Being a food blogger sometimes comes with benefits. Take for instance the mail day that brought a Mockmill Stone Mill to my kitchen!
Within minutes of opening the box we had freshly ground, aromatic whole wheat flour begging to be used. And use it we did as we set to whipping up some of the tastiest Homemade Whole Wheat Pitas we've ever had (see below for recipe).
Grind your own flour, you ask? Absolutely. And it's far easier than you think with Mockmill's new Kitchenaid Attachment (see special promotion below!).
But first, why grind your own flours? Here are my top 5 reasons to grind whole wheat flour yourself:
1. Freshness - Ever wonder how long that bag of whole wheat flour has been sitting on the store shelf? Ya, me too. And the fact is, we'll never really know. Most of the time my store bought whole wheat flour is fine... no issues. But on occasion I get one that smells slightly "off" when I open the bag. Yes, flour can go bad, and whole wheat flour can lose quality and freshness faster than others due to its higher oil content. Hence, grinding your own insures pure, fresh, nutritious flour.
2. Nutrition - As with quality and freshness, the nutrition content of whole wheat flour can degrade rapidly, with freshly ground you know you're getting the most nutrition possible.
3. Flavor - I've never really thought of flour having much flavor, but
freshly ground whole wheat flour does! Nuttier and aromatic, the
freshly ground whole wheat flours have a tempting scent that carried
through in flavor to our baked goods.
4. Control - Ever wish your flour was a little coarser grain for a certain recipe? If you grind your own you can choose the fineness (or coarseness) of your grind.
5. Choice - When purchasing store bought wheat flour you get whatever wheat berries that company uses. However grinding your own allowed you to choose from all sorts of berries. From soft wheat berries to winter hard wheat berries, the choice is yours. Searching the internet you can find ancient berries and/or organic berries, much harder to find in local stores already ground. And as an added bonus, I have gluten intolerant friends who swear certain berries allow them to bake with flour again.
Now that we have the reasons to grind our own flour, here's how to do it with my new favorite kitchen gadget... the Mockmill Grinder.
Created and made in Germany by Mr. Wolfgang Mock, the the stone grinding Mockmill attachment fits easily onto your Kitchenaid Mixer and takes mere minutes before you are up and running. Actually, perhaps even just one minute if you are quick. And speaking of quick... clean up is just as fast!
Their website describes it best:
~ Mockmill was created to open up the opportunity for virtually everyone to enjoy the benefits of freshly milled grains, spices and dried legumes. Our innovative stand mixer attachment simply fits and works easily, giving you professional quality results, so that once you own one, it will soon become one of your favorite accessories. ~
Note: Do make sure your Mockmill attachment is securely set into the attachment slot (It fits right in!) - clear and easy directions come in the box. I may or may not have found out the hard way that the grinder will spin sideways spilling the entire contents of wheat berries all over your freshly cleaned floor if you are careless and don't follow the directions... :)
When you are ready to grind, attach the grinder to you KitchenAid Mixer and then simply pour your wheat berries into the top of the mill. Adjust the grind fineness of your choice, and then turn it on - that's all there is to it.
The freshly ground and beautifully aromatic flour falls directly into the bowl of your mixer and grinds surprisingly faster than I thought it would.
But the Mockmill Grinder isn't just for wheat. We ground rice, oats and even chickpeas (chickpea flour works beautifully for thickening soups and stews - and I add it to my dog's food for added plant-based protein - And it's expensive to buy. Not so when you grind your own!)
But back to the organic hard red wheat which we chose first... what to do with all that precious freshly ground flour?? For our first experiment we turned it into Homemade Whole Wheat Pitas. But then the test... would it actually taste different than the store bought we were used to?
In a word - Yes!
Pita is most popular at our house, however of late it hasn't drawn any special complimentary comments other than "Mom... when are you making more pita?".
These freshly ground flour flatbreads though, had 3 out of four people commenting "Wow... these pitas are awesome! Did you do something different??" (Sorry Mr. Mock, I initially took all the credit as simply my really good baking ;)
To date we've put our Mockmill to the test and have ground organic soft wheat berries, organic hard winter wheat berries, dried chickpeas, oatmeal, flax, and brown rice. All ground more consistent and much easier with the stone grinder than my past processing in the blender (with the exception of the oatmeal - I did find oatmeal to grind easier and faster in my high powered kitchen blender - but my next experiment will be oat groats which seem to be more fit for the stone grinder!
