Flour/wheat berries Question
- Thread starter mawmaw
- Start date
I can make bread using regular flour (white bleached)
LOL I know you guys know this stuff and I do Thank you in advance for your information and time.Sorry... you don't.
White bread is made with white flour. White flour is ground from wheat (depending on whether or not it's bread flour, it might be from hard red, hard white or soft white wheat), and then all the good stuff is removed.. the bran, and the germ, and the vitamins, and the fiber.
For the lightest whole wheat bread, you want to use hard white winter wheat... the "Golden 86" variety Walton Feed sells is wonderful, as is "Montana Gold".
May I suggest that you start by making white bread, but add 1 cup of whole wheat, ground from one of the hard white varieties? It won't change it THAT much... and you will find that your taste CAN adjust to the slightly different taste and texture. Once it does... try adding more whole wheat flour.
The simple truth is I don't think there is any way to make "white" flour at home... it requires milling and separating machinery which simply isn't practical. Even more to the point, white bleached flour is SO devoid of any essential nutrients that studies have shown that rats (who won't even touch the stuff if they are given a choice) will starve to death on a diet of white bread.
If the texture of the whole wheat bothers you, try adding some potato flour, or simply some leftover mashed potatoes to the recipe- and use the water you cook potatoes in for the liquid. That change tends to make a more tender loaf... my kids love "potato bread".
Also, use honey for your sweetener and it will make a slightly softer whole wheat loaf, and one which will stay fresh a bit longer.
Sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear!
Summerthyme
White bread is made with white flour. White flour is ground from wheat (depending on whether or not it's bread flour, it might be from hard red, hard white or soft white wheat), and then all the good stuff is removed.. the bran, and the germ, and the vitamins, and the fiber.
For the lightest whole wheat bread, you want to use hard white winter wheat... the "Golden 86" variety Walton Feed sells is wonderful, as is "Montana Gold".
May I suggest that you start by making white bread, but add 1 cup of whole wheat, ground from one of the hard white varieties? It won't change it THAT much... and you will find that your taste CAN adjust to the slightly different taste and texture. Once it does... try adding more whole wheat flour.
The simple truth is I don't think there is any way to make "white" flour at home... it requires milling and separating machinery which simply isn't practical. Even more to the point, white bleached flour is SO devoid of any essential nutrients that studies have shown that rats (who won't even touch the stuff if they are given a choice) will starve to death on a diet of white bread.
If the texture of the whole wheat bothers you, try adding some potato flour, or simply some leftover mashed potatoes to the recipe- and use the water you cook potatoes in for the liquid. That change tends to make a more tender loaf... my kids love "potato bread".
Also, use honey for your sweetener and it will make a slightly softer whole wheat loaf, and one which will stay fresh a bit longer.
Sorry, I know that's not what you want to hear!
Summerthyme
Stockpile flour instead of/in addition to wheat berries -- sealed in mylar or cans with oxygen absorbers, white flour lasts for years (i.e. a couple of decades if stored correctly). Freeze it a few days first, like you should all store bought grain products, to kill off critters & critter eggs then bring to room temperature before repackaging it. It won't have the same shelf life of the intact wheat but rule number one in food storage is store what you eat, eat what you store.
Meanwhile, do as summerthyme suggests knowing you have your preferred bread ingredients on hand if it doesn't work out.
Meanwhile, do as summerthyme suggests knowing you have your preferred bread ingredients on hand if it doesn't work out.
Check out this link for a current discussion on the varieties of wheat:
http://www.culinate.com/articles/culinate8/flour_power
http://www.culinate.com/articles/culinate8/flour_power