Fresher pastas, more artisan bread coming soon
By Hayden Seder
Idaho’s first specialty, grower-owned flour mill, Hillside Grain, has launched in the heart of the Bellevue Triangle. Started by Brett Stevenson, whose family home, Hillside Ranch, has grown barley for 45 years, the new mill will allow Idaho barley and wheat to be processed in state and to open up new market channels.
It’s an opportunity for her business and for agriculture in the state Stevenson has seen untapped for years.
“Idaho is one of the best grain-growing states—consistently producing some of the best-quality barley and wheat and also some of the largest volumes,” Stevenson said. “Much of Idaho’s barley and wheat leave the state. I wanted to be able to process some of this high-quality wheat and barley and have identity preserved and fresh flours available.”
Stevenson grew up on Hillside Ranch, her family’s multigenerational farm, growing organic wheat and barley. Seeing her father growing grain her entire life instilled in Stevenson the desire to build on what her family had created and better the lives of consumers and Idaho’s wheat and barley farmers.
“Hillside Grain is pioneering a new untapped market channel,” said Blaine Jacobson, Idaho Wheat Commission executive director. “They’re in touch with the way the market is evolving. There’s been a general trend nationally toward more local products and more fresh products; artisan bakeries have taken off significantly.”
Jacobson also points out the trend in traceability and knowing where ingredients are coming from and knowing the growers of one’s food.
Already, Hillside Grain has had successful test runs of their milling line. They plan to primarily sell bulk and wholesale to artisan bakeries as well as local markets, including those in the Wood River Valley.
“Hopefully, consumers will have a different experience eating bread, pasta, or tortillas made with fresh flour,” Stevenson said. “In Europe, bread and pastas are so delicious because it is constantly being made fresh, but the part I think we often overlook is that they are also using fresh flour. In the U.S., we typically process and enrich our flour for conditioning and shelf stability, which I think takes away greatly from the flavor, nutritional value, and perhaps even digestibility.”
Starting an Idaho-based flour mill isn’t just a game-changer for consumers, but growers as well. While there is a large commercial mill owned by Grain Craft located in Blackfoot, this is Idaho’s first specialty, grower-owned mill.
“Hillside Grain flour mill is unique because we are growers, stone milling, roller milling and sifting our flours,” Stevenson said. “This process allows us to retain some bran and germ, which is where all the flour and nutritional value is.”
Hillside Grain uses custom, handmade stones from Holland in their milling process, a unique aspect hard to find in the United States. Stone mills are more artisan and provide more flavor in the flour, while roller mills, like the larger commercial mills, produce higher output. The flour also has no additives or enriching, nor glyphosate or GMO, in its grain.
While Stevenson’s master’s degree in environmental studies has certainly helped in her crusade to bring flavorful, artisan flour to Idaho, growing up on her family’s ranch also provided her with generations of wisdom.
“When we were kids and wanted to go to the lake on the weekends with friends, our dad used to say, ‘No way. The crops don’t stop growing on Sunday,’” Stevenson said. “Producing food is the same. People still eat on Saturday and Sunday.”
Stevenson and her team at Hillside Grain are still fine-tuning their grain-cleaning section, bran collection and bagging, but be on the lookout for Hillside Grain’s artisanal flours coming soon.