Welcome to the world of baking with regional and whole grains! Baking with locally sourced and whole grain flour is different from baking with commercial flour and can sometimes be tricky (we discuss the reasons why below). This booklet is meant to offer guidance to make it easier for you to regularly use these flours in your kitchen. 

A note on audience: This resource is designed for those who have experience baking sourdough and would like to learn how to incorporate more whole grains and regionally grown grains into their bakes. Not yet baking sourdough and want to learn how? Visit our webpage for a list of recommended tools and resources to get started and our glossary of relevant terms.

What is meant by “whole grain”?

Grain consists of three components: the bran, germ, and endosperm. The bran contains protein and fiber, the germ contains healthy oils, and both parts contain most of the micronutrients, such as vitamins and minerals, found in grains. The endosperm largely contributes the starchy carbohydrates grains are known for. When grain is milled without sifting out the germ or bran, you have a whole grain flour with the healthy oils and micronutrients grains have to offer. Stone milled, high extraction flours, that have a portion of the germ and bran are sifted out, contain some of the oils and micronutrients, so they are healthier than most all-purpose and bread flours.

There are two main processes used today to make flour: roller milling and stone milling. These respective practices result in a variety of milled flours. In roller milling, which is typically used to produce commercial flours, the bran and germ become completely separated from the endosperm. Whole wheat flour from roller mills has bran—but usually not germ—mixed back in, while all-purpose and bread flours will have all, or nearly all, of the bran and germ removed. Bread flour is produced from grain containing a higher percentage of protein compared to the grain used to make all-purpose white flours.

In stone milling, which is the common way flour is produced in regional food systems, all three parts of a grain kernel are crushed together in such a way that it’s impossible to remove all of the bran and germ from the endosperm. While many regional mills typically sell both whole grain and bolted flours, millers often sift out some of the bran to more closely achieve the flour qualities bakers have come to expect. When it isn’t sifted, you’re left with what can most accurately be considered a whole grain flour. However, even if it's sifted, stone milled flour always includes a bit of bran.

How is baking bread with regional and whole grains different?

The conventional flour you find in most grocery stores is generally produced from higher protein grain grown on multiple farms which is then collected and mixed together in commercial mills. Year to year, this results in a consistent product, particularly in terms of the protein content that contributes to gluten development and strength. This is important in bread baking, as appropriate gluten development contributes to a bread’s springy texture; otherwise it could end up flat and dense.

When you buy Mid-Atlantic grains from a regional farmer, you get a product that reflects our local environmental conditions. Farmers in our region choose varieties best suited to the climate in the Mid-Atlantic to achieve the best yields possible. Due to the generally humid climate in the region, wheat grown in the Mid-Atlantic generally produces flour with less gluten strength compared to the wheat used by large commercial mills. However, variation in localized weather conditions can also impact the characteristics of a particular grain harvest as well. The same grain grown by the same farmer but in different fields can have different characteristics.

Given that millers working on a regional scale tend to work in smaller batches of grains from local farms, there will be variation in the resulting flours they produce. Due to the varieties selected, growing practices, and local environmental conditions, each harvest is different. Sometimes harvests from different farms are mixed together to create flours with more balanced qualities, but this is still on a smaller scale than commercial milling.

In the kitchen, you can use the same techniques to make bread with whole grain or bread flour. However, the qualities that make whole grain flours different from bread flours have an impact on gluten development and should be accounted for. In retaining more bran and germ, whole grain flours require higher hydration to produce a workable bread dough, but too much water can cause gluten networks to break down prematurely. Additionally, the presence of bran can impede the formation of gluten networks in a dough, resulting in less rise and a tighter crumb. Whole grain doughs will also typically ferment faster because they contain more enzymes.

Why bake with regional grains?

1. Champion Farmers Who Support the Environment: The typical commodity grains system in the United States is generally harsh on the environment, depleting nutrients and organic matter in topsoil, as well as topsoil itself over time. The addition of grains such as wheat, barley, oats, and rye to crop rotations can decrease the environmental impacts of farming through a reduction in fertilizer and fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. Using grain crops to cover and protect resting fields is an effective way to actually regenerate topsoil, to promote environmental health, and to grow staple crops that feed people.

