How is Flour Made?

Firstly, let's identify what flour is. It&#;s amazing to me how many people have no idea how to make flour or where it comes from.

You can find more information on our web, so please take a look.

Types of Wheat

There are six classes of wheat &#; within which are around 30,000 varieties.

• Hard Red Winter
• Hard Red Spring
• Hard White Winter
• Durum
• Soft White Winter
• Soft White Spring

The first four are most commonly used among bread bakers as the soft wheats have a lower proportion of protein and a higher proportion of starch than the hard varieties, which would be more applicable for pastries and other baked items, as they do not require the highly developed gluten structure that bread requires.

There are more than 54 million acres of wheat planted all over the United States. Adaptability allows the crop to be planted and cultivated in all different types of climate.

Milling Flour

Once the wheat has been harvested it goes through a process called sweating before it gets milled. This process takes six weeks and creates small metabolic changes in the wheat berries that will improve the quality of the milled grain. The process will typically reduce the moisture content from 17-18% to around 13-14% after that time.

The next step is to put the wheat through a form of quality control to remove any foreign bodies, stones, sticks, stray grains, etc., followed by tempering, whereby moisture is added to the grain in the form of chlorinated water. This helps with the separation of the grain and stops any bacterial or microbial growth. In the U.S., the length of tempering time is around six hours, mainly due to the need for mass production. In Europe, more traditional methods typically temper the wheat for 24&#;48 hours.

Once tempering is complete, the wheat berries are ready to be milled and then sifted or bolted. The more the grain is milled, the smaller the grain gets, the more flour is obtained through the sifting process. From 100 pounds of grain, the flour yield will be around 75% extraction. The leftover bran and germ is generally used for animal feed. Whole wheat flour, for example, is 100% extraction, hence the color and flaked with bran particles.

Types of Mills

• Stone mills feature two large stones fixed to a platform. As the top stone turns it grinds the grain into pieces. The size of the grain is determined by how close the two stones are together. The milled flour is then sifted to separate the bran, wheat germ and white flour (endosperm). This is probably the oldest form of milling and the most reliable for maintaining the grains' nutritional integrity.
• Hammer mills use small metal hammers that repeatedly strike the grain in a closed chamber, pulverizing or shattering it into tiny pieces. Theoretically, the hammer mill is capable of creating a much finer powder than stone or roller mills. The milled flour is then sifted to separate the bran, wheat germ and white flour.
• Roller mills feature two revolving corrugated steel rollers, crushing the grain and separating the bran and the germ from the endosperm. The milled flour is then sifted to separate the bran, wheat germ and white flour. This is the system most favored by the milling industry and probably responsible for a majority of flour available on the market.

Regardless of which system is used, all mills reconstitute the flour by adding back a percentage of the bran and wheat germ to the white flour to create whole wheat flour. Because the milled bran and wheat germ particles are too large for most bakers to use, they&#;ll run these through the mill again to break them down into smaller particles perhaps further reducing the nutritional value of the flour. This means you may be buying whole wheat flour but not necessarily whole grain.

So what is the advantage of making your own flour? Is it worth the effort? I spoke with Simon Bowden, the head baker for Leaven & Co., an artisanal bakery that produces bread for chefs in New York. Simon mills different kinds of wheat for various types of bread and explained that the seven main things to consider:

1. Flavor/taste.
2. Nutrition.
3. Choice/Provenance
4. Storage.
5. Equipment.
6. Percentages.
7. Mixing and proofing notes.

Flavor

Of the many benefits of fresh milling your own wheat berries, flavor has to be No. 1 by far. After all, isn&#;t great flavor what we all want when all is said and done?

When I first milled wheat berries in a small Mockmill designed as an attachment for my stand mixer, I was completely blown away by the aromas that came from the flour. It was overwhelming. I had no idea that flour could smell like this. When you smell commercial whole wheat flour you usually get a nice, somewhat sweet, wheaty kind of smell, but the fresh milled is nutty, fruity, earthy, grassy, super fresh... It reminded me of being close to a freshly cut wheat field or freshly mown lawn, intoxicating and addictive. And those aromas only gain intensity as you hydrate the flour and mix your doughs.

Of course, this all translates directly to the overall taste or flavor, which in general is more complex, bolder, brighter, fresher and better than that of store-bought flour. Several people I know compare it to fresh grinding your own coffee beans. Once you smell the intense aromas of freshly ground coffee, let alone the flavor versus store-bought grinds, it's hard drink anything else. The same applies to the breads you can make using freshly milled flour.

