Roller Milled White Enriched Flour facts for kids

The roller mill was invented by Hungarian bakers in the late 1860s. Its popularity quickly grew around the world in the 1900s. Today, roller mills make almost all the flour that isn't whole grain. In the United States, over 90% of the flour produced is white enriched flour, which means it has extra nutrients added back in.

Why Roller Mills Are So Important for Flour

In 2017, more than 90% of the flour made in the United States was not whole grain. Almost all of this flour was made using special machines called flour roller mills. These unique mills were first developed in Europe in the 1860s. Soon after, they came to the United States and quickly became the main way to mill flour worldwide. They are still dominant today.

Flour roller mills were designed to easily separate the different parts of a wheat kernel. They remove the bran and the germ. What's left is called the endosperm, which is usually known as white flour. White flour often has nutrients added back to it. This is done to replace some of the nutrition lost when the bran and germ are removed. In the U.S., white flour is almost always enriched. Rules for enrichment can be different in other countries.

Understanding the Parts of a Wheat Kernel

Wheat and other grains grow on a stalk. They have an outer covering called the husk or hull. This part is not good for humans to eat. When the hull is removed, it's often called chaff. The part of the wheat kernel that we can eat is called a wheat berry. It has three main parts:

• The bran: This is about 14% of the kernel.
• The germ: This is about 3% of the kernel.
• The endosperm: This makes up about 83% of the kernel.

The bran is the outer protective layer of the wheat berry. It has a lot of dietary fiber and healthy fats. It also contains starch, protein, vitamins, and minerals. The germ is a source of many nutrients. These include vitamin E, folate, phosphorus, thiamin, zinc, and magnesium. It also has fats and fiber. The endosperm's natural job is to feed the germ with starch. This happens when the seed is planted and starts to grow into a plant. The endosperm also contains some oils and protein.

How Flour Milling Changed Over Time

In early America, flour mills used large mill stones. These stones were set close together and spun very fast. They crushed all parts of the wheat kernel into one type of flour. This was called "low milling." Back then, there were no refrigerators or sealed containers. The bran and germ in this flour absorbed water easily and had oils. This made the flour spoil faster. It also attracted insects.

Sifting, or bolting, could separate some parts. The thick bran from soft winter wheat would break into larger pieces. This made it easier to sift out. People preferred the whiter flour that could be sifted.

Before the 1860s, most flour in the U.S. came from soft white wheat. This wheat has less protein. Later, new types of wheat like Red Fife hard red spring wheat (1860s) and Turkey hard red winter wheat (1870s) were introduced. These "hard wheats" had more gluten and protein. This made them better for baking bread than soft wheat. At first, U.S. millers didn't like hard wheats as much. It was harder to sift out the white endosperm that customers wanted from them.

However, millers around the world started trying "high grinding." This meant setting the mill stones further apart and turning them slower. First, they would crack the wheat kernel. Then, they would grind and sift it multiple times to get the flour. A new machine called the middlings purifier helped a lot. It blew air into the partially ground wheat. This lifted the bran particles away into a separate area. This machine helped make a consistent, high-quality flour. This flour became known as "patent flour." But using mill stones for this process wasn't the best way.

The Invention of the Roller Mill

In 1867, something new caught everyone's attention at the Paris International Exposition. Baked goods made with a finer flour were much better. Hungarian bakers showed off their amazing products. They said their secret was the finer flour made by Hungarian millers. These millers used smooth steel rollers instead of mill stones.

Because of this success, the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition was held. It was set up to show off this new roller mill technology. In 1880, a patent was given in the U.S. for grooved steel rollers that spun at different speeds. Roller mills were clearly more efficient. They quickly became the main way to mill flour. After the 1880s, no important mills using only mill stones were built in the U.S. By the early 1900s, grindstones for commercial flour milling had almost disappeared in developed countries.

To make even more flour, millers started "flour tempering." This means adding water to the outer shell of the wheat berry. This makes it easier to remove the bran and germ. Today, tempering is a very important step in making white endosperm flour with roller mills.

In contrast, whole grain milling systems process the entire wheat kernel in one go. They keep the grain as dry as possible. In 2017, these "single stream" systems made only a small amount of the whole grain flour sold. Most commercial whole grain flour is actually put back together. This happens after its parts are first separated by roller mills.

Adding Nutrients to Flour (Enrichment)

In the 1930s and 1940s, doctors in the United States started to understand specific health problems caused by a lack of certain nutrients. To help people get healthier, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) set rules in 1941. These rules said what nutrients had to be in any flour labeled as enriched.

These rules have changed over the years. But they still require adding thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, folic acid, and iron to enriched flour. Adding calcium is optional. The rules don't say that all flour and bread *must* be enriched. But if a product says it's enriched, it has to meet these FDA standards. A law passed in 1990 made sure that federal rules for enrichment were the main ones. This meant state laws that made enrichment mandatory were no longer valid.