Discover the story behind the exceptional flour that powers our bread
For 200 years, Marriage’s Millers has been producing high quality flour in the UK.
As the official flour miller for us, we want to invite you in to understand their role in Bread Ahead, and highlight the importance of choosing excellent flour for your bread baking.
Congratulations on 200 years of milling! And 11 years of supplying us with your excellent flour for our baking here at Bread Ahead. Can you tell us which flours you supply to us for our bread?
Our range includes artisanal, speciality, organic and traditional stoneground flour varieties. We supply Bread Ahead with Premier for focaccia, tin loaves and sourdough, Stoneground Wholemeal for sourdoughs, Dark and Light Rye for rye loaves, sourdough and of course your sourdough starter, Bruce.
Where do you source your wheat from?
We’ve been working in partnership with local farmers for generations to source the highest grade wheat. Much of this comes from within a 30 mile radius of Chelmer Mills, including our own family farms.
Your mill is located in Chelmsford, Essex, just an hour and a half drive from our bakery in Borough Market. Can you tell us why Essex is considered such an excellent place for quality wheat?
We’re surrounded by the ideal soil and weather conditions for growing premium wheat. Rainfall is important for wheat growth, and can affect yield and protein levels – Essex is one of the driest regions in the UK but also has heavy clay soils, which holds onto moisture more than other regions.
You’ve just been through a crucial period in the milling calendar – the harvest. Why is this so important?
In the UK farming calendar, harvest only happens once a year during a 2-3 week period late July/early August. This varies every year due to weather conditions. Flour quality is determined by the quality of wheat harvested during this time and it’s the point of the year that determines price, availability and yield for millers.
How can you ensure the quality of wheat?
As soon as the wheat arrives at Chelmer Mills, our quality control technicians test a sample in our laboratory. By running a series of tests, we can make sure that its protein content, gluten quality and moisture levels all meet our rigorous technical specifications. We also measure the density and confirm the variety. We continually test throughout the milling process and our technical baker is testing our flour continually – he’s checking loaves for water absorption, oven spring, rise crumb, texture and colour. These tests allow us to evaluate the wheat and flour and adjust the milling process to produce consistent flour that our bakers can rely on.
And what methods are used to mill flour?
Chelmer Mill is a unique mix of ultra-high-tech milling machinery and traditional techniques. There are two processes our millers will use, modern roller milling and millstones. Each method is slightly different but both processes produce high-quality flour with distinctive properties for a unique bake. We use ancient French Burr stones to mill all our stoneground wholemeal flours – they deliver the full goodness and flavour from 100% of the wheat grain.
You can read more about the incredible 200 year history of Marriage’s Millers on their website here: https://flour.co.uk/our-story/