Wouldn't it be great to grow grain, mill it into flour, turn it into dough, and bake...all in the same location? It is possible at Camas Country Mill in Junction City, Oregon, and it is pretty freaking cool! I recently had the opportunity to visit the farm, learn more about their operation and product, and bake bread.
Camas Country Mill is owned by Tom and Sue Hunton. The Hunton family has farmed their land since 1952, and they have 2,700+ acres today. A lot has changed over the years on the farm. Today they grow ~40 varieties of grasses, grains, and cover crop seed. Starting in 2011, they began to add whole grain grist milled flours, which hadn't been produced for over 80 years in the Willamette Valley.
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| The many flours at Camas Country Mill |
Grist milling is an old world form of creating flour from grain. Grist mills were very common before the industrial age. In fact, George Washington's home at Mount Vernon had a grist mill. Grist mills could be found in communities throughout the United States until the 1930's or so. At that time, it became more common to produce flour via a roller mill. The main difference with the roller mill method, which is how typical store bought flours are made, is that it removes the bran and germ, leaving only the endosperm in the flour. Stone grist mills retain all parts of the grain in their natural state (bran, germ, and endosperm) in the flour they produce. Why is this important? Whole grain flour is making a major comeback due to many reasons: Whole grains are more flavorful, nutritious, easier to digest, and are linked to many health benefits. From a pizza connoisseur's perspective, they also offer an opportunity to create unique crust with more flavor and different texture. It is also pretty cool that this flour is grown and milled so close to Portland.
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| Pain Au Levain |
I have used Camas flour for a couple years in a few of my dough recipes. I am still trying to figure out how to consistently make awesome dough with whole grains, but when I do, the crust is so good! The whole grain flour definitely requires more hydration, and I have had more success with a higher ratio of levain; however, I still have a lot to figure out.
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| WFO Built by Jeremy Church of Ashland, OR |
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| Wood Fired Pain Au Levain |
Camas offers several on site classes. My mom and I met for her birthday to be a part of the Bread Baking 101 class. Our class was taught by head baker, Ryan Moore. Ryan is a great baker and I learned several things by taking the class. He operated several bakeries in the Salt Lake area, trained under Keith Justo, worked at Macrina in Seattle, and eventually made his way to Camas Country. He was drawn to Camas by the special nature of growing, milling, and baking on the same site. Something that is very important to him.
I learned the best doughs for pizza flour are the Edison Hard White Spring Wheat and the T-200 Edison. Ryan prefers a blends of the Oregon Durum Flour with either Edison for his pizza dough. I bought both, and I look forward to testing it out. I also learned that feeding my starter (Billy) Oregon Durum Flour activates it really well. This was another great suggestion by Ryan.
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| Dutch Oven Pain Au Levain |
We had a great lunch in the wonderful, old Lower Fern Ridge Schoolhouse. This Huntons moved this to their farm when the school was in jeopardy of being torn down. It has since been restored, hosted weddings, and children's summer camps.
Lil' Doughboy took the opportunity to get in a photo opportunity. 😝
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