Felicia: Y'all, milling your wheat getting started is actually not that complicated. Baking bread from home is not complicated. And I'm a little tired of seeing people kind of make it sound complicated here on the internets. All right, y'all. So this is episode one. Brand new thing we're rolling out. So I'm rolling out a podcast, but this is going to be a bit different because basically ⁓ you get me unedited, unfiltered. Unsifted. So these videos will pretty much not be edited at all. ⁓ I'm not even writing real outlines or scripts, it's just a something that's more real and honest and more me, just unsifted and unfiltered. So not only have you been warned, but I hope you also enjoy. So let me know in the comments below if this is something that you would like to see more of. But this is being listed in the podcast. on YouTube. And so I think that means that it'll be listed on a podcast on the YouTube app if you have that or in their YouTube music. So unsure, but either way, this is officially a new thing that I'm starting and going to be experimenting here on this channel. Here we go. First thing is how people make things so complicated. Lately I have been and not just lately, but I constantly see on like Facebook groups, ⁓ questions that I'm asked, all the things. And people are just going, you know, they are so confused saying, like, what? I'm just torn. I don't know what grain mill that I should be getting. And what about wheat berries? Where's the best, where's the best place that I can buy wheat berries? And I need to be buying eincorn and spelt and kamut and hard white or which one of these should I be buying? And I think a lot of it is people are nervous to make that decision because I understand, fully understand. That it is an investment up front. And so I understand you not wanting to make the wrong investment, thus possibly wasting your money. I get it. Believe me. I was at least fortunate to start milling my wheat over a decade ago. And literally I got my grain mill. ⁓ still have her today. She's my refurbished Wanda, Miss Wonder Mill. And I got her for $100 on eBay. So, and I had a small bucket of hard red wheat. And a small bucket of soft white wheat that I got from breadbeckers. And I just got started. I didn't really, and then I had a stand mixer given to me by my aunt who didn't need hers anymore. And that was it. That's all I did whenever I got started. And armed with the breadbeckers red cookbook, that's pretty much all I did to get started. And it's not as complicated as it seems. So I just I want to talk to you about how to get started milling your wheat as if I'm talking to a two year old. I saw that today. Someone asked that in a Facebook group. Explain to me how to get started as if I was two years old. And I thought that was brilliant, especially because one of the responses I saw was just great. It really was the best way. Because here's what it is. Here's all you need. Don't overthink this. First of all, you need a grain mill. You're going to be grinding your grains. You need a way to grind those grains. Now, if you have a Vitamix or a very powerful blender. You can possibly start with that, but I will go ahead and tell you that it's not going to do as good of a job and get it as fine as an actual grain mill. So, first and foremost, you you need a grain mill. And thankfully, I will say now I can honestly refer one grain mill if you were just unsure and just so overwhelmed with all the possibilities. Honestly, go with a neutramill impact grain mill. It's called the impact. It's their newest one, but it's kind of like their budget. grain mill with my coupon code and I will list it in the notes in the description. with my coupon code, it's $170, which I know that can still sound pricey to people, but considering how most grain mills are like $350 plus, huh? You know, that is quite a significant investment than just $170 grain mill because ultimately what you're gonna want to do first is you just want some fine flour. Okay. Don't be sitting here worrying about like, ⁓ is my is the flower getting too hot? Or if it's ⁓ you know, I'm losing nutrients and ⁓ I need to do it with stone grinds because it's how people did it for thousands of years. Y'all, these are good grain mills. Okay. It's not gonna cook your flour. You're gonna have enough nutrients. They would not be designing a grain mill that would cook it, you know, that's so hot that it would really heat up your grain. And good just know your grains are gonna be a little warm because it's been through a lot of friction. That is completely normal. Even doing it by hand, your grains are gonna have gone through some sort of friction. So stop worrying about it. Okay. And I'm and I'm very grateful that Neutromil now has the impact, the impact grain mill, because now it's something that is excellent for those of y'all who are, you know, just wanting to start off, don't have a lot of money. And that's an excellent way to, I can go in and tell you a way that you're gonna get fine flour, perfect for making bread, without really forking out. The