We have just started to mill our own flour! This will allow us to double down on our commitment not only to partnerships with local farms but also to the best ingredients in the area.
In simple terms, the mill works when you pour wheat berries (whole kernels) into the funnel. The berries are slowly transferred downward into the mill where they are ground to our desired specifications using a combination of variables: speed of the grain going through the mill, the speed the mill stone turns, and how closely we set the milling stones.
As the grain is ground between the two milling stones it transforms from wheat berries into whole-ground flour. It then travels into the sifting chamber to the left of the mill. A combination of gentle air pressure and corkscrewing brushes pushes everything through a series of 3 sifting screens, allowing us to control how much or little of each grain becomes flour or bran.
Obviously, we use the flour in our pasta. Bran is kind of like the husk of the grain. It has great flavor and nutritional properties but it can also be very fibrous and can get in the way of us making pasta. We try to
mill so that we can get as much of the entire grain in our flour, because that makes it delicious and healthy.
We always work to make sure we have as much of the “whole grain” go into our flours because this is what gives the pasta such great flavor and texture.
When you try our pasta, you can actually taste the bran and whole grain. That is what gives it flavor and color.
