What is the difference between the bread one can make with recipes in the Back to Basics Cookbook and the bread made in bakeries who claim to use freshly milled flour?
The biggest difference is the potential lost of nutrients and the control over the ingredients added to the bread. Most bakeries who are baking with freshly milled flour claim that they use the flour within 48 hours of being milled. Unfortunately, we do not know if their claim is true or not. Even if it were true, 45% of the vitamins and minerals have already been lost during the oxidation process. Secondly, there is no control over the ingredients added to make the bread. When making bread, the baker has complete control over the quality of the ingredients. Within each type of ingredient, there is a spectrum of quality. For example, amongst olive oils, there are extra virgin cold pressed olive oils imported from Italy on one end of the spectrum. On the other end of the spectrum, there are highly refined processed light olive oils. Generally, bakeries will use lower quality ingredients to raise profit margins. The ingredient and nutrition labels do not always give the full story.
