Hi everyone! This afternoon we visited the flour mill Antico Molino Santa Chiara, where we learned about the entire production of flour from the types of cereal/grain they use to how they process the different kernels into flour.
When we arrived in the mill, the owner Amedeo told us his family story about how his family got started working in the mill industry, along with how he re-opened the business and grew it to what it is today. The mill runs by using stone grinders to grind down the kernels into a fine powder. The stones that they use have been maintained over many years as it needs different scars to help the kernels break down into the fine powders. Here is a link to a site that details how stone grinders are used in a mill setting to make flour.
The kernels enter the millstone and are dispensed onto the bedstone through the damsel, here they are then grinded down by the runner stone making them into a very fine powder. The wheels as seen in the picture above controls how close together the two stones are, making them closer or further changes how coarse the flour gets. At the start of the process the grinding is not as fine as it needs to be, but it still exits the millstone. At this location they take the grains that are too big for flour and use them to feed chickens in the area.
Only recently has the mill started to use a sieving machine to help sort the soft wheat flour, but other than that everything else is done by hand as it was done in the olden days. All of the grains are organic and are hand selected by Amedeo to ensure that they are up to the standard that he holds. There also are several types of flours that are available to purchase that are all ground in the mill.
This entire process was extremely fascinating to learn about as I have never seen a flour mill in production and really had no clue how the process worked. It was very fascinating to hear how much work went into grinding down the stones, and making sure that they have enough scarring on them to get the kernels to grind down to the level that is needed for the flours. I thought it was really cool that the company makes sure that they are using only the finest ingredients and they are very careful with what they are producing, ensuring that any extra parts gets recycled and disposed of in a way that isn’t creating waste. The small batches that they make helps to control the quality of the flours they are producing, which is definitely a major selling point. Here is the link to the website for the company we visited, the site is in Italian but your browser may be able to translate it if you are interested in reading more about the place.
Overall, I thought the trip here was super educational and really interesting as I was able to gain a better understanding of what was occurring within the machine itself and just how complicated a process it was that they have been doing for hundreds of years.
This next week we are heading to do an olive oil tasting which is going to be super interesting so stay tuned for that!
Ciao!
Cooking Court 