To put this into context, I&#;m generally using anywhere from 5%-30% fresh-milled whole grain in my bread.

Flour Nutrition

I&#;m certainly not an expert on the nutritional values of grains and flour, and I&#;m sure there are a lot of studies and research available that dig deeply into this area (and ICE Director of Nutrition Celine Beitchman gets into grain here). In general, we do know that freshly milled flours retain more of their vitamins, minerals and oils than aged flour. When the wheat berries are broken open at the mill, the resulting flour begins to immediately oxidize, which causes the nutrients to slowly start degrading. The longer it&#;s exposed to oxygen, the more loss of nutrients, as well as minerals and oils.

Flour Storage

Perhaps another advantage of fresh milling whole raw berries is the ability to store them for much longer periods of time than aged flour, especially whole grain flour. If whole berries are stored properly in a cool dry and dark place, they can last almost indefinitely, and that means at least 1-2 years, even much longer. Whereas aged or store-bought flours have a much shorter shelf life, especially whole wheat flour, which is much more perishable since it still contains the bulk of the bran and germ. This is where most of the oils in whole wheat reside which is the primary reason for spoilage.

This is an example of a loaf made by Simon Bowden, using a percentage of freshly milled Warthog Wheat.

Choice and Provenance

Another huge advantage to making flour fresh is the ability to buy many different types of wheat and other grains directly from farmers or the many mills here in the U.S. To be honest, it&#;s something I never thought of or tried until I was buying some flour at a local farmers market. Next to the flours were some whole grains from the same local miller, Four Star Farms in Northfield, Massachusetts. They had Warthog Wheat and Zorro Wheat, which I&#;d never heard of but definitely wanted to try. These are hard red winter wheats with reasonably high protein content.

That was the incentive to purchase my first mill, an attachment for my stand mixer from Wolfgang Mock. It's fun and really easy to use for small batches (more on mills below). The smell and taste of the resulting bake of the Warthog was eye-opening to say the least. I&#;d never tasted anything quite like it: super fresh, earthy, nutty and slightly sweet. Then I tried the Zorro berries: again, really fresh, definitely nutty and a little sweeter than the Warthog. I was hooked.

I&#;ve tried many varieties since, from ancient grains to modern wheats, from many different farmers and mills. Glenn, Turkey Red, Red Fife, Redeemer, Sonora, Yecora Rojo, Rouge De Bordeaux to name a few. Plus some of the ancient grains, Einkorn, Emmer, Spelt and Khorasan. I&#;ve also fresh milled rye, corn, barley and oats. I know where they come from, how they were grown, when they were harvested, how they were stored and much more. This is information that&#;s invaluable when marketing and selling your freshly milled bread.

Here&#;s a brief list of some grain sources I&#;ve ordered from:

Grain Milling Equipment

There are many stone mills now available on the market, from the Mockmill attachment previously mentioned to a large or industrial-sized mill suitable for a local bakery that&#;s going to freshly mill a larger portion of flour. I&#;d definitely recommend the Mockmill attachment for stand mixers as a great place to start at home or even in a bakery for smaller batches for a cost of about $200. For a larger countertop mill, I&#;d suggest either the Mockmill 100, Mockmill 200 or the professional Mockmill 200, which range from $300 to $700. I&#;m currently using the 200 and can mill about 10 pounds of flour in about 20 minutes.

At a similar price range is another very good countertop mill: the Komo Magic Mill, which ranges from about $500 to $1,000 depending on size. We used this at San Francisco Baking Institute and could mill continuously for hours if needed. For a bigger production, the next step up could be to a much larger Meadows 8&#; mill, which will produce about 50 pounds per hour. These start at around $2,000. I haven&#;t used a Meadows, but a good friend of mine who mills a lot of flour highly recommends this model. Then there are New American Stone Mills, a stunning-looking, larger 26&#; mill that can produce about 80 pounds of very fine flour an hour. This one's perfect as the centerpiece of a bakery that specializes in milling a lot of its own flours and starts at around $15,000.

As another point of reference in terms of ease of use: I&#;ll fill the hopper of my Mockmill 200 with berries first thing in the morning while I&#;m scaling other ingredients for mixing. The flour will be a little warm from the grind so mono adjustments in water temperature might need to be made. You can also mill last thing at the end of the day while feeding levain, etc.

