Process for Producing a Milled Whole-grain Wheat Flour and Products thereof

cakes, quickbreads, sweet rolls, donuts, ready-to-drink beverages, instant beverages, meat extenders, meat (vegetarian) substitutes, nutritional bars, fruit and grain bars, confectionaries, seasoning blends, gravy and sauce mixes, soup mixes, roux, extruded snacks, coatings or breadings, cookie dough or other ice cream inclusions, and various other applications. The ultrafine-milled coarse fraction can be used to replace the refined wheat flour or whole wheat flour in any application.

The process is a continuous flow grain milling process, including the steps of separating a quantity of cleaned and tempered wheat kernels into a fine fraction comprised primarily of endosperm along with small amounts of residual bran and germ and a coarse fraction comprised of bran, germ, and a small amount of residual endosperm. The coarse fraction is ground through a mill, such as a gap mill, to form an ultrafine-milled coarse fraction having a particle size of less than or equal to about 150 .mu.m. The ultrafine-milled coarse fraction can be used to replace refined wheat flour in a variety of products. The ultrafine-milled coarse fraction can also be mixed with the fine fraction in order to form ultrafine-milled whole-grain wheat flour. The advantage of this is that the flour has the full nutritional value of wheat kernels, while retaining the texture of refined wheat flour and an appearance similar to refined wheat flour. Thus, the flour can be used in food products such as bakery products and snack food products, which typically use refined wheat flour. A further advantage of the process is that the ultrafine-milled coarse fraction has a lower microbial load than that found in standard coarse fractions. Finally, the ultrafine-milled coarse fraction has an antioxidant capacity that is about three times greater than refined wheat flour, FIGS. 16a and 16b.

Thus, the current invention discloses a three-in-one process for making refined wheat flour, an ultrafine-milled coarse fraction, and an ultrafine-milled whole-grain wheat flour. The three-in-one process includes ultrafine-milling the entire wheat kernel. The first product of the three-in-one process is refined wheat flour. The refined wheat flour is identical to the refined wheat flour currently on the market. The second product is the ultrafine-milled coarse fraction of the current invention, which can be used to replace the refined wheat flour in products to increase the nutritional value of the products. Finally, the third product, the ultrafine-milled whole-grain wheat flour, is made by mixing the ultrafine-milled coarse fraction with the fine fraction, resulting in an ultrafine-milled whole-grain wheat flour having high nutritional value. The three-in-one process can be used with any type of grain that can be milled.

The ultrafine-milled coarse fraction has a particle size which is about less than or equal to refined wheat flour. It has a fine texture similar to refined wheat flour with no visible bran specks and a slightly darker color. Thus, it can be used in baking, snack, food, and cereal applications, such as breads, bagels, pizza crust, tortillas, brownies, waffles, pastries, pie crusts, snack chips, muffins, cookies, crackers, bakery mixes, fruit and grain bars, pastas, microwavable snack products, par-baked bakery products, cakes, quickbreads, sweet