DOES HIGH HEAT BUILDUP IN HIGH-SPEED MILLS REALLY DAMAGE THE DELICATE NATURAL VITAMINS IN THE FINISHED FLOUR?
A. This is a question that has been the source of controversy in the home flour mill business for a number of years. Even though there have been studies of the subject and the point has been proven — both ways a number of times — we contend that excessive heating of the dry kernel of grain will cause damage. Some companies feel that if you have to heat the flour to bake it, that heat during milling should not hurt anything. What they fail to tell you, however, is the simple fat of moisture. Moisture is essential to baking, and shields the germ oil and vitamins from intensive heat directly upon them. As an example, try this experiment; put one kernel of wheat in a cup of water and let it soak overnight or until it is well soaked with moisture. Take it out of a cup, insert a straight pin in the kernel and strike a match under it and let it burn until the outside is burnt black. Now take a dry kernel and put a match under it. Notice how the dry kernel burns like a stick of wood? Now put
