How Does Wheat Flour Milling Plant Work?

Person who produces flour or other products by operating a mill

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Miller at work in the De Hoed, Waarde windmill, in the Netherlands

Occupation type

Activity sectors

A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames,[1] as are their equivalents in other languages around the world ("Melnyk" in Russian, Belarusian & Ukrainian, "Meunier" in French, "Müller" or "Mueller" in German, "Mulder" and "Molenaar" in Dutch, "Molnár" in Hungarian, "Molinero" in Spanish, "Molinaro" or "Molinari" in Italian, "Mlinar" in South Slavic languages etc.). Milling existed in hunter-gatherer communities, and later millers were important to the development of agriculture.

The materials ground by millers are often foodstuffs and particularly grain. The physical grinding of the food allows for the easier digestion of its nutrients and saves wear on the teeth. Non-food substances needed in a fine, powdered form, such as building materials, may be processed by a miller.

The most basic tool for a miller was the quern-stone&#;simply a large, fixed stone as a base and another movable stone operated by hand, similar to a mortar and pestle. As technology and millstones (the bedstone and rynd) improved, more elaborate machines such as watermills and windmills were developed to do the grinding work. These mills harnessed available energy sources including animal, water, wind, and electrical power. Mills are some of the oldest factories in human history, so factories making other items are sometimes known as mills, for example, cotton mills and steel mills. These factory workers are also called millers.

The rynd in pre-reformation Scotland was often carved on millers' gravestones as a symbol of their trade.

Status

In a traditional rural society, a miller is often wealthier than ordinary peasants, which can lead to jealousy. Millers are often accused of associating with thieves, and were targeted in bread riots at times of famine. Conversely, millers might be in a stronger position vis-a-vis feudal land owners than are ordinary peasants.

Carnival

The traditional carnival held annually in the city of Ivrea, Italy, commemorates a spirited "Mugnaia" (miller's daughter) who supposedly refused to let a local duke exercise his right of the first night, and proceeded to chop the duke's head off and spark a revolution. Whatever the historical validity of the story, it is significant it was the daughter of a miller to whom folk tradition assigned this rebellious role.

Miller's thumb

As an important part of his job, the miller repeatedly takes into his hand samples of the ground meal coming out of the spout in order to feel the quality and character of the product. The miller rubs the grain between his thumb and forefinger. After years of doing this, the miller's thumb changes shape and becomes broad and flattened. This is known as a "miller's thumb".

Sayings such as "worth a millerˈs thumb" and "an honest miller hath a golden thumb" refers to the profit the miller makes as a result of this skill.

The shape of a miller's thumb is said to have the appearance of the head of a fish. The European bullhead (Cottus gobio), a freshwater fish, is commonly called a miller's thumb for this reason.[2]

Surname

Miller (also known as Millar) is a common surname derived from the old English surname Milleiir. The name, and its many other variants, can be found widely across Europe in countries like the UK, Ireland, and many other countries across the world.

See also

• Gristmill, a name for grain mills
• Medieval watermills, a list of early medieval watermills
• Belgian Millers

References

The milling process

The video below shows the layout and vast range of milling machinery that it used in a modern flour mill to convert wheat into flour. The video is shown with the kind permission of Buhler who make the machinery ( www.buhlergroup.com ).

The flour milling process has evolved from wheat being ground between two large stone wheels (although this process does still occur in a few mills). In a roller mill the practice centres around separating the three components of a wheat seed &#; the white endosperm, the outer bran layers, and the wheat germ. These are each made up of different materials and, when separated and milled in isolation, the miller can produce flours that are finer and therefore better suited for today&#;s uses. For more detailed information on wheat structure click here.

Before it enters the mill floor, wheat is cleaned and then conditioned; after which, it passes through two cast steel "break" rollers which are set slightly apart from each other. The top roller runs at a slightly faster rate to the lower roller, and when wheat passes through it creates a shearing action, opening up the wheat grain. Opening the grain, rather than pulverising it, gives better access to the endosperm particles within.

The various fragments of wheat grain are separated by size and weight and will pass through a complex arrangement of sieves and other machinery in order to isolate the three component parts of the wheat. Eventually, all the endosperm particles will pass through a series of smooth reduction rolls for final milling into white flour.

In a typical mill, there may be up to four break rollers (that shear open the wheat seeds and then further break open already sheared wheat) and 12 reduction rolls. Some particles of flour will pass through just one break roll and one reduction roll, while those closer to the layers of bran and germ will pass through multiple rolls.

The modern milling process allows the miller to remove the bran particles from the endosperm, grind the endosperm into flour, sift the ground stock, and remove flour produced at each stage.

Millers may blend different wheats prior to milling in order to achieve a specific grist. Additionally, they may also blend different flours in order to produce the exact product specification demanded by their customers. By blending together the many different flour streams produced by the mill, a miller can create further variations in features such as flour colour. 

Very white flours would come from the early streams only, while brown flours involve the use of most streams. Wholemeal flour is produced when all the streams, bran, germ, and flours are blended back together with nothing removed.

You can learn more about the Types of Flour produced by UK millers.

For more information, please visit Purifier Supplier.