Soft Red Winter Wheat...For Baking What...?

[DuppyDo]

I just got a bag of soft red winter wheat, i've read soft white was used for cakes/pastries.This afternoon i ground up some cornmeal and my new wheat and made cornbread.I have to say it came out pretty darn good..! Would one basically use soft red as you would soft white...?
Do the soft wheats have less of a shelf life than hard...? Are they a good choice for a longer term survival plan, or is it better to stick to hard wheats...?

 

[tamlynn]

Here is a good document about different types of wheat:

http://extension.usu.edu/files/publications/publication/FN-371.pdf

Soft red winter wheat has the same kernel color as the hard red wheats but is softer in texture and lower in protein. The soft red winter wheat class is not good for bread flour unless it is blended with hard red wheat flour and is generally used for cake, biscuit, cracker, and pastry flours.

Storage should be the same for any wheat variety.

 

[dragonlaurel]

I bet that would work for making noodles and tortillas too.

 

[okiemomof3]

soft wheat (either red or white - determines flavor only) can be used for anything that does not require yeast....so you can use it for quick breads, cakes, muffins, gravy, popovers, cornbread, to bread meats with, etc....the red will have a stronger "nutty/wheat" flavor, where as the white has less of the wheat flavor.

 

[DuppyDo]

Thanks folks... Had no idea red soft wouldn't work for yeast breads. It sure did make a great cornbread...!

 

[DuppyDo]

Was just wondering, what is it with soft red wheat that doens't lend itself to yeast rising...? What is it, that is so different between hard and soft wheats.
Thanks for that link Tamlynn, unfortunatley because i have webtv i cannot open pdf files...But i can google more info on different wheat uses...

Oakemomof3, when i used the soft red for cornbread, it did have that wholesome nutty/wheat flavor. It was great..! Thanks again folks...

 

[freemotion]

Cornbread was my first foray into grinding wheat, and I took wheat and corn from the feedbags for this! Who knows what kind it was. It was delicious. We were hooked.

The hard wheats are higher in gluten. Gluten is the protein in the wheat that gets "sticky" when the flour is mixed with water. It forms bonds which allow for bubbles which allow the bread to rise and hold its shape.

This also makes pastry and quick breads seem a bit tough, so lower gluten wheat is used for anything that you want to be flaky or very tender and crumbly, like cornbread, pancakes, cookies, pie crust, biscuits, etc.

 

[DuppyDo]

Yeah..Freemotion...first time i tried gringing grains from scratch, not to mention field run livestock grain.
i work part time on a chicken farm, my boss just got some whole corn in for the chickens.He gives the some when the weather gets colder along with their laying pellets/mash.
It looked so much better than past corn he had gotten for the hens. The kernal were smaller and a brighter yellow.It really looked good...! So i decided to try my first cornbread from scratch, with my first home milled corn. I used reg.flour the first time, and it was good.Then i did it again with home milled soft red wheat and corn...excellent...! I'm hooked too..!
I figure as long as its fresh and not buggy like some bags of older feed get, their's nothing wrong with humans eating it.My boss usaully gets a corn that has bigger kernel's and is a lighter yellow, doesn't look as good to eat...lol I dunno, i guess the chickens think it looks fine, they gobble it up...
Thanks for the gluten lesson, food guru... dang, i guess i can't make homemade pizza with that soft red wheat, eh..?