Millet family

Proso Millet

Panicum miliaceum

10–12.5% protein (typ. 11%)0% dry gluten · 0% wetNo gluten

One of the oldest dryland cereals

In the atlas

Before rice owned China, millet did. Proso is the little gold bead in American birdseed bags that is also a legitimate human grain — mild, quick-cooking, friendly to dry climates. In the U.S. High Plains it is a real crop; in your mill it becomes a pale, slightly sweet flour that loves pancakes and gluten-free blends.

Origin. North China, ~8,000 BCE; also ancient Europe

Flavor. Corn-cake mild, faintly sweet.

Worth knowing

Naturally gluten-free.
Foxtail, pearl, and finger millets are different species with their own flours.
High in magnesium; a quiet mineral bomb.
Goes rancid slower than oats but faster than wheat. Freeze the flour.

Flours you can make

Flour	Extraction	Protein	Gluten	Notes
Whole-grain flour	100%	11%	0%	Everything the berry holds — bran, germ, and endosperm. Mill 1:1 by weight. Use within days, or freeze.
High-extraction (85%)	85%	10.9%	0%	Sift once through a #30–#40 sieve. Keeps most flavor and minerals, slightly stronger dough than 100%.
Sifted / bolted flour	75%	10.8%	0%	Second sifting (#50–#60). Lighter crumb, longer shelf life, less fiber. Bran left behind is gold in porridge.

Nutrition / 100 g

Calories: 378 kcal
Protein: 11 g
Carbs: 73 g
Fiber: 8.5 g
Fat: 4.2 g
Iron: 3 mg
Magnesium: 114 mg
Zinc: 1.7 mg
Thiamin: 0.42 mg
Selenium: 3 µg

Typical whole-grain flour / 100 g.

Sources & USDA links

Buy it retail

Bob's Red Mill
Azure Standard
Pleasant Hill Grain
Breadtopia
Indian grocers (other millet species)

Availability rotates by harvest. Search the berry name plus “food grade.”

Bakes well as

GF blendsFlatbreadsPorridgeCookiesInjera-style experiments

Mill Proso Millet now

Miller’s desk

Grain to flour

Whole grainFlour type

Flour you want (g)Blend a second grain

Vital wheat gluten booster

Target protein %Target gluten %VWG protein %

Most bags of vital wheat gluten are 75–80% protein. The booster is added on top of the flour, not swapped in.

Proso Millet

Whole-grain flour · No gluten

Whole grain needed: 508 g
Flour you’ll get: 500 g
Bran left behind: 0 g
Protein in that flour: 55 g · 11%
Natural gluten: 0%
Add VWG: 16.1 g
After VWG: 13% protein · 2.3% gluten

About 2.5 cups of berries → 4.2 cups of whole-grain flour. Whole-grain milling is essentially 1:1 by weight; sifting is where you lose bran.

How to mill it

A spice grinder works in a pinch for cup quantities.

Fine. Tiny seeds — use a hopper gate almost closed.

Tempering: No.

Everything the berry holds — bran, germ, and endosperm. Mill 1:1 by weight. Use within days, or freeze.

Milling 101 →

Next: bake it

Pick a loaf for this flour

13% protein after VWG · Proso Millet whole-grain flour. Sandwich loaf, focaccia, sourdough — the kitchen will scale dough, hydration, and times to this mix.