2. Access More Nutrition: As a reminder, a grain of wheat, also known as a wheat kernel or wheat berry, is composed of three parts: the endosperm, the bran, and the germ. Other grains, such as rye, barley, and corn, have similar structures. Once milled, these parts are exposed to a greater amount of light and air, and they begin to oxidize more quickly. As they continue to age, their vitamins and minerals break down, and it’s harder for your body to absorb them. Flour milled locally from regionally-grown grains travels a shorter distance before ending up in your kitchen. As a result, the nutrients they contain remain more potent than in grain products (like flours) that have been stored longer. This is why we recommend keeping flours in the fridge or freezer to keep the oils in the germ from going rancid and to preserve phytase, a key enzyme in the bran. Whole grains also retain all three components of the kernel which also maintains the nutrition of the original grain.

3. Enjoy More Flavor: Since CGA member grains come directly from the farm or mill, and don’t contain additives to extend shelf life—the unique, unadulterated flavors of the grain shine through and contribute to the experience of eating them. CGA member farmers also tend to grow a wider variety of wheat with subtly different flavors. Just as local apples have varying flavors, different varieties of wheat can bring a diverse and deep range of flavor. Working with whole grain flours that retain all parts of the grain also contributes more flavor to whatever you bake with it!

4. Support Local Businesses and the Local Food System: Just as buying local fruits, vegetables, and dairy supports the local food system, eating regionally grown grains and staple foods is integral to supporting local growers. Baking with locally sourced flour is one way to support a regional economy for grains, preserve agricultural land, and safeguard the livelihood of farmers and grain artisans in the Mid-Atlantic.

Learning to bake with regional and whole grain flours

Remember: appropriate gluten development is critical to bake bread with an airy, springy texture. Ideally, flour used for bread should have gluten in which extensibility and elasticity are well balanced. Extensibility refers to how much the gluten network can stretch, and elasticity refers to how well the dough holds its shape while stretching, much like a rubber band. You can get to know the gluten qualities of a particular flour through a slurry test.

How to do a slurry test:

To perform a slurry test, it helps to compare a good commercial wheat flour with the one you’re testing. Be sure to compare comparable flours (e.g., don’t compare a bread flour to a whole wheat flour).

1. Mix 85g of water with 100g of flour. For reference, 85g is appropriate for whole wheat, while for bread flour you might want to use less (70g), because the higher amount of bran in whole wheat causes the flour to absorb more water. How does it feel? Is it sticky, sloppy, and wet, or is it relatively dry and coherent? This gives you an idea of that particular flour’s ability to absorb water. This matters because dough needs to be appropriately hydrated to activate the proteins that form gluten, impacting the texture of a loaf of bread. Appropriately hydrated bread dough becomes smooth and pliable. If your flour is not absorbing the water, the resulting dough will be too liquidy to work with.

2. Cover it and let the dough sit for 30 minutes, and then feel it again. Is the dough becoming more coherent, meaning that the gluten is developing? Try the windowpane test: when you stretch the dough carefully, does it stretch thin so that you can see light through the dough without it tearing (e.g., elasticity and extensibility are balanced)? Cover again and let it sit for 60 more minutes and see how the dough continues to develop by doing the same windowpane test.

3. Let it sit again overnight, covered. Test it again in the morning. If you are comparing a weaker wheat flour to a stronger one, you are likely to see in the morning that the stronger wheat retains its ability to stretch thinly, while a weaker wheat will tend to pull apart.

If the dough pulls apart when you do the windowpane test, its gluten development is weak which results in a dough that is too extensible and insufficiently elastic. While letting a dough rest and ferment is part of the bread baking process, time also allows gluten networks to break down, and in weak gluten flours this happens more quickly. If the dough tears after a period of rest in the windowpane test, it indicates that the gluten network has started to break down, the dough could be more challenging to work with going forward, and your loaf of bread might fall flat.

Even if you find limits to the innate extensibility and elasticity of your flour, you absolutely can bake bread with it, but you may need to adjust your techniques. Here are some of the things you can do:

• If your slurry sample doesn’t absorb as much water as the conventional test, reduce your hydration. More water makes the dough more extensible, and the dough won’t be able to support itself. By reducing the amount of liquid, you end up with a stiffer dough that is more manageable.

• If your sample tears easily, don’t do an autolyse, or in other words, don’t mix the flour and liquid before adding your leavening and salt. An autolyse is beneficial when working with strong flours because it gives the bran an opportunity to absorb liquid and to start building the gluten network, but with weaker flours it can promote excessive extensibility.

