Before chemical bleaching was discovered mills used to let their flour sit for approximately 12 weeks to develop the gluten, through natural oxidation in from the air.  Since the chemical bleaching process was discovered mills  were able to mill and ship in a very short period of time without having to store the flour. This processes also removed all the great vitamins and minerals naturally found in the flour. This created the need to fortify the flour because it is such a staple in our diets.

Fresh milled bread flour has different properties than bleached bread flour. Bleached literally means when the flour turns from a brown colour to white. Oxygen in the air reacts with the flour to turn it white. This natural oxidation process helps develop the gluten in the flour, making the dough stretchy. If you like a light fluffy loaf add 1tsp of vital wheat gluten per cup of fresh milled flour. If you like a denser hearty loaf use the fresh milled bread flour as is! Another major difference is the taste. The oxidation process also tends to mellow the flavours of the grains.

We try to source all our grains from local Ontario farmers. Some grains such as Kamut, don’t grow well in our Ontario climate. Those are sourced from Western Canada. All our grains are from Canadian farms. Our farm is currently in transition from conventional to organic. Our hope is to produce certified organic grains for milling.

Our grains are always Certified Organic!

Here are a few reasons why some would choose local flour over conventional:

1847 Flour

• No Bleaching
• No Chemicals
• No Additives
• No Fortification
• No Preservatives
• Organic Grains
• Stone Milled
• Local Grains
• Natural Vitamins
• Cold Milled
• Bran and Fiber
• Flavourful
• Freshly Milled Every Week
• Whole Berry Milled

Conventional Flour

• Bleaching Agents
• Flour is chemically processed to increase flour volume
• Artificially fortified due to the removal and denaturing of naturally occurring vitamins and oils
• Conventional grains
• No Local focus
• Synthesized vitamins
• High temperature milling
• Fiber removed to extend shelf life
• Bland
• Hull removed before milling (many naturally occurring vitamins found)
• Extremely long shelf life

Interested in trying our flour? Order a bag online today!

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