Stone milling has been around for thousands of years. In nearly every culture, grains like wheat were ground between two stones to produce flour for daily bread. This traditional method yielded whole grain flour—containing the bran, endosperm, and germ. These three parts of the wheat berry offered not only flavor and texture but also vital nutrients. However, stone-ground flour behaved differently than the refined baking flours we commonly use today. It did not produce the lofty rise in bread, largely because the bran and germ present in whole grain flour can cut through the developing gluten strands, weakening the dough’s structure. To achieve a lighter, finer flour, people in the past began sifting out these coarser components—especially the bran. The result was a whiter; softer flour that was easier to work with for certain baked goods. Yet, unlike modern refined flour, this traditionally sifted flour still retained some wheat germ oil and trace nutrients, preserving a degree of its original nutritional value. Everything changed in the late 19th century with the rise of steel roller mills. These modern mills didn’t just speed up production—they also allowed millers to completely separate the wheat kernel into its components. For the first time, they could entirely remove the bran and germ, milling only the soft, starchy endosperm.