• Alternatively, do a saltolyse. Salt slows the breakdown of gluten. To do a saltolyse, mix the whole grain flour in the formula with an equivalent amount of the salt (i.e. if your formula is 100% whole grain, add all the salt that the formula calls for, if 50% whole grain, add half the salt). Mix with some of the water that the formula calls for; 20% would be a reasonable starting point. Cover and allow to rest overnight at room temperature. The next day, do the final mix, adding in the remaining water once the gluten is well developed.

• If your sample starts to break down prematurely, speed up the process by using more sourdough starter and/or doing a same day bake. When you slow down fermentation through lower amounts of leaven or by retarding the fermentation in the fridge, you are giving the gluten more time to break down.

• Consider using a stiff leaven. A stiff leaven is one hydrated at 50% - 60%. This favors yeast over bacterial production which ultimately promotes stronger gluten since there is less bacteria to eventually break down the gluten.

It’s okay if the first bake with a new flour doesn’t go as planned! Even professional bakers need to do a few trial bakes to dial in the results they want whenever they get a new batch of flour. Practice is key in getting comfortable and becoming successful in baking with local wheat.

For more details on how to bake successfully with weaker wheat, you may refer to the following articles: Baking Bread with Low Gluten Wheat and Protecting Gluten in a Weak Dough.

Alternatives to modern wheat

Baking bread with grains other than modern wheat opens up even more worlds of flavor and variety. Additionally, this supports the market that enables farmers to grow other crops in rotation with wheat. Here are a few tips for what you can expect when working with alternative grains.

• Ancient grains: Ancient grains are cereal crops that have largely stayed the same genetically over the last several hundred years. The most known varieties today are among precursors of modern wheats:

  • Khorasan, typically sold by the trade name Kamut.

  • Spelt, emmer, and einkorn, which are collectively known as farro.

  • Compared to modern wheats, these varieties tend to not form as strong gluten networks. Einkorn, in particular, cannot absorb as much liquid. With these grains, use the suggestions above for working with weaker gluten. Mixing ancient grains with modern wheat in your bread is also a good approach.

• Rye: Rye doughs produce less gluten than wheat. Instead, a carbohydrate compound called pentosan fills a similar role in creating structure. When hydrated, the pentosans create a gel that absorbs and contains the carbon dioxide produced through fermentation, allowing the bread to rise, albeit with a denser crumb. Rye is also higher in enzymes which can cause the starchy carbohydrates in the dough to break down into sugars. To address these differences, 100% rye formulas often include an acidic component, such as sourdough starter or yogurt, to reduce enzyme activity and to avoid a “starch attack.” For these reasons the techniques used in rye baking differ from those used for wheat. However, rye can be added to wheat breads using standard wheat techniques, as long as no more than 40%-50% rye flour is substituted in.

• Barley: Like rye, barley is low in gluten and high in enzymes. 100% barley loaves tend not to rise very much, but substituting some barley flour into a wheat formula works well.

• Corn: There are four separate types of corn: Sweet corn, Flour corn, Flint corn, and Dent (or field) corn. Flour, flint, and dent corn varieties, all of which are gluten free, can be used in combination with wheat to make bread, either in the form of flour or by making a soaker or scald.

• Buckwheat: Buckwheat is actually the seed of a plant related to rhubarb, not a true grain. Some buckwheat flours, described as plain or hulled, have the hull sifted out. In contrast, dark buckwheat flours retain at least some of the hull. 100% buckwheat breads tend to be dense, but adding buckwheat to wheat doughs can add unique flavor and achieve a fluffier rise.

• Oats: Oats can be milled into flour to add to wheat breads or used to make gluten-free breads. Rolled oats are easily mixed into the dough or sprinkled on top to add flavor and texture. Oatmeal porridge can also be added to wheat doughs.

Adding gluten-free grains to wheat breads

Adding gluten free grains (oats, corn) or pseudograins (buckwheat) to wheat breads will limit the bread’s rise, but it’s made up for in flavor. Swapping in 10-20% of the flour is a straightforward and good place to start. There are other techniques, such as creating a soaker, porridge or scald, to mix gluten free grains into the dough to add texture and flavor.

CGA Member Mark Woodward is a co-author of this resource. In retirement, Mark has become passionate about baking bread, specializing in naturally leavened breads made with home milled whole grain flours, frequently using grains grown by farmer friends in the Mid-Atlantic Region.