Grinding Wheat for our Bread

It's so cold and well, just cold outside. Time to make bread. I used to buy whole wheat flour at the store, but now I grind my own in a Vita-Mix. You have to freeze the wheat berries first, or they will burn, as the machine gets rather warm.

I grind 2 cups at a time. Start on low speed and work up to high.

This is about 5 seconds after turning the machine on high. It really takes no time at all.

After half a minute, you have to feel it. I can never get it as soft and fluffy as store bought whole wheat, but the trade off in flavor and freshness is worth it. When its finished, it smells warm and nutty.

The only problem I have found so far, is it doesn't seem to make very flaky pie crust. It probably just isn't fluffy enough.

Here is the finished product. Only a couple minutes. 2 cups of wheat berries gives about 2 1/2 cups of finished flour. You must sift it though, as sometimes a few unground berries happens. That's hard on the teeth when you find one of those in the bread!

I have posted my bread recipe and a couple pictures of a finished loaf on the website. Just click on the recipe link in the right hand column.