A new electric grain mill

I bought an electric grain mill, a KoMo Fidibus 21 Grain Mill. I used my Lehman’s best hand crank grain mill for 12 years. My family needs more fresh whole wheat flour than I can grind myself. I want to use 100% whole wheat flour for everything I bake. I plan to keep the Lehman’s mill just in case I need a non-electric mill. I’ll post my review of the mill soon.

Since I began milling my own flour, I have become addicted to it. Fresh whole wheat flour tastes sweet. It makes wonderfully-tasting sourdough breads. Store bought whole wheat flour is rancid. Super polyunsaturated wheat germ oil is as fragile as hemp and flax oils once the wheat berries are ground. I think it’s a crime that commercial flour millers are allowed to put a two-year expiration date on whole grain flours. Always store whole wheat flour in the freezer unless it’s freshly ground and you plan to use it within a couple of months.

KoMo’s Fidibus 21 grain mill is handmade in Austria. It has excellent reviews. Specs: beechwood veneer, corundum-ceramic burrs, high-efficiency motor, and a solid beechwood hopper that holds almost two pounds of grain. It grinds 5 to 6 oz flour per minute.

The Fidibus 21 grinds soft or hard wheat berries, oat groats (dehulled oats), rice, triticale, kamut, spelt, buckwheat, barley, rye, millet, teff, quinoa, amaranth, and sorghum. It also grinds legumes. The only grain and legume it can’t grind because of their hardness are garbanzo beans and popcorn. The mill is adjustable to mill fine flour to coarse meal and cracked grain.

Buy my book Wild bread on Amazon (Kindle and paper versions) or lisarayner.com (paper only).

 

A fan’s sourdough creations

Becky Zavada says, “I made a sourdough nutella star using Lisa Rayner’s sweet dough from her book “Wild bread“. I really love that book. I also made crackers and batter bread from that book and they both turned out great.” Purchase a Kindle or paper copy of Wild Bread at the link.

Wild Bread – Handbaked sourdough artisan breads in your own kitchen

 

Another bread and pizza day ……….

My sourdough loaf bread and pizza made with freshly ground whole wheat flour are always in demand.

Lorna Sass interview: Part III

Nationally-known cookbook author and food writer Lorna Sass interviewed me on Feb. 21, 2010. See Part I, Part II, and Part III.

I’m wearing one of my handwoven tunics. In this third video, I display my solar cooker and talk about cooking times under various weather conditions. I also explains how my pressure cooker, in conjunction with my insulated box cooker, can be used to save energy even when the weather does not allow me to use her solar cooker. I also talk about writing my home canning book, The Natural Canning Resource Book.

Lorna sass Interview 2010: Part II

Nationally-known cookbook author and food writer Lorna Sass interviewed me on Feb. 21, 2010. See Part I, Part II, and Part III.

I’m wearing one of my handwoven tunics. In this second video I talk about how I became a vegetarian in college. I later interned for Farm Sanctuary taking undercover videos in Pennsylvania stockyards. Watching the horrific abuse made me a vegan. I also talk about my early effort to write a cookbook based on foods that grow well at high elevation. Finding a word-processor in a dumpster was a big help to creating the first edition of my book, Growing Food in the Southwest Mountains (now in its fourth edition). I also discuss how I became interested in baking sourdough bread. I explain the feeding schedule for my sourdough starter and show off my Lehman’s grain grinder

Lorna Sass interview 2010: Part I

Nationally-known cookbook author and food writer Lorna Sass interviewed me on Feb. 21, 2010. See Part I, Part II, and Part III.

In the first video (above), I’m wearing one of my handwoven tunics. I explain what the word “permaculture” means. I list some of the cool season crops that grow well at high elevation. Then, I touch on the history of farming in Flagstaff. I also explain the importance of composting and talks about the challenges of large-scale composting. Finally, I discuss my sustainable living ethic and how this plays out in my daily life.

…… Mmmmmm fresh bread ……

Flatbread is the most flavorful kind of sourdough. That’s because there is a high crust-to-bread ratio. It’s also fast to bake. When the sourdough culture has been fed flour and water several times and is ready for baking, I first save 8 oz of the culture in it’s storage jar, feed it more flour and water, and let it sit on the countertop for an hour. Then I add salt, water and my hand ground whole wheat flour to the dough and knead for about five minutes. When I make flatbread, I give the dough a bench rest to relax the gluten. Then I flatten it out and moisten the top with olive oil using wet hands. To prevent pita pockets from forming I use my Uzbeki bread stamp to poke holes in the dough after it has risen and bake the bread. My Kindle edition of “Wild Bread” is only $9.99. Also, I now have a YouTube channel. More free videos forthcoming!