Note: I found organic berries on Amazon.
So, have I convinced you?? Do you want a grinder too? As a part of this Mockmill promotion, Mr. Mock is offering Liv Life readers a special deal good through August 31st (Check out my friend Mimi's review too!).
Included in the special summertime promotion for $179 (Value is $259) good through August 31st is the following:
- 1 Mockmill Grinder
- 2 lb bag of rye
- 2 lb bag of oat groats
- 2 lb bag of red fife
- 2 lb bag of spelt
- a specially reprinted book "Flour Power" reprinted only for this promotion!
** Check out the summertime promotion and receive an $80 discount when you enter the code livlife at checkout and you'll be on your way to freshly ground flour just like me. Let me know what you think when you receive it and I'm curious what you will make first!
And lastly, my thanks to Mr. Mock for giving me the opportunity to review the Mockmill Grinder. Liv Life received a Mockmill Grinder for review purposes and this review is all my own words and opinions. I do love the product and I'm eager to share it with you all. The grinder has become one of the most reached for items in my kitchen - who knew freshly ground flours smelled so good? Thanks Mr. Mock for including me, I feel your passion!
"For over 30 years and with many patents for flour mills,
I’ve worked to create the perfect flour mill for everyone.
And now with Mockmill, we’re one step closer.
It’s the most affordable, durable stone grain mill available.
And professional and home cooks alike are impressed with the results.“
~ Wolfgang Mock, millwright of passion ~
Homemade Whole Wheat Pita
Nutty and healthy, these pitas bring the nutrition of whole grains. Split open and fill with your favorite sandwich ingredient for lunch on the go!
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1 cup warm water
1 tsp yeast
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 Tbs flax meal
1 tsp salt (may use 1 1/2 if you are a salt lover)
2 - 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
Place water into the bowl of your stand mixer and add the yeast. Stir and and wait a minute or so, then add the 1/2 up of all-purpose flour. Begin mixing with the regular beater on low. Add the flax meal and salt, then add about 1/2 cup of the whole wheat flour.
Switch to the dough hook, and add another 1/2 cup of the whole wheat flour. At this point I begin adding the flour in 2 Tbs increments, waiting a for flour to be incorporated before adding more flour.
Note the amount of flour needed will vary based on humidity and measuring - you want the dough to come together, but be careful not to add too much flour. The fresh whole wheat flour will continue to absorb water as it rests. You want your dough to come together, but it should still be sticky.
As the dough begins to clean the side of the bowl, stop adding flour and allow the dough to knead for about 5 minutes or so. The dough should be sticky and may not create a full dough ball like with other breads.
Remove the dough and place into an oiled bowl, turning once to coat with oil. Cover with a dish cloth and allow to rise for 45 minutes to an hour.
Preheat oven to 425º while dough is rising, placing a stone or baking sheet in the oven to preheat as well.
Remove dough from bowl and place onto a floured rolling surface. Cut dough in half, replacing one half into the bowl. Cover with a clean kitchen towel.
With the remaining half, roll with your hands into a fat "log" then cut into 5 pieces.
Roll each piece to about a 1/4-inch thickness.
Place the rounds onto the hot pan or stone in the oven and bake for 5 minutes, or until pita is puffed and lightly browned.
Remove baked rounds to a wire rack to cool. Note, the pitas will deflate when removed from the oven.
Liv Life Note: We make this recipe so often I no longer measure the ingredients... to make a slightly larger batch, place about 1 1/4 water in the bowl, add yeast, 1 cup of all-purpose flour, and the salt and mix. Simply add enough flour (either whole wheat or all-purpose) until the dough ball just begins to clean the sides of the bowl. Follow the rest of the directions as above.
Liv Life Note 2: Occasionally my pita doesn't puff... after much research, I still haven't come to a good reason why, but whether it puffs or not, it's still wonderful!