money. So I do recommend that one. ⁓ but of course, if you already know what grain mill that you want, if you want to spend more, ⁓ you want the really nice stone grind mills, that's fine. But just know that you don't necessarily need a stone grind mill unless you're really wanting the versatility of it or you really like the look of it. Because I will say the impact grain mills are, you know, they're a bit more industrial looking. But really, y'all, what is the most important thing here? The most important thing. is to be milling your grains. Okay. So let's get you to that step. Let's get you in the door and to just be starting to mill your grains. That is the most important. If all else fails, if you find that yes, this like this is awesome. I want to keep doing this, which I hope that you will, ⁓ you can always upgrade later. It's okay. They're not going away. There's still going to be grain mills out there. You can always upgrade later. All right. ⁓ It's it's fine. So in and be on the lookout on marketplace sometimes or eBay and you can get something that is used. But bottom line, just get the impact. Okay. Then then you have a grain mill and you don't have to worry about it. It's not a lot of bells and whistles. It's not a learning curve. You just put in your grains and you turn it on and you get fine flour done. Okay. And then you start baking that bread. So I wouldn't even say worry about a mixer right now, unless because I know that the the good ones that I recommend, you know, that is an investment. Neutral Artiste, the Bosch Universal Mixer Plus, or the Angar Scrum, ⁓ those type of mixers that are able to handle freshly milled wheat. You don't have to have that right off the bat. I started with just a regular stand mixer. I think it was a Wolfgang puck stand mixer. And, you know, I used that just fine for years until it kicked the bucket. It gave up the ghost. And I knew that was gonna happen. And it probably would last longer if I wasn't using such a heavy dough. But use what you have right now. ⁓ ladies. Women have been baking bread by hand for thousands of years without any of our fancy technology. So it's okay. You can do it too. ⁓ so I wouldn't even be distracted by the mixers right now. If you already have one, great. If you know that, you know, I've been wanting a mixer anyway and you have that bit of extra money, you know, feel free to go ahead and do that and and invest to that mixer or just wait. Wait to make sure that this is something that you Like, and again, I believe that everyone should be doing this. Everyone should be milling their grains at home. Whether you are gluten-free or not, you should be consuming whole grains. And there are gluten-free whole grains out there, but you should be and you can mill them yourself and all that. But everyone should be doing this. Okay. It used to be that everyone was had a mill. Everyone had an access to a grain mill of some kind. That we live in a modern time that if you just went back 150 years ago, they would be astounded. Okay, that people that we do not have access to grain mills. ⁓ like they used to that we don't have a local miller or that we don't have our own millstones. Think about that. Okay. Thousands of years of history. Everyone has either had millstones, a local millstone, a local miller. This used to be such a common part of living and a common part of life. And so stop overthinking it, stop, stop complicating it. Again, just get you a grain mill. Just pick one. You can always change it later. Okay. But bottom line is I'm pretty sure your first recipe that you're going to want to get down is probably just going to be a regular sandwich loaf. Okay. You just need fine flour for that. That's it. So stop overthinking now. And don't worry about a mixer right now. You can always get one later. Okay. Or just use what you have. And then the third thing that you need is, you know, you just need a good one recipe. I recommend just starting off with a regular yeast bread recipe, just a regular commercial yeast, not sourdough. Okay. Sourdough. And then use a typical hard red or hard white wheat. Yes, those are our modern wheats, but I'll guarantee you that most likely if you have an issue with gluten and you're gluten sensitive, most likely it is the flour, not the grain. Okay. It's the flour, not the wheat. Even our modern wheats, most likely it is just that. So let's just start with that. And I will say that our modern wheats are easier. You know, your hard reds and your hard whites, that's what you need for your yeast spreads. One recipe. Good news. I have it for you. My simple yeast bread loaf recipe. ⁓ I have a video showing you it's simple, it's easy, it's delicious. Okay, we don't overcomplicate it. There's not all these extra like adding gluten and adding lecithin. We don't even add, don't even add eggs to it. ⁓ it's very, very versatile. One recipe, master that. And I'll link it for you below. So, so far, all that you need a grain mill. I recommend just starting off with the neutral mill impact grain mill. It's a good starter mill. Get your