How to Sift Freshly Milled Flour to Make It More Like White Flour

Learning to Sift Freshly Milled Flour is such a great tool for the Fresh Milled Baker!

I’ve really come to believe in the value of freshly milled flour. However, I can happily acknowledge that there are times when a lighter flour just works better. There is a reason that white flour took over our culture, and that reason is that it can produce results that whole wheat flour just can’t replicate. It makes the lightest cakes, and the most tender pastries.

Just because you’ve decided to switch to fresh milled flour doesn’t mean you’re ready to accept dense scones, or wheat-y sugar cookies! That’s where sifting comes in! It’s a simple step to sift freshly milled flour, and an easy way to remove some of the bran in your flour and regain some of the functionality of white flour.

For the growing number of home bakers and millers, being able to sift freshly milled flour is a fascinating way to achieve the texture and versatility of white flour while still enjoying the health benefits of fresh-ground grains. Whether you’re using a grain mill like the Komo Mill (my personal favorite) or an electric mill, the process of sifting whole-grain flour can transform it into a fine, light product perfect for white bread, sourdough bread, or other bread recipes.

Why Sift Freshly Milled Flour?

Sifting freshly milled flour might seem a little controversial at first. Why would we go through all the effort of making our own flour, just to turn it into the same thing we’re trying so hard to avoid? That’s a great question. And the answer is, sifted flour is so different from white flour that sits on the store shelf. Let’s start by taking a closer look at the wheat berry we all know and love.

The Parts of a Whole Wheat Berry

1. Bran: The outer layer of the wheat berry, which is rich in fiber, B vitamins, and minerals. The bran protects the inner parts of the seed and helps with digestion.
2. Endosperm: The largest part of the wheat berry, this is the starchy center that provides energy. It contains carbohydrates, proteins (mainly gluten), and a small amount of vitamins and minerals.
3. Germ: The smallest part of the wheat berry, which is the reproductive part of the seed. It’s packed with nutrients like healthy fats, proteins, vitamins (such as vitamin E), and minerals. The germ is responsible for sprouting the plant.

How is Sifted Fresh Milled Flour Different?

Sifted fresh-milled flour is superior to store-bought flour for several reasons, particularly because it retains all of the germ, and while some bran is removed during the sifting process, a significant amount of it remains. Here’s why sifted fresh-milled flour stands out nutritionally and in terms of quality:

Retaining the Germ:

• The germ is the part of the wheat berry that contains the highest concentration of nutrients, including healthy fats (like omega-3 fatty acids), proteins, vitamin E, B vitamins, and minerals such as zinc and magnesium.
• When you sift freshly milled flour, the germ is preserved in its entirety, offering the full spectrum of nutrients that are often lost in store-bought flour, especially in the milling process used to produce white or even some whole wheat flours.

Sifting Process – Bran Removal:

• Sifting fresh-milled flour helps separate some of the bran from the flour, but not all of it. This process results in a slightly finer texture than whole, unsifted flour while still retaining much of the fiber, antioxidants, and essential minerals found in the bran.
• While the bran is high in fiber and beneficial nutrients, its coarse texture can make the flour denser. By removing a portion of the bran through sifting, the flour becomes more versatile for different types of baking, offering a balance between texture and nutrition.
• Unlike store-bought flour, where much of the bran (and germ) is removed entirely during refining, sifted fresh-milled flour preserves enough bran to maintain a high nutritional value.

Tools for Sifting

To sift your flour effectively, you’ll need:

• A Grain Mill to make your fresh milled flour
• A flour sifter or fine mesh sieve (a good idea for achieving the right texture).
• An airtight container to store the resulting sifted flour and maintain its shelf life.

If you’re just starting out, experimenting with smaller amounts of flour (a cup of flour at a time) can help you master the process.

Note: Make sure you measure out the amount of flour needed after you’ve sifted the flour. I like to place a bowl onto my kitchen scale, and sift the flour right into the bowl, weighing out the amount needed.

