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The lost art of old-fashioned donut making is alive and flourishing in Thompson Falls as Papa's Donuts opened its doors recently.

For more than two decades Doug Miller has been planning his donut making business. "Now is our chance, so I took it," Miller said.

"After 27 years of truck driving, I ate donuts across the entire United States," Miller admitted. "I wanted to make a good donut, so I learned the old-fashioned way."

Receiving tutorials from a friend who made donuts for more than 35 years, Miller learned the secrets to what makes the original donut's delectable flavor. "It is all homemade, no added junk!" emphasized Miller. "And potato flour. I use seven different kinds of flour in my donuts."

Collectively, the different flours work together to compensate for what the junk fillers do in today's donut varieties. Miller claims the result is "much fresher and so much better that way.

"We don't use anything bad, it is just regular stuff," he continued. "I'll be happy to show anyone what I do, nothing is a secret. All they have to do is ask."

As with doing all things the old-fashioned way, it takes time. Miller rises at 3 a.m. daily to finish a dozen baker's dozens by 9 a.m. Although, Miller is feeling the pressure of time crunches, he thinks he may need to rise a bit earlier in the morning.

After mixing all the dry goods from scratch, Miller adds the liquid ingredients into his industrial size mixer and mixes away. He rolls the dough out on a table his neighbor made for him. He then uses a long john and onesie roller to cut the donuts out of the five-eighths inch dough. He then proofs the donuts and hauls them into his donut fryer. After a nice golden fry, Miller tops the donut with made-from-scratch icing, your choice of chocolate, maple or vanilla.

The Belshaw Adamatic is perhaps Miller's best friend. The frying unit heats the oil, moves the donuts along a conveyor belt, flips them and disposes them onto a warming rack automatically. Miller said new fryers like these are roughly $60,000, but he got a deal from a grocery store who had a barely used model, which works perfect for his operation.

"If the light is on, we are open," said Miller. Usually the doors are open by 6 a.m. and will close at 3 p.m. or when the donuts run out, whichever comes first.

Located at 112 Preston Ave., Papa's Donuts is a county licensed cottage industry operating out of Miller's basement garage location. With this licensure, the shop can sell donuts directly to customers who come to their shop, or they can be delivered.

Shana Neesvig

PAPA'S DONUT owner Doug Miller is dedicated to producing old-fashioned donuts from scratch, using a blend of seven different flours.

"People can come by, sit on my porch and eat a donut while enjoying the beautiful view of the whole river," invited Miller.

Although Miller expects to run out of donuts each day, he did say the shelf life of his delicacies are just over a day. He will either "cut a deal or throw out" any donuts that are 24 to 36 hours old.

"I just want to make a great donut," admitted Miller. "Besides, I kinda enjoy making them."

Special donut orders are welcome. In fact, Papa's Donuts has been hired to provide donuts for an upcoming wedding, replacing the normal wedding cake. "We're pretty easy" with accommodating anyone's donut wishes and will do their best to please, claims Miller, who can be contacted at (406) 880-9448.

One dozen donuts cost $12 at Papa's Donuts. There is one more surprise about Papa's Donuts, they give a true baker's dozen... that's 13 donuts, for the price of 12.