This morning saw the last of our field trips, at least until November, this time to Smiths Flour Mill in Worksop.

Despite the fact that Worksop is only a couple of miles from the School, it took us quite a while to actually find the Mill!  Thanks to a confused satnav, which insisted on taking us round tight corners & down side streets, & round & round in circles, it was quite an eventful & frankly hilarious journey!

Eventually though, we did arrive at our destination & we were greeted with a modern roller mill on a much larger scale than any of the other mills we had visited last week.

The mill deals with wheat, maize & rice, processing around 70 different types of flour, all to unique specifications, which can be accurately controlled.

The grain is all tested prior to being unloaded; above you can see an automatic sampler taking samples of grain from a wagon that pulled in while we were being shown the lab. 

Then we went into the mill itself, donning disposable overalls, high visibility vests, rather fetching blue hats & some dashing ear plugs!  As you can see, it was all highly amusing!

The mill was huge, & strangely deserted; the whole operation can be run by just one person.  In total they employ about 60 people, which includes drivers, cleaners & admin staff, & they produce 400 tonnes of wheat flour per day!

The scale of the operation is immense, but none of the flour they produce is organic.  As interesting as the day was, it left me a little cold.  The way they produce the flour is understandable given that they supply large scale manufacturing companies, like Goodfella's pizza, who need their flours to be consistent batch after batch, but it seemed a very detached process.

It was so different to the way the flours were produced at Yorkshire Organic Millers & Fosters Mill, it really seemed at odds to the principles of artisan baking.  When I come to owning my own bakery & choosing the flours I want to use, I'll certainly be looking at somewhere like Yorkshire Organic Millers. 

I want to bake bread that celebrates wheat!  Bread that explores the differences in the grain from year to year, season to season, finding flavour combinations & techniques that elevate the humble loaf to truly gastronomic heights! =D

So that's what I'm going to do!  Just give me some time to learn how first!