The Sifting Process

1. Mill Your Flour
   Start by milling your own fresh flour from whole wheat berries, using a mill with a fine setting. I always grind my flour to the finest setting on my grain mill. Any grain can be sifted, whether you prefer hard wheat, soft wheat, or even ancient grains like spelt or einkorn.
2. Sift the Flour
   Pass your fresh ground flour through a fine mesh sieve or flour sifter. The finer the sieve, the closer your flour will resemble white flour. For more refined results, try multiple siftings. You can continue to pass your flour through the sieve until there is no longer any bran left after sifting.
3. Collect the Bran
   The good news is that the bran you sift out isn’t wasted. You can use it in recipes for breadcrumbs, bran muffins, or add it to your morning oatmeal for a fiber boost.
4. Store Your Sifted Flour
   Place the sifted flour in an airtight container to preserve its key nutrients and flavor. Because fresh flour has a shorter shelf life than store-bought flour, use it within a couple of weeks. Personally, I try to mill just enough flour for the day so that I’m not storing it. However, if you end up with extra you can throw it in the freezer for peak freshness when you use it next.

Tips for Success

• Understand Extraction Rates: The extraction rate refers to the percentage of the grain used in the final flour. A lower rate means more bran is removed, creating a product closer to white flour. For example, a flour may have a 70% extraction rate. This means that 30% of the grain has been sifted out.
• Experiment with Grains: Spelt and soft white wheat are great choices for lighter flour. Alternatively, hard white wheat is ideal for recipes that require higher protein, such as yeasted breads.
• Understand the Expectations: Working with sifted fresh milled flour will give you softer and lighter baked goods. However, they will never be as light and as soft as if you had used true white flour. Keep in mind that we can only sift out a portion of the bran.

Why Mill and Sift Freshly Milled Flour at Home?

I love to pull my sifter out when I’m making birthday morning pancakes, and I want them to be extra tall and fluffy! Or when I want to make a delicious Chocolate Cake with Freshly Milled Flour. It’s so important to remember that your family’s nutrition is a journey. There’s such a balance to feeding a family. We want to nourish our loved ones, but we also want them to love what they’re eating! I think it’s so important to teach our children that food is more than just fuel for our bodies. A meal is so much more than just filling our bellies.

Sifting fresh milled flour gives me another tool to help maintain high standards of nutrition. At the same time, I’m not compromising on flavor and texture. While I love a 100% whole wheat loaf of bread, I like my biscuits to be lighter and fluffier. I love using sifted flour for cinnamon rolls! Who says you can’t have it all!

A Learning Curve for Home Bakers

For the first time baker, using a home flour mill can come with a learning curve. Adjusting to differences in texture, hydration, and fermentation activity in home-milled flour versus store-bought flour can take some trial and error. My advice is to just go for it! Don’t over think the process. When I got my first grain mill, it never occurred to me that there would be differences in baking with fresh milled flour versus store bought. I simply switched the flours cup for cup, and had great results.

Now, I’m able to recognize that I often have to add a splash of water to make up for thirsty flour. I give fresh flour plenty of time to rest and absorb water before trying to knead it. I know to sift out some of the bran when I want a lighter end product. Fresh milled flour is so much fun! Once you jump into it, you’ll discover a world of possibilities that can do so much good for your family!

The Health Benefits of Sifting and Milling at Home

Sifting doesn’t strip the flour of all its vital nutrients, and it still retains more than commercial roller mills typically leave behind. With your own flour, you get the best of both worlds: the ability to craft light, airy baked goods and the satisfaction of knowing your ingredients are fresher and more nutritious.

So, whether you’re using a Stone Mill, an impact mill, or even a coffee grinder for smaller amounts, sifting freshly milled flour opens up a world of possibilities. It’s a good place to start if you want to enjoy the benefits of milling your own grains and explore flour options beyond what you’ll find at the grocery store or health food stores.

Ready to Bake?