Chapotraphouse

I've heard that as well from an archeologist but I'm kinda doubtful that it would make a significant difference compared to teeth grinding on each other as you chew.

Maybe if it's a mill stone that chips a lot or sandstone.

i think that's a myth, though i admit i hadn't heard of it. i mean, once something is as small as flour, we're not really chewing it anymore. it's more like clay, particle size wise, since i'm not perceiving any grit like sand or even silt size. at that size, it's smooth and we just swallow and either convert it into energy through chemical/biological processes or pass it.

the "stone milling as superior" is something i picked up from a friend of mine i went to school with. we both did undergrad in ecological food/nutrition systems at a bigass agriculture college at the same time. i did my MSc in soil carbon and water use while he did his on wheat genetics and bread making, but he had already gone to culinary school and worked as a chef for years. we were both the old guys in class. he had this whole spiel (which started with "aw, dude") about stone grinding breaking open the berry, but keeping it cool / slowing the breakdown of this crazy list of micronutrients and enzymatic processes so you get the best stuff in the baking process, before ambient microbes can get it. like store bought flour is basically devoid of all this other stuff so it can stay on the shelf and not go rancid. so it's not a big deal if you use a processor like a vitamix that generates heat from friction, because you're still getting all the stuff that store bought won't give you, but why not just do it perfect to get the maximum value if you're going to get into this shit? also, stone grinding is pretty quiet compared to a blender/processor.

if you're really wanting to go low budget and bronze age tech, you can buy handcrank mills, but i understand they are a coarser grind, can require multiple passes, and are no joke about muscle power. my mockmill is fucking ludicrous. i can adjust the fineness of the grind to a degree i can barely perceive to the touch, and do enough for a big loaf of bread or cookies in like... 45 seconds? accurate baking goes by weight instead of volume, so i already had a little scale. i put a little bowl on there, tare it to 0, and then add my 200g of berries. grind it, and i have 200g of flour. so, making something with "fresh ground grains" adds maybe an entire minute to a prep/baking process, but when you tell people you "ground the grains just before baking" they look at you like you've done something inconceivably bespoke and artisanal.