted by the kids (who'd prefer sponge bread from the store , given the choice, but will eat wh wheat if it's all that's there), and was pretty pleasantly surprised --the kids seem to have adjusted really well to it. I plan to try out some red wheat next time around to see what the difference is, but I have a feeling we'll stick with the white wheat. You may want to order some extras like dough enhancer and gluten to help with bread quality if you're doing 100% whole wheat. It helps lighten the texture of your bread (noticeably --my first batch was without, and it was good, but with the extras, it's awesome ).
We haven't tried it yet, but supposedly ground popcorn makes really good cornbread. You can do popcorn in the Nutrimill. I think there are instructions and maybe a recipe in the manual.

eta: If you're making bread w/o a mixer, there's a great 100% whole wheat bread recipe with great explanations/directions in "Whole Foods for the Whole Family" by La Leche League. Actually, it's one of two cookbooks I can't live without (the other is "More With Less Cookbook" by Doris Jantzen Longacre). Lots of good whole wheat recipes that would work great with fresh ground wheat flour.

[abh5e8]

hmm...i use the hard winter red for everything....bread, sourdough, english muffins, waffels and pancakes, muffins...and it does really well.

[lalaithnil]

Awesome!! This is perfect! We have a KitchenAid mixer that I'm hoping can handle a couple of loaves. Going to the store soon to pick up yeast (and, hopefully a few types of berries to try.) You ladies are great!

---------- Post added at 11:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:13 AM ----------

Originally Posted by abh5e8

sure. do you have a mixer, too? what kind of bread do you want to make? this is what i use for whole wheat yeast bread with a mixer...we love it!!

2.5 c warm water
2 c freshly milled whole wheat flour
1.5 T SAF yeast

put in mixer, mix a bit and let sit for 15 - 30 mins.

then add:

1/3 c coconut oil
1/3 c raw honey
1/2 package vital wheat gluten (can skip if you like) and start mixer.

add freshly milled whole wheat flour 1 - 2 cups at a time until bowl becomes clean. let knead another 5 - 10 mins. then, finally, add 2.5 t salt and let mix in.

put some oil in bread pans and on hands. form 2 loaves and place in oiled loaf pains in warm oven, let rise ~ 1 hour (i usually set oven to 100 for about 10 mins and then turn it off).

leave pans in oven and turn it on to 350. bread is usually done 20 - 25 mins after oven gets to 350. but i look for a brown top and hollow sound when tapped.

you can double or triple this depending on the size of your mixer.

This sounds pretty simple and really fun!

---------- Post added at 11:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:18 AM ----------

Originally Posted by 4MKfam

If you don't have wheat berries yet, remember that "hard" wheat is for breads, "soft" wheat is for lighter things (like you'd use whole wheat pastry flour for --muffins, pastries, etc.). The manual is extremely helpful.
We started out with a bucket of hard white winter wheat and it's been pretty well-accepted by the fam. We did a lot with whole wheat before, so we're used to it more or less, but I figured the white wheat would be better accepted by the kids (who'd prefer sponge bread from the store , given the choice, but will eat wh wheat if it's all that's there), and was pretty pleasantly surprised --the kids seem to have adjusted really well to it. I plan to try out some red wheat next time around to see what the difference is, but I have a feeling we'll stick with the white wheat. You may want to order some extras like dough enhancer and gluten to help with bread quality if you're doing 100% whole wheat. It helps lighten the texture of your bread (noticeably --my first batch was without, and it was good, but with the extras, it's awesome ).
We haven't tried it yet, but supposedly ground popcorn makes really good cornbread. You can do popcorn in the Nutrimill. I think there are instructions and maybe a recipe in the manual.

eta: If you're making bread w/o a mixer, there's a great 100% whole wheat bread recipe with great explanations/directions in "Whole Foods for the Whole Family" by La Leche League. Actually, it's one of two cookbooks I can't live without (the other is "More With Less Cookbook" by Doris Jantzen Longacre). Lots of good whole wheat recipes that would work great with fresh ground wheat flour.

Fantastic! Loving the popcorn idea! I'll check out those books too!