Mixing and Proofing Flour

Just as we have to occasionally adjust to mixing and proofing different types of aged flours and different batches of aged flours, we have to pay equal attention if not more when using freshly milled flours. These aren&#;t drastic changes but definitely require some getting used to. In general, I find that there&#;s quite a bit more activity in the initial fermentation using fresh-milled flours versus aged flour, so keep an eye on your first proof and if needed, change FDT a degree or two to compensate for the extra activity. The same can also apply to overnight retarding, and keeping your FDT a little lower before retarding can help adjust the final proof time.

Percentages of Fresh-Milled Flour

As I mentioned above, I&#;m generally using up to about 30% fresh milled whole grain in my bread depending on what I&#;m making and what I&#;m looking for in terms of flavor, texture, crumb, etc. I&#;m mixing the fresh milled with aged flours like King Arthur Sir Galahad and King Arthur Sir Lancelot, which are generally very consistent overall just as milled aged flour should be. But even when I use a small percentage, around 5-7% in a baguette, I&#;ll notice a difference in overall flavor from the regular aged flour. At these ratios, the irregularities that one might expect using grains bought directly from a farmer and mailed on-site are fairly easy to manage and adjust to in terms of overall production.

I&#;ve been fortunate to have spent time with two bakers who are buying all their grain directly from local farmers, milling all their own grain, sifting their flours and then using them to make all their bread. They are very experienced bakers who are looking to make a very particular type of product for a certain kind of market and are willing to take on the difficulties of producing bread this way. From this limited observation, I&#;d say working with 100% freshly milled flours is a challenge for the most experienced bakers to say the least. The results when executed well can be extraordinary, but making flour is not for the faint-hearted. So if you&#;re tempted to step into that world, do so with caution.

Pursue artisan bread baking experience at our New York campus or professional training in Pastry & Baking Arts in NYC or LA.

REFERENCES:
Simon Bowden, SIMON&#;S BREADS
Adam Leonti, FLOUR LAB
Peter Rhinehart, BREAD REVOLUTION
Maurizio, THE PERFECT LOAF
Jeffrey Hamelman, BREAD
Roxana Jullapat, MOTHER GRAINS

Although there are many flour milling plants in the market, but the high demand for various flours makes it still profitable to start flour milling business through setting up small scale or medium scale flour mill factory. 

How to Start Flour Mill Factory

Many people are interested in starting flour mill business. However, they have no ideas about the detailed steps and perspective cost of flour mill factory setup. And they are also curious about how much money can a flour mill, like a small scale, make per year. Here, ABC Machinery offers the information you may be needed, like wheat flour mill business plan. (You may also like: Flour Mill Plant Cost >>)

Flour Milling Business Types

Generally, flour milling business has two types small scale or large scale. Choosing small scale or large scale should fully take your specific conditions into consideration. Here we will analyze the small scale flour mill and large scale flour mill plant for your consideration.

Flour Mill Machine for Small Business

You will get efficient and thoughtful service from Xingfeng.

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F6FC Mini Flour Mill Machine

M6FX Mini Flour Mill Factory

M6FX Mini Flour Mill Factory

Firstly, the small scale flour mill machinery requires small amount of money, but the profit margin is relatively small. It works greatly in two models, one is to charge a certain amount for milling grains, the other is to produce flour mill. So, small scale flour mill business is flexible, you can adjust your production based on the market needs. In addition, the whole operations are relatively easy and simple, so almost all the adult can use it. 

Large Scale Flour Mill Plant

60TPD Wheat Flour Mill Factory in Algeria

60TPD Wheat Flour Mill Factory in Algeria

160TPD Automatic Wheat Flour Plant in New Zealand

160TPD Automatic Wheat Flour Plant in New Zealand

It is inevitable that large scale flour mill project requires heavy investment since the complicated flour milling process and advanced flour milling machinery. However, the profits are decent in most cases since there are large demand of wheat flour around the world, especially in some regions, such as India, Egypt, Algeria, Italy, Brazil, etc. Large scale flour mill plant can achieve automatic and continuous flour production, from raw materials to packaged flour. 

Some of Our Successful Flour Milling Projects Raw material Yield Country (Factory Location) Wheat 80TPD Ethiopia Wheat 60TPD Algeria Maize 50TPD Zambia Wheat 40TPD Ethiopia Wheat 30TPD Chile Maize 30TPD Uganda Maize 20TPD India Wheat 20TPD Rumania

Send an Inquiry Now to get project cost, process design, equipment layout details!

