Freshly Milled Whole Grains
We are true artisan bakers, which means we use traditional recipes, time-honored processes, our hands, and the most
flavorful ingredients we can find to make our breads and sweet treats. Since acquiring our first stone mill, back in
2018 (we now have 2!), we’ve been delving more deeply than ever into the world of grains – locally grown, heritage and
ancient wheat varieties, freshly milled, and more non-wheat varieties. We are passionate about stone milling our own
whole grain flours and featuring them in the new naturally leavened breads and porridges we’ve been developing while
adding them to some of the classic breads and pastries we’ve been making for most of our history.
In delving into the world of whole grains and embarking on our own small milling venture, we’ve joined a rich local history dating back to the early 19th century; a time when water-powered stone grist mills were central to every town and agricultural community that settled along the main rivers and their tributaries in Washtenaw County.
The Bakehouse mill, featuring 26” Vermont-quarried Natural Barre Gray granite stones, dressed to our
specifications, is the brainchild and handiwork of Andrew Heyn. He is the founder of the stone mill building project, New American Stone Mills, and co-owner, with his wife, Blair Marvin, of the bakery, Elmore Mountain Bread, both out of Elmore,
Vermont. Andrew’s stone mills, which he builds by hand in his small workshop, vary in size from 26” to 40” to 48”
dimensions and now pepper the globe in artisan bakeries and stone-milling operations across the United States, Canada, Europe,
and Australia.
We are thankful to be one of those bakeries who impatiently waited for the arrival of our very own New American Stone
Mill, built by an avid artisan baker who is acting with the generosity of spirit known to bakers, sharing his knowledge,
skill, and time with us. We feel very aligned with Andrew in terms of our approach to baking, which makes having one of
his mills even more special.
So why use a traditional stone mill to grind whole grain flour?
Flavor and Nutrition
When grain is ground between two millstones, the whole seed kernel—its exterior bran, starchy
endosperm, and oily germ, the grain’s nutritional powerhouse—is crushed and combined to create flour that is not only
rich in fiber, omega 3s, and nutrients, but is also intensely flavorful.
Connecting to the Past
Is stone milling the most efficient way to grind flour? No, but it feeds our soul and hearts by
connecting us to our history when it was the primary mode of milling grain in southeastern Michigan.
Learning and Fun
We find that we do better work when we’re actively learning. Our new stone mill is a great opportunity
to study our local stone-milling heritage, farming, the world of whole grains, the age-old traditions of baking with
freshly milled flours, other forms of milling…the list is long. Our learning is propelling us to grind our own grain
and it’s also helping us make unexpected, tangential improvements to all of our baking.