The Budget Savvy Travelers (@thebstravelers)

Most people have never thought about where flour comes from. Not in the "grows in a field" sense. In the "what happens between the wheat berry and your bread" sense. Here's what surprised me: flour goes stale. Quietly. The oils in a whole grain start oxidizing the moment it's cracked open. The flour in your pantry has already lost some of what made the grain worth eating. You usually have no way of knowing how long it's been sitting there. This is why some home bakers mill their own. If you own a KitchenAid stand mixer, there are attachments that grind dry grains into fresh flour right on your countertop. You control the coarseness. The mixer does the work. Two options worth knowing about: 1️⃣👉 Third-party Grain Mill Attachment (affordable, multiple grind settings, fits standard KitchenAid mixers) → https://amzn.to/4av5LQk #ad 2️⃣👉 KitchenAid Grain Mill Attachment (all-metal, made by the same brand as your mixer, available at Walmart) → https://walmrt.us/4ovGZ8B #walmartpartner Now, what grain do you actually use? Here's the short version: ▪️ Hard White Wheat Berries: mild, lighter color, great for sandwich bread and pizza dough. Start here. ▪️ Hard Red Wheat Berries: nuttier, darker, that classic whole wheat flavor. ▪️ Soft White Wheat Berries: lower protein, better for muffins, pancakes, and cookies. ▪️ Rye Berries: earthy and tangy, usually mixed with wheat flour. ▪️ Spelt and Einkorn: ancient grains, mild and nutty, popular in artisan baking. ▪️ Oat Groats: mills into oat flour, great for pancakes and muffins. For beginners, hard white and hard red cover most of what you need. For the grain itself, Palouse Brand Hard White Wheat Berries are family-farmed in Washington State, Non-GMO Project Verified, and Certified Glyphosate Residue Free. Check them out here → https://amzn.to/4ouJ4l7 #ad Buying whole grains in bulk and milling them yourself tends to cost less per loaf than buying specialty flour at the store. How much less depends on what you buy and where. But the math usually works in your favor. Have you ever baked with freshly milled flour?