Roller Milling and Stone Milling: Effect on Soft Wheat Flour, Dough, and Bread Properties

Roller milling (RM) and stone milling (SM) are the two most common methods used in the food industry. Although these techniques have been extensively explored individually, comparative data on wholegrain wheat products produced from the same wheat sample are limited. Since SM and RM can generate different forces and temperatures during processing, these conditions could affect the technological quality of the flour, and consequently, the properties of the dough and the bread. In this study, these effects were investigated by comparing flour particle size, ash content, damaged starch, falling number and alkylresorcinol content, dough farinograph and alveograph parameters, and bread physical properties. Wholegrain flours were produced from a single-variety wheat commercial lot by a group of roller and stone mills, and used to produce breads using home bread-making machines. Overall, the type of milling had little effect on the properties of flours, bread doughs, and breads. Nevertheless, flours from SM had fewer fine fractions (<125 μm) and higher alkylresorcinol content. Regardless of milling type, significant differences among individual mills were found for all properties except flour baking strength, gluten index, and alkylresorcinol content, indicating that inherent mill characteristics contribute to observed variability.