Interview with Mr. Peter Dyk about his special developed milling system
(DFM - Dyk Flour Milling)

What is so special about this new milling system?
This new milling system is segmented into a pre-crushing process (same as in a conventional mill)
and in the separation of shells, semolina and flour. The shells are being milled on a pin-mill and
the result is dark flour. The semolina is milled on a separate pin-mill and you get white flour.
The dark flour is used for baking bread and the white flour for buns and cakes etc.

That means one gets dark and light flour from the same corn?
Yes, and if you want to leave the shell on the grain, which is possible of course, and the grain is
properly cleaned, you can mill it on a pin-mill to get a wholemeal flour with a shelf-life of at least
9 months! The reason is that, with our special milling system, the fat splitting enzymes are
stabilized by the power strike of the pin-mill. In the conventional milling process the shells
must be removed due to shelf-life problems.

When this problem is solved the value of the whole corn is kept?
During conventional milling on roller-mills, the germ bud must be separated as the enzymes
stay active and if one does not remove the germ bud, the flour will turn rancid rapidly. The
enzymes cause, in connection with oxygen, the oxidation of the fat and the fat turns rancid
and spoils the flour.

How did you get the idea to develop this new milling system?
I was living in South Africa about 35 years ago and there I realized that fibres are mixed in to
the flour for health reasons. I also became aware of the fact, that one day in Austria there will
be a few big mills dictating the prices and that a small mill, like ours, will not be able to prevail
on the market with just ordinary flour. The only possibility would be to specialize! When I returned
from South Africa, my first idea was to produce flour from which one cannot get fat. I was thinking
about flour with less starch and higher protein content. When one has to digest protein, one needs
more energy and on this base, one cannot get fat! Technically the baking process was a success,
but the high protein content caused endless chewing as protein is not soluble in water and it was
like chewing gum – the piece of bread in your mouth never got less!

My next idea was to add fibre to flour and make wholemeal flour, but with the conventional
roller-milling, the germ bud got rancid. The research was done with help of the Austrian Research
Fund. The question was: ”How to produce wholemeal flour at low costs” and “How can the vital 
substances, like vitamins and trace elements survive?” Together with an engineering company 
and the Research Institute for Nutritional Science, many tests were carried out. During this project,
we found the solution in stabilizing the enzymes by means of a mechanical bashing process,
through which the shelf life of the flour remains for more or less nine months. This was the first
step towards milling by means of a pin-mill. Naturally this milling system has been improved and
 after a while, it was possible to produce extraction flour. Extraction flour is flour, where the white
 centre kernel is milled and the bran is sieved separately. This milling system is so simple and short
that it can be installed in a 20 foot container with a 1800 kg per hour capacity. These so-called
CMS-Mills (Compact Milling Systems) are produced in Austria. If interested, please check:
www.cms-milling.com

How does the quality of the flour milled by this new system compare to that milled by
conventional roller-mills?
The quality of the flour – concerning the baking-ability – is exactly the same as flour milled
on a conventional roller-mill. The CMS-mills do have one advantage though, through the fine
grinding in the pin-mill, the starch parts also get broken and these parts absorb more water
than flour milled on a roller-mill. Therefore the baker has a higher dough yield, as he can put
more water to the flour. Also the germ bud is not sieved out, but remains in the flour and the
extraction flour shows a higher vitamin content.

Is there a price difference per kilogram flour?
The difference is in the purchase costs. The price for our Short Milling System is about 50% of
a conventional roller-mill and on top of that, for a conventional mill you need a multi-storey
building, for our mill you only need a hall. The plant is also much easier to supervise, control
and to maintain.

Thank you very much for your time mister Dyk and I wish you all the best for the future.