Where do we start?

Let’s start with what brought you here. There are many reasons why someone might choose freshly stone ground flour milled by a neighborhood bakery. It could be supporting the local economy, local farmers, or perhaps you were attracted to the beautifully designed packaging. But ultimately the point is that this flour is the most delicious and the most nutritious.

The Milling Process

All of our grain is currently sourced from Virginia and Pennsylvania exclusively. We have direct relationships with all of our farmers and thus have the ability to speak with them in depth about their choice of varieties and growing practices. We use two New American Stone Mills (read more about our mill evolution here) and we mill both whole and sifted flours. The amazing thing about our sifted flour is that while it is lighter and finer than whole grain, it still retains some of the bran and germ unlike roller milled flours generally available. The bran is the fiber and the germ contains the oils and minerals, making a flour that is both more nutritious and more aromatic. It is this evocative flavor that first pushed us to dedicate a large part of our bakery to sourcing freshly stone ground flour.

Tips & Tricks

As we develop this part of our webpage you will be able to find tips and tricks to working with unique local flours. After all we are re-establishing grain as a regional foodstuff which it hasn’t been for over a hundred years!

First, remember that you can always “ease” in to baking with these flours by blending. No need to force yourself to jump in deep end! That way you can see the difference in a more gradual way; start with 25%, then 50% of your recipes flour and you’ll learn a lot just from the changes inherent in working with a new texture and flavor.

Second, stone ground flours, even sifted ones, take on higher hydration. Thus, our recommendation is to begin by increasing the hydration in your recipe by 2-4% —with whole grain this number may even double or triple. Again, the gradual increase will teach you more as you see the difference from batch to batch.

Flour Storage & The Aging Debate

One of the unique aspects of buying local freshly stone ground flour is that you have access to flour almost directly off the mill. A revelation in some instances. However there are different schools of thought on the best time to use flour. In short there are those that favor using it immediately (within 24 hours of milling) and those that see benefit in aging the flour, primarily to help “stabilize” the starches, making the flour easier to work with on the bench. Whiles Sub Rosa tends to use most of its flours within a few days of milling, we are currently experimenting with aging flours for 2-3 weeks to see if we can notice the difference. We will be sure to update our findings here. On a technical note a recent blurb from the book by Lutz Geißler, “Besser Vollkorn Backen,” (shout out to Mark Woodward for the information and translation) says that rye flours that have high enzymatic activity (low falling number) do better when aged after milling while rye flours with lower enzyme activity (higher falling number) do better when used immediately after milling. Intuitively this seems correct but we’ll be sure to publish our findings here!

We will say however that no matter what the time frame storing in a cool dry place sealed from air is a must. Our bags are specifically designed to hold flour and can even be kept in the fridge accordingly. Make sure you remember to make up the difference in your recipe when using cold flours!

PLEASE BRING YOUR BAGS BACK TO BE REFILLED AS OFTEN AS YOU LIKE!

GRain Encyclopedia

Here you can find specs on our flours:

wheat

Variety: Rouge De Bordeaux

Farm: Grapewood Farm in Montrose, VA.

Classification: Heirloom Hard Red Winter Wheat

Protein: 11.8%

Gluten Index: 26.7

Available as: Sifted or whole flour

A strong, versatile bread flour with a rich, nutty flavor that has impressed from its earliest trials. Grown certified organic on the eastern shore by Fred and David Sachs, this flour can be used in making bread, pizza, and even cookies. In our trials most of our bakers reported success in replacing the flour 1:1 in their recipes. This flour does particularly well with yeasted breads and pastries but can also be used in sourdough bread with a deft hand. While having good strength, it is also supple and extensible. This 19th century  wheat was primarily grown in the Bordeaux region of France and originally used by French bakers. It is believed to have developed from other, local strains of red wheat that were adapted to the climactic and soil conditions of southwestern France and is therefore considered a landrace or heritage grain. Its adaptability to various growing conditions and resistance to certain diseases have made it a sustainable choice for farmers outside of France as well, hence our ability to enjoy it here in Virginia.

Recipes:

• Skillet Chocolate Chip Cookie

• Sugar Cookie

• Biscuits

rye

Variety: Danko Rye

Farm: Grapewood Farm in Montrose, VA.

Classification: Rye, Secale cereale

Protein: 6.9%

Gluten Index: 12.2

Available: whole flour

Danko is an older, though not quite heirloom variety of grain developed in 1970's Poland. Our Danko rye flour is organic and grown by Fred Sachs at Grapewood Farm in Montrose, VA.  Its performance makes it seem more wheat-like for a rye but it still has very low gluten. It has flavors of toasted oats and a bit of sweet cacao and is less peppery than the Abruzzi variety but still has a hint of spice. It is great for making rye bread but can also be used in other baked items like cookies, crackers, and even blended in pancake or waffle batter. It has numerous health benefits and  is high in fiber, vitamins, and minerals (which are most accessible to us when combined with sourdough methods). Due to its complex cocoa-esque notes, we think it goes great with chocolate.

Recipes:

• Rye Cranberry Chocolate Chunk Cookies

maize/corn

Variety: Buena Vista Yellow

Farm: Buena Vista Farms, Shacklefords, VA

Classification: Landrace Yellow Dent Corn

Protein: % Unknown

Gluten Index: 0

Available as: whole cornmeal

A dent variety of corn grown out as an offshoot of the prolific Mexican landrace variety: Tuxpeño. Corn is NON-GMO but is not certified organic. Sprays are used on non-corn adjacent crops, but corn crop sees little to no applications. Lovely golden color and classic tortilla corn flavor. Excellent as polenta or as whole cornmeal, whenever called for in a recipe.

In The Future

In the future we will update this landing page to include

• An FAQ highlighting the most common questions and challenges in using freshly stone ground flours from the Mid Atlantic region

Stay Tuned!

Thank you for supporting a new grain economy and most importantly a new grain culture. By using local grains in your diet you are redefining the relationship between yourself and the land, and the culture that may grow from it.