I think I can officially say I am a "crunchy mom" because I now have a countertop flour mill along with some einkorn berries! I have had the mill for about two months now and I don't think I can ever go back to store-bought all-purpose flour again. Especially after reading all the terrible things about todays store-bought flour and how it is all processed. Thankfully, my wonderful husband helped me narrow what exactly we wanted and did some extensive research that I never knew about.
-About the Grain-
Here you see the grain anatomy of a whole kernel of grain. We have the Bran which is high in fiber and contains B vitamins, iron, copper, zinc, antioxidants, magnesium, and phytochemicals. Now I know you're probably wondering, " What the heck is a phytochemical?!" Phytochemicals are bioactive compounds found in plants that are proven to decrease the risk of several chronic diseases. Cool right?!? Next, we have the Endosperm. The Endosperm contains carbohydrates, protein, and small traces of B vitamins and other minerals. Finally, we have the Germ that is located in the core of the grain. The Germ contains healthy fats, B vitamins, vitamin E, antioxidants, and phytochemicals.
Now that you know the anatomy and the health benefits of the WHOLE grain, did you know that processed grains or refined grains are stripped of the Bran and the Germ? And the reason why they do that is so that the grains can have a longer shelf life. So, sadly for the sake of shelf-life, we lose all the necessary nutrients our bodies need and its probably why so many people have a hard time eating it!
-Choose Your Grain-
When choosing your grain, it can be very hard to settle on which grain to use, as well as finding the right company to buy them from. Personally, I try my best to support local farmers near me as much as possible. And sometimes it is cheaper to do so. However, if you don't have that option, I suggest to really do your research.
After doing some of our own research, we decided to go with einkorn berries as I have stated in the beginning of this blog. When looking for einkorn berries in the area that we live, we came across a company called Grand Teton Ancient Grains. Because we live in Montana, we felt very comfortable purchasing from a company that is from our neighboring state. When looking into the company even more, they also sell khorasan berries, spelt berries, emmer berries, and so much more.
When our package of einkorn berries finally came in, the first thing my husband pointed out was that the packaging date was printed right on the bag, and that date read two days before we made our order! I can't tell you how reassuring that was. It definitely made us more happy with our decision.
-The Mill-
With all the different mills on the market, it can be very hard to choose the one that would work for you. Do you want to get shredded and manually grind your berries or be lazy like me and press a button for the mill to do everything for you? Doing your research and making a list of what exactly you would like will definitely help you decide. For me, I wanted the mill to be automatic, have little to no plastic, not too expensive, and because it was going to be on my counter due to lack of storage space, I wanted it to look pretty.
Originally, I was looking at the wooden Mockmill, but unfortunately the price was out of our price range and because it was going to be my first time milling my own flour, I didn't want to purchase something so expensive and not love grinding my own flour. So, thats when we started to look into the wooden Nutrimill because it was about half of the price and it does just about the same things as the wooden Mockmill. So clearly it was the perfect starter mill for us. Right now, I really love my Nutrimill and if that breaks in the future, maybe I'll try to convince my husband to buy me a Mockmill, lol.
Milling my own flour has really been satisfying for me because I love that I know exactly what I am feeding to my family. It tastes amazing, I also have noticed less stomach issues for myself, and its been fun making memories around milling my own flour with my family. My son loves sitting on the counter to pour the berries into the mill so we can have fresh flour for our Saturday morning pancakes. And the face he makes after taking his first bite of those pancakes, will forever be lodged in my memory.
If you have a mill or a specific grain that you love, leave a comment down below! I would love to hear your experience.
*This blog is not for advertising but based off of my own research and experience. If you purchase anything off of the Amazon links that I have linked, I may be payed a portion at no extra cost to you.
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