Flour

One of my core values is that I place emphasis on local producers and local produce. This influences many of my choices in life and especially food. In respect of flour this has meant that I have searched out a local miller of Bread Flour. Turns out that they are super local, only 15 minutes by bike.

Walk Mill

Walk Mill is a watermill powered by the river Gowy. It occupies a site that has been used for milling since at least the 13th century. There is also evidence that there has been various phases of habitation and use in and around the site for many centuries before that. The present Walk Mill is not nearly so old, being a modern building built on the site of the old mill (which was demolished in the 1960’s).

Walk Mill sells 3 grades of stone ground flour:

1. Strong White: a creamy coloured flour as it is unbleached
2. Wholemeal: the entire stone ground grain, including all the bran
3. Malted: the white flour with a little malted extract and malted flakes added

The flour is available in 1.5kg, 12kg and 25kg bags.

The flour produced at Walk Mill originates from the wheat grown in the fields that surround the mill. The wheat variety is called Hereward.

Stone Ground Flour

Stone ground flour reputedly has benefits over conventionally-milled flour. The goodness from the wheat is preserved in stone ground flour, because it does not reach the high temperatures that are present in modern milling processes and which kills off some of the natural goodness in the wheat. It may be nutritionally better and perhaps tastier as a result.

Hereward Wheat

Hereward was one of landmark crosses created during the 20th century that formed the modern wheat gene pool, which were key varieties such as Holdfast (c.1935), Widgeon (c.1964), Avalon (c.1980), and Hereward (c.1989-1991).

Hereward was valued over many years as having reliable high quality for bread making. Strangely, it has very good dough rheology qualities, but has a poor profile of high molecular weight glutenin genes on paper. It seems that nobody has ever managed to understand where it gets its quality from and no further varieties would seem to have been bred from it.

In current times Hereward would appear to be having a bit of resurgence as a winter wheat variety being grown in the UK. Some farmers report that growing Hereward allows for cuts in fungicide costs, early maturity and good standing power with reliable bread making quality results. Other newer varieties may have higher yields than Hereward, but they seem not as certain to be able to fulfill the millers’ specifications for home-grown bread making wheat. As such, Hereward grain attracts a premium price.

Last modified on 2022-01-07