We are proud to offer our growing base of informed and enthusiastic local customers the 2016 harvest of 100% certified organic local NC Bread flour, available for bulk purchase at our mill in Graham, North Carolina. We believe it is important to support North Carolina wheat farmers, and we mill organic, North Carolina grown wheat whenever possible based on the available supply.
As a small, family-owned and operated mill in the Southeastern United States, we are in the unique position to mill specialty flours for our bakers. Our artisan millers take special care with each batch of flour to make sure they meet our high quality standards and the specifications of each customer. As one of the oldest mills in North Carolina, we take great pride in continuing the long tradition of milling organic flour from our NC neighbors’ wheat. However, not all varieties of wheat grow well in North Carolina’s climate, so we are always excited when we are able to provide a high quality local NC Bread Flour for our customers.
What kinds of wheat grow in North Carolina?
In the Southeast, the wheat that grows best is soft, red winter wheat, which is a lower protein wheat (commonly used for soft baked goods, like biscuits). We have been working with local, organic farmers for many years to grow more hard red winter wheat. This hard wheat has a higher protein level and is often found in artisan breads. We also use hard red winter wheat in our Super Sprout™ Sprouted Whole Grain Wheat Flour, and we look forward to continuing to use organic NC grown wheat as much as possible as more continues to become available.
How do you ensure high quality wheat standards year-round?
40 years of organic milling have gifted us with a dedicated group of growers from all across the United States. All of our wheat is tested to ensure it meets our rigorous quality standards before milling even occurs. To meet those standards, we use the best organic NC grown wheat and also source grain from the Midwest where high quality wheat thrives. The high protein organic wheats grown in Kansas and North Dakota are what many professional bakers and restaurants seek out for quality and consistency, and what we are proud to mill to each customer’s specification.
You’re a small, family-owned mill, so can you do small-batch milling using local grains?
We get this question a lot—mostly from specialty and home bakers who are interested in using the freshest local ingredients possible, which we fully support.
In some ways we still operate like our ancestors did 261 years ago. At Lindley Mills, we grind organic flour that we feel is good for our friends, family, and community, but we don’t grind micro-sized batches of it anymore. In 1755 farmers brought their local miller enough wheat to produce a few week’s worth of flour. The miller cleaned and ground up the wheat and returned the product to them ready-to-eat, minus a portion that the miller took as payment.
Today, we supply some of the largest organic bakeries and restaurants both locally and nationally. We know how to create flour that is the competitive advantage for our customers and have been doing it successfully for 40 years. While we have the ability to operate on a scale large enough for our national customers, yet we have remained small enough to be family owned and operated. We continue to keep our commitment to high quality flours so that our artisan bakers of every size can rely on the consistency we provide to make their own exceptional baked goods.
So, if local is what you seek, get to know your local farmer, grocer, baker, or miller, and continue to stay engaged in the conversation around the growing and changing landscape of our food system. Request local products when possible and let retailers know that local matters.
If you are a baker in NC and would like to place an order for NC Bread Flour, give us a call at 336-376-6190.
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