feet wet. ⁓ don't worry about a mixer, and you've already got a recipe. Boom. Okay. And now you just need your grains. And as I mentioned, keep it simple. Ignore the ancient grains right now. First of all, they're going to be more expensive. And secondly, They're just can be try they can be tricky to work with. Now, again, if you have all the money and you know you don't worry about already buying these, go ahead. Go ahead. But I'm just telling you that if you're overwhelmed, ignore them. I only started with a bucket of hard red wheat and a bucket of soft white wheat. The hard red wheat for my yeast breads, okay. Anything I wanted to have rise well. And then my soft white wheat for my lighter baked goods, like my cookies, cakes, those type of things. And that's really all you need. Now I will go ahead and tell you, ⁓ as of this podcast, my favorite hard red wheat. I mean, it it knocks other hard red wheats out of the park. And that is Butler's Gold from Four Generations Organic Farm. So it is an organic wheat. And something about this hard red wheat berry, it gives me delicious soft bread every single time, no matter if I'm putting it in a bread machine. If I'm doing it by hand, no matter what I do, I will say like this is just the most consistent, most reliable one. And for freshly milled wheat, you will find out that, you know, there is some, there is a learning curve when it comes to milling your wheat and baking that bread. And I will say that heart, that butler's gold hard red wheat is such an easy wheat, especially for newbies. And I do recommend starting off with that. If you were like, you know, I really like my white fluffy bread, and you think that might be a bit. Of a reach to go straight to that type of whole cream. ⁓ their hard white is pretty much the same thing as well. Their hard white is stardust, I believe. ⁓ and their hard white does the same thing. It's just consistent. ⁓ it does very well, it tastes good. And the hard white is just a bit lighter of a taste than your typical hard red wheat, which is a bit nuttier, that whole wheat-y type flavor. And it is a bit darker of a loaf. So if you're wanting it to be whiter of a loaf, hard white wheat is is a good option for y'all. But either way is fine. But I I would recommend if literally there was only one wheat to recommend to people starting off, I would say Butler's Gold, hard red wheat. And I know that Four Generations Organic Farm sells that. ⁓ so Butler's Gold, just know it's just a variety of the hard red wheat. It's not genetically modified. Four Generations is an organic farm. This video is not sponsored by them. ⁓ but I just I love it. I baked bread today. with Butler's with the with the Butler's Gold. And I haven't in a while because I've been using hard white wheat a lot lately. And I made that today and thought, ⁓ my word, like why? I need to get back to this. That bread was so soft and so good. Like I didn't even have it with butter today and nothing on it. Just a slice of that bread. And it was so, so good. Like so soft. I mean, so yeah. I mean, I I yeah, I need I need to just use it more. Need to use it more. So coffee break. And ⁓ so hard red. And then a soft white wheat is what you need. So there are various places you can get soft white wheat from. And do you know four generations organic farms is not the only place to buy grains. ⁓ you have Pleasant Hill grain. Of course, you have Azure Standard, which you've probably heard of, but and they typically are the cheapest. So if price is an issue for you. Then Azure Standard is the way to go. But with that, there are some downsides, and that is they only come in bags. And you have to wait for a drop really to get it, which is once a month. And sometimes if they sell out, then that's it. You have to wait another month. So that's, you know, with that cheaper price, price, ⁓ there are there are some ⁓ benefits and disadvantages to that. And ⁓ I know right now, as of right now, hard white wheat, many people did not get their hard white wheat from Azure because they were unable to accept it lately. So that's the only thing with Azure is not as like on demand as you would like, as opposed to four generations or Pleasant Hill Grain or Guardian Grains or you know, these all so many other places. If you want to list, just go to grainsandgrit.com slash buy B U Y grains. And that's where I have a list and any coupon codes that I have. But for soft white wheat, ⁓ four generations does not sell soft white wheat, but we have like farm fresh wheat, pleasant hill grain, azure standard, breadbeckers, of course. those are the main ones, and Amazon, of course. ⁓ Palouse, ⁓ Palouse grains, they are not organic, but I will say they are clean, they don't use desiccins like glyphosate. ⁓ so they're a great place as well. And you can actually buy them straight through Neutramil. They have a partnership there, which is awesome. ⁓ so yeah, just hard red wheat or hard white, but you just need one type of wheat for your yeast spreads, and then a soft white wheat for your lighter baked goods. And eventually, once