CozyNet Blog

Journal (2026-10-19) - Bread mixer and milling wheat

Publish Date: 2026-10-19

I've been wanting to get back into bread baking again, but haven't had much time for it since I would make it all by hand. The recipe I've used before was for a sifted white flour, which kneading by hand isn't so bad, but it can still be time consuming. Today I'm interested in making whole wheat bread, which includes everything of the wheat berry. I attempted this once before about five years ago and ended up with a dense loaf of bread that wasn't good for much, but this was because I didn't change the recipe and didn't knead it long enough. Apparently whole wheat flour requires a whole lot more kneading than the typical sifted white flour, which personally I'm not all that thrilled about.

So I bought a bread mixer!

This is the NutriMill Artiste stand mixer, and I got it with the bakers set and juicer attachment.

Since I'm frequently making cookies, pizza dough, banana bread, and soon to be whole wheat bread, I figured it's time to just get a mixer because I spend a lot of time doing this by hand.

While I'm writing on saving time here, guess what else I'm doing by hand? Grinding the wheat berries! Yeah... it takes a while too. I bought this grain grinder about five or so years ago when I was bread baking and unfortunately didn't get to use it much. Here are some pictures of it on the workbench.

It probably took me about 30 to 40 minutes to crank out four cups of flour with this thing. It's quite the work out because I had to take breaks from it! But I will say, it grinds a very fine flour, just like you get from the grocery store.

I also went with a different recipe for the bread this time, which took into account my bread mixer, rather than it being done by hand. The recipe instructions were helpful, but I had to knead mine for about 20 minutes instead of the "9 to 10 minute knead time" it specified. Also, I think it needs a little more yeast, but I'll give it the benefit of the doubt and say that my bread pans aren't the right size. I need more narrow bread pans, rather than wide, because I like a square shaped sandwich bag sized loaf rather than these wide ones they produce.

Anyhow, here are the pictures of the end result!

These turned out way better than my first attempt five years ago. It has a nice soft texture and didn't crumble. The flavor is rich and mildly sweet and not at all bitter like how some whole wheat breads can taste. The variety of wheat berries I got from Barton Springs Mill says that it has a "rich, nutty flavor with aromas of cinnamon and baking spice." Personally, I didn't smell anything like cinnamon and baking spice, but it is certainly rich and nutty.

I'll probably see if I can retro-fit a motor and a belt onto my grain grinder because that part is a real chore, but the rest of it was a lot of fun! I like being able to leave the bread mixer to do its thing while free to do other things around the house.

Thanks for reading my blog!