MILLERSBURG, Ohio – Stutzman Farms offers a full line of healthy baking supplies, snacks, cereals and more. They sell their products at their farm store but most of it goes to Amish bulk food stores in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Illinois and Michigan. Some go to Cottage Craft Works, an online store. Stutzman Farms is certified organic.

“We have farmers growing grain for us,” said Monroe Stutzman, the owner. “We supply them with seed for the grains that we want and then we store it. We have about 20 farmers, all certified organic. Over half of our farmers are Amish and they have 10- to 15-acre fields. We have farmers on our waiting list, wanting to grow grain for us.”

Stutzman’s mill has been in operation for 20 years. Monroe’s father, Levi, had a little flour mill on the farm for as long as Monroe can remember. He always practiced organic farming, although he was never certified.

Monroe worked in construction. He drove two hours morning and evening to get to and from work. It was monotonous. As his parents were getting older, he decided it was time for a change.

“The organic grain business was going uphill so I thought, ‘Here is an opportunity,’” he said. “We have been blessed.”

In 2005, they built the shop. They bought a puffer to make puffed cereal, which was discovered by accident back in the time of depression, Stutzman said. Searching for a way to use cheap wheat, somebody put some in a pressure cooker and then forgot about it. The ensuing explosion blew all the windows out of the house. It also created the first puffed wheat.

Stutzman’s puffer does the same thing but in a controlled explosion. The puffer is triple-lined, with stainless steel, then aluminum to spread the heat, and finally a ¾-inch steel liner to hold the pressure. A lid on the end seals it. When it gets hot, the moisture in the grain creates steam, which builds pressure. When it gets up to 160 pounds-force per square inch (psi) the puffer tips forward so the grain moves toward the front. At 175 psi it will release the lid and the grain explodes into the cage. A whistle gives a three-second warning to either leave the room or cover your ears.

Besides those used for puffed cereals, farmers bring a variety of other grains to the mill including spelt, oats, rye, einkorn wheat, soft and hard wheat, open-pollinated corn, and a small amount of buckwheat. As the company receives orders for a grain they clean it, grind it into flour, and put it in a cooler.

Some farmers grow Oberkulmer Spelt, which is an old variety. People with gluten issues tell them that they can eat that variety of spelt but not others that have been crossed with wheat.

“Now we’re getting into einkorn (wheat) that is getting popular,” Stutzman said. “It’s the oldest grain in history. This is the kind of grain that Abraham and Sarah prepared for the angels in bible times. The straw is very thin and it wants to lodge easier but we don’t have a lot of issues.”

Einkorn is fine for most purposes but doesn’t rise like wheat flour because of the low gluten. Stutzman has an organic, unbleached white flour made from spelt that some bakers mix with the einkorn to help it rise better. He is also experimenting with a locally grown red flour, something a lot of customers want.

“It’s a hard red spring wheat that we got a year ago,” Stutzman explained. “There was this big scare about a wheat shortage. So, we got a skid of this wheat. That’s where we were heading with this. By the time it was harvest, the wheat gimmick scare was over.”

Right now Stutzman is looking for popcorn. They like the open-pollinated varieties that don’t grow as fast, don’t yield as much and have smaller ears.

“But they taste better and that’s what people want,” Stutzman said.