A Few Grain Questions....

[DuppyDo]

For those who have experience with buying/storing wheat...hard/soft..red/white..
When buying bulk wheat, are wheat berries and wheat grain the same thing..? Which wheat is best for crusty breads, pizza dough when milling your own flour...? Which wheat will last longer in long term storage done properly. Any other tips on the topic from your own personal experience would be appreciated...thanks...kevin

 

[Home Maker]

I hope you get some answers because I'd like to know these things. Wheat is generally unavailable in my area, and even when I have found it when traveling, I could only get hard red.

Surely someone here has knowledge about this!

 

[Homesteadmom]

Wheat berries & grain are the same thing. Hard red is for bread baking, soft white makes more of a softer flour that you use for baking with(not as harsh a flavor either), pizza crust, tortilla's, pie crust's, etc.. For storage my beries are in 5 gal buckets with gamma seal lids on them & no problems with them at all. I have had my red wheat for a few yrs & it is still just as good as the first day I opened the seal. To store it after grinding you need to store it in the freezer in an properly sealed container. The berries still have the endo sperm so you get oils released when you grind it & that causes it to go rancid fast if left out @ room temp for too long. Also once you take it out of the freezer before measuring stir the flour up so it has air mixed into it to make it lighter & flufflier, that way your baked goods are not as heavy. Hope this helps!

 

[freemotion]

Also do a search on this site, we have had some good discussions on this lately. I, too, will be buying wheat in bulk and storing it, so lots of discussion on this topic can be found in other threads.

I somehow find it very exciting......does that mean I need to get out more? Or that I am easy to entertain? A cheap date?

 

[Beekissed]

If you are, so am I! You can imagine my excitement with my windfall of wheat! Something that meant so little to someone else was like bars of gold to me.....all sealed up and storage ready!

 

[DuppyDo]

Thanks Homesteadmom, yes you were very helpful... Do you use a hand operated grain mill or electric..? I'm thinking hand powered in the event of a longer term blackout of the electric grid..
Does anyone use a hand grain mill here that they like or dislike..? Details...? thanks...kevin

 

[Homesteadmom]

Your welcome, glad I could help. I have a Back to Basics hand grinder, I paid $50 for it about 2 yrs ago. I know you can find them on EBay. I got this one because it was all I coudl afford at the time & needed one to get started, plus we have property that we go to that we have no elec available there so I needed a hand one for there. Plus we can lose our elec here for no real apparent reason & that would not stop me from grinding wheat then.

 

[Home Maker]

We have the Country Living mill and have been pleased with it. It sure does require elbow grease ;-).

Here's some info about it. (I'm not affiliated with Pleasant Hill).



http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/country_living_mill.aspx

 

[DuppyDo]

Thanks again Homesteadmom, i see a couple place online sell that " Back To Basics" mill for around $69.95. Wow..., some of those grain mills are really pricy..!! What you suggested is more of what i had in mind in price and practicallity.
Thank for the other links as well folks..

 

[Tallman]

When storing grain in the 5 gallon plastic buckets, is there anything that can be put in the bucket to take out the oxygen so bugs will die as soon as they hatch? I think somebody mentioned this on another thread, but I can't find it.