Stone Ground Flour

A couple of weeks ago I finally made it to Eureka Mills during their working hours.  Being roughly 20 kms from the farm, I am delighted at the convenience of their mill.  They are the only flour millers in South Africa who grind their flour in the traditional manner using stone wheels.  And they do not add anything to their flour by way of preservatives or chemicals.

As they state on their webpage:

"Who would farm with old methods of crop rotation and gentle aerating of the soil?  Who would start a slower grinding stone mill.  Who would bake in a stone oven to make bread in the slow time honoured manner to extract maximum benefit out of the efforts of mother nature?  Who would buy these products even if they seem so much more expensive and somethimes "inconvenient"?

The answer is enlightened farmers, millers and consumers."

As you enter their mill there are huge bags of waste lining the side of their forecourt.  This "waste" is sold to farmers to feed their livestock.

Bags of chaff and bran, destined for the
local farmers livestock

Inside the mill it is understandably dusty, and very noisy - the friendly workers are employed 5 days a week, so every minute of those days the mill is pumping out flour.

The two grinding wheels are situated behind
the safety guard

Can you see the two wheels on the machine?  It's hard to believe that they are able to produce the quantity of flour that they do, merely by grinding grain between tow stones...

Detail of the two stone wheels in action

This is a close-up of one of the wheels they no longer use - they have made a garden feature out of it - clever appropriate recycling :)

I came away with enough flour to bake my own bread, give to DD and also as a gift forour town neighbour for looking after our house whilst we were away.

They even gave me a brochure that I could scan so that you, too, could read all about them :)

Front and back detail of the Eureka Mills flyer

For those readers who do not live near Swellendam, but who would like to purchase the best flour available in this country, they have a list on their website detailing the retail outlets where you should be able to find Eureka Mills flour.  For those who who do not reside in this country and are unable to purchase preservative and chemical free flour, Eureka Mills are even able to offer export of their flour overseas.


In addition, on their website they also provide a couple of recipes using their flour - how neat is that :)  Now - all I need are some sunny days so I can use their flour to make a loaf or two or more of my Ultimate Solar Oven Bread :)


Friendly, helpful millers who make a visit to their mill an occasion and a pleasure - just like visiting your corner store in the old days.  S'funny how much the personal touch can influence one, and encourage one to buy more LOL