you master that one recipe, just master getting a good loaf. And whenever you do that, then move on. Okay. And then you can start seeing all the different types of grains, ⁓ the ancient grains, all of those things. It, you know, I stuck with. Hard red, hard white, and soft white wheat for a long time before I branched out to spelt. I think spelt was my first ancient grain. Now now I have well over 30 different types of grains and beans. I've lost count. ⁓ you know, I'm a little bit of a fanatic when it comes to this, but that's it, y'all. Okay, don't overthink this. Bottom line, you want to start milling your grains. You got to get that grain mill. And again, you can always upgrade or get a different one later. And you can always sell the one that you purchased. So if you just don't like it or you want a different one, ⁓ you know, whatever the case may be, I guarantee you you won't have a problem selling a good, used machine ⁓ that you took care of, and someone's going to want to buy it used. So you're going to get some of your money back and get you another machine if you choose to want to, or you're like me and you get five grade mills. But You don't need five. You don't need five. ⁓ and so that's it, y'all. Again, I I just see it over and over again. Like I'm just torn between the neutral mill classic or the mock mill. ⁓ you know, but the mock mill is out of stock, y'all. If the grain mill is out of stock, go with something else. Okay. Like I said, go, it's okay. Just but the you need to start milling your grains. It is so important, especially if you're doing this for health reasons, then find a way to just start. Okay. Just just start. Just just start. Just take that leap of faith and just start. So hopefully this was helpful. This is my little rant. And again, it's not as complicated as it needs to be. ⁓ yeah, there was one other little thing. Okay. ⁓ just know 100% fresh and milled wheat, different ball game than your all-purpose flour. Do not be obsessive that everything must be, we must weigh everything or you know. ⁓ why can't you put your recipes in grams as opposed to cups? I I do get comments like that. And I did a video about why I do not weigh my grains. And that is because, especially with fresh milled wheat, ⁓ it it's gonna vary each day. The amount of flour that you use, it is not as uniform as if you were to buy store-bought flour. Your King Arthur flour that you buy. here in Florida is the same King Arthur flour that you will buy in Washington State or New York State. And so your bread using that same exact flour that we all have access to pretty much will do the same thing. And so you can weigh it and dump all your ingredients in and that's it. That's not the case with fresh and milled wheat. It can vary the amount of flour to be added can vary each day depending on the weather, depending if it's cold, if it's hot, if it's humid. So that's why I don't get so obsessive of like it must be absolutely scientifically accurate. Y'all, we didn't even have measurements. We didn't even have electric ovens and all of our modern conveniences for thousands of years, yet somehow people were managing to mill their own grains and to bake bread with no measurements over a fire and you know and able to feed their families well. And another thing is you're gonna mess up. Okay. You're gonna mess up. I I still mess up sometimes, not as often as I used to, but there are still times where I some reason I goofed. ⁓ and that's okay. Learn from your mistakes and move on. ⁓ but otherwise, don't, you know, I think people get on YouTube and Pinterest, and I'm grateful that you get on YouTube because that's how you're seeing me. And, you know, and I have a channel on YouTube. I'm not knocking that. But I think people get really tied up on what they see on Pinterest and social media and think, ⁓ that's how I need to do it. No. Okay. You're gonna find what works for you. And bottom line is you just need to start. Okay. Today. Just start today. So if you already have a grain mill, I want you today to go and make you some bread. Okay. Make you some cookies. Make you some muffins. Make you something with 100% fresh cement wheat. Just do it. Okay. That's just what you need. You just need to get started. Get that grain mill, get you those grains, and you're off to the races. So hopefully this was encouraging to y'all. And again, let me know in the comments below. First of all, what topics you would like to hear about. ⁓ again, this is completely unsifted. You may hear my kids in the background. ⁓ who knows? Doors opening and closing. So, again, this is me, unsifted, unedited, here at Grains on Great. And I love you guys, and I'm looking forward to doing more of these episodes with y'all. And anything that I've listed here, I will link in the description box of this video if you're on YouTube. And I think it'll show up if you're looking at it with the podcast as well. So I hope y'all have a wonderful day. Go bake you something, go meal something and bake you something. And y'all have a wonderful day. And I'll talk to you again soon.