Letting Grain Teach You

I’ve been milling grains at home for nearly twenty years, with results that range from quietly great to deeply humbling. Testing, repetition, and a lot of paying attention slowly improved my approach.

This past year, I’ve been lucky to work with Idaho-grown einkorn, emmer, khorasan, rye, and wheat from Grand Teton Ancient Grains Family Farm & Mill . Each grain behaves differently, and each one demands respect—hydration, fermentation, timing.

What once felt like a learning curve now feels like rhythm. Preferments guide the bake. Fermentation does the talking. Lately, I’ve been drawn to lamination and European-style breads, translating and adapting them through these grains to see what holds—and what doesn’t.

Progress, I’ve learned, isn’t about control. It’s about listening.