Cost of Setting up Flour Mill Factory

The cost for a flour mill factory varies a lot due to the different production capacity. If you are going to set up a small scale factory flour mill, the cost will be a much cheaper than medium scale or large scale flour mill plant. Setting up flour mill plant may require large amount, so if you doesn&#;t have enough money but won&#;t want miss the profitable endeavors, you can search helps of bank loans or just to find out a reliable partner who is also enthusiastic about the flour milling business. 

Typically, the F6FC mini flour mill machine will cost $2,500 ~ $3,000. The M6FX mini flour mill factory will cost $3,500 ~ $5,000. However, for the large scale flour mill factory, the cost definitely high. For example, the large scale flour mill plant equiped with automatic wheat mill machinery may cost $19,000 ~ $1,448,000. But, this price is just for a references, the exact cos of the flour mill factory plant should based on the exact conditions and equipment selections!

M6FX Mini Flour Mill Machine Working Video

If you are interested in starting your own wheat/atta flour mill business, or other grain flour business, like cassava flour milling, please contact us for FREE quotation on both small scale or large scale flour mill machinery. 

Custom-made Flour Mill Business Plan

Flout mill

How to start a flour mill? Below will talk about the basic factors that should be taken into consideration when you decide to start it.

• Get Financial Support

How to start a flour mill? Below will talk about the basic factors that should be taken into consideration when you decide to start it.

Any business will need financial support before starting. How much money is required to have the flour milling machine? Is it needed to take out loans or just put all your money into this business. For the estimate amount, it is better to have a better understanding about local market as well as global market of profit in flour mill business. (Read more: Get the Policy Loan for Your Business >>)

• Find Right Factory Location

A right factory location is very important for the flour milling business. The right factory location should have convenient transportation that is easily for the access of raw materials and delivery and shipping of final packed flour. After the location is decided, it it time to get out the covering area of the flour processing plant. In general, a complete flour mill plant layout should include the area for storage of raw materials, area for flour milling machines, area for flour packaging.

• Get Licence for Flour Milling

Getting the licence from the government or registering your factory in local administration is also important for the success of the flour milling business. It is the basic requirements for a flour milling factory to ensure every policy and flour production process are compliant with the local regulation and legislation. 

• Purchase Flour Milling Machine

When above mentioned conditions are ready, it is time to think about how and where to get the flour milling machinery. The selection of flour milling machines are closely connected with the capacity, the investment cost, the flour milling process, the raw materials and more. Therefore, it can&#;t be done overnight. It needs to take time to choose the most reliable flour milling machinery supplier, which can help to avoid many unexpected problems in the installation and operation of the flour milling factory and lower the cost of machinery purchases. (Read more: Wheat Flour Machine Suppliers >>)

• Operator Training and Safety Education

For most flour mill factory, there should be have several operators or workers for flour production. The systematic training and safety education for the workers and operators are very important one the flour mill factory starts running. They not only should to have a good command of the equipment and machinery, but also need to know how to flour ingredients additions. Most four mill machinery supplier will offer the training plan and course for their customers to help them quickly enters the flour industry and avoid many typical operational mistakes.

• Make Marketing Strategy for flour Milling Business

How to make the final produced flour to the direct customers is also a hard task for flour milling factory investors. If the competition of local flour market is low, then don&#;t worry, the selling of final flour products will be very good. Some markets, such Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Uganda, Chile, Australia, Algeria, Ethiopia and more, are very hot for start flour milling business since the high demand and low competition. (Read more: Flour Mill Project Built by ABC Machinery >>)

When you are going to start flour mill business by setting up a flour mill factory, you can have a reference of the above mentioned tips and steps for a complete and viable flour milling business plan. ABC Machinery can offer custom-made flour mill business plan to easily get start flour milling business. If you still have many confusions, please just contact us for more detailed information, we have built many flour mill projects all over the world. We do believe, some of our experiences are what you want!
 

• Can oats be ground into flour? With a particle size of 40-50 mesh, what is the extraction rate?

• Yes, oats can be ground into flour. The extraction rate may vary depending on the specific process and the customer's requirements. If the oats are steam-cooked and dried before grinding, or if they are directly ground without any additional processing, the resulting flour may have a coarse texture. If the quality requirements are not very high, the extraction rate can reach around 85%.

• Can one M6FC flour mill machine handle both wheat and rice?

• Yes, the M6FC flour mill machine can process both wheat and rice. The particle sizes of wheat and rice are similar, so there is no need to adjust the parameters of the milling machine. Simply grind and sift to obtain the flour. For wheat, you can add a cleaning device, but it is not necessary for rice. You can directly feed the rice into the storage hopper for grinding.

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