The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1885-08-06
MILLING.
The Various Processes by Which Wheat
Grain Is Reduced to Flour.


First, by the miller; second, by the
baker. In both processes more change
aud improvement have taken place
within the last twenty years than during
the whole previous history of civilized
man as bread-eating animal. 1t is OF
these changes and Improvements,
especially under the frst-named head
that will speak.
Does my reader suppose that mills
and millers. in the old significance Of
these words. still exist? They are not,
indeed. quite extinct, and yet both in
the Old World and the New the historic
sound of the grindingis low" Proba-
bly, not more than one bushel of wheat
in six is now ground between millstones;
new invention has displaced them in
the larger mills. Was jeremiah 5
prophecy meant, after all. for us, when
he said: Il will take from them the
voice of gladness and the sound of the
millstones?" For the greater part of the
millstOnes are gone, and what has re-
placed them?
Before answering this question let us
glance at the growth and development
of the beautiful milling processes now in
use.
A hundred years ago the miller
cleaned his wheat in rude machine
consisting of couple of wire cvlin-
ders, or screens, and an air blast" and
ground it between "a pair of millstones
running very IOW-that is, close to-
gether-in order that the greatest
amount of flour might be produced at
one grinding. The resultant product
was then s;fted; the superfine flour was
thus separated and the tailinqs re-
ground" (NefteD. This process of
''low milling" though much improved
in its details by foreign inventors. and
by Oliver Evans in our own country, re-
mained in use as late as the year 1870
in this country, its principle being the
original one of getting as much flour
as possible by one grinding.
High milling is modern though
not a recent invention. Its pioneer
was Ignaz Paur, an Austrian. The
difference between high and low milling
Gas Prof. HorSford tells us in his
valuable report on Vienna bread) is
that lin high milling the wheat is re-
duced by succession of crackings. or
Of slight and partial crushings, alter
mating with sitting and sorting the
product, while in low milling the re-
ductiOn is effected by a single crush
ing"
What are the advantages of these
complicated processes? Can it be pos
sible. economically speaking, to submit
zach individual grain of our enormous
wheat crop to repeated and delicate
processes of cleaning, peeling, cracking.
and communion, with many interven-
ing siftings? OF course we all know
how many grains of wheat there were
in the crop of 1879, but l will repeat the
figures; it was 800 trillions- course
in very round numbers.
We may be sure that there are great
advantages in this elaborate milling,
and that it follows demand on the
part of the consumer, whose demand is
naturally for more varied products and
for cheaper prices. One more thing he
generally insists upon, which is not
good for him; he demands the WkiteSt
possible bread, made of flour that has
been ritled of much of its gluten, and is
mainly starch. We shall see why such
bread is not the best
The process of high milling demands.
first of all, that the wheat should be
freed from foreign substances and thor
Oughly cleaned. The outer coats of
bran, Silex, hair, etc, come off readily
enough by rubbing; this is done by
passing the grain between brushes.
But the brushes can not penetrate the
crease of the wheat grain, which in
closes certain amount of quite inacces-
sible blush dirt. How can this be re-
moved? BY passing the grain between
corrugated chilled-iron rollers, which
merely crack it lengthwise along the
crease, thus liberating the BLUSH or
brownish matter which is locked up in
the bottom of the crease. This re-
moved, nothing is left but the nutritive
grain.
The subsequent processes of milling.
Is described by a German writer, are
substantially as follows:
If we press grains of wheat gently
between millstoneS which are at first
one-twelfth of an inch apart, then one
quarter less, then One-half less, and so
on. successfully finer and finer prod
act is obtained. The first operation
We will call clipping or pointing; by
his part of the she'll or outside coat
S removed, with the brush. and part of
the germ. From these the hulled ker- |
nels are separated by passing them |
through cylindrical sieve; then pass
NO the hulled kernels between the |
stones brought nearer together, they
Tield Q) cracked wheat, (2) groats |
,r fragments with bran attached. (3) |
yrits or smaller fragments, and az |
iner particles of flour. All of these are |
again separated by sitting. and the |
yroats are reground; then another sfft-
ng, another grinding, and so on The |
yritS are treated IN the same way. and /
hus the differentiation is carried ont |
farther than we can follow |
I, for it is like the branching of q |
amily tree. The grain is submitted to
xix or more runs" or grindings, and
he resulting products are very various;
/ would require full-page diagram or
able to show them completely. The
product which most attracts the con-
'umer is an extremely fine and white
iour. called extract flour" it IS from
his that the original Vienna bread is
made. Farina is another part of the
yrits, finely purified. ''Middlings'' and
'pollardS floEr" are other products of
hese most complicated processes
High milling is thus the second chap
er in this history; and we now come to
he third and latest. the passing away
# the milestone. This is the result of
hungarian invention which substitutes
oilers and crushing process for the