The switch to factory-milled flour marked the beginning of the industrialization of the household.  Hand grinding of wheat or corn had been a male contribution, and the chore of hauling the grain to the mill, if one was available, was also a male job.  Since milled wheat, rye, and corn do not keep long, so grinding of hauling grain to the mill had to be done with some frequency, at least weekly.  Thus the commercial milling of flour (which kept longer than other ground grains) freed men of the chore [and decreased their contribution to the social capital of the family].  But it increased the labor of women.  Coarse grains required less work to turn into breads, porridges, cakes, and the like.  Fine milled flour requires more preparation.  Prior to industrialization it was used only by the very wealthy or by city dwellers or those going on long trios.  But as fine white flour became cheaper, yeast breads replaced the coarse breads that people had been used to.   White bread had been a status symbol.  Quick breads were for Blacks or Irish servants. 

Cakes also were difficult to make and required long, laborious steps (e.g.beating loaves of sugar into a state in which it could be used).  Thus with the advent of commercially-milled flour, the work of men in the household decreased and the work of women, now forced to spend more time preparing the flour-based product, increased.