The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Longevity of Wheat Berries

wlaut's picture
wlaut

Longevity of Wheat Berries

I will be buying a grain mill.  My question is this:  How long do unground wheat berries last?  How long do they retain their nutrition?

I'd like to be able to long-term store them for a SHTF scenario, with periodic rotation (ie, oldest berries replaced by new ones).  What's the best way to store them to preserve their nutrition?

 

MTloaf's picture
MTloaf

I store mine in a 5 gallon food grade bucket with a Gammo lid for easy access. Some people recommend oxygenators but  I haven't gone that far because I am always opening them for use. They do make a 6 gallon bucket that will hold a 50 pound bag of berries. 

wlaut's picture
wlaut

Excellent.  I will look for six-gallon food-grade buckets, to which I'll attach gamma lids.  The local Amish store sells the wheat in 50-pound sacks, so this is ideal.

 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

When shopping at an Amish store, do your homework and find out how old those 50 pound sacks of wheat are.  They could be "current (latest) harvest" or up to 2 or 3 years old.

The "Amish store" I once shopped at had wheat and flour that was right at the end of it's standard 2 year expiration date.   Well, the whole store was mainly original bags, and "re-packs" of bulk stuff near the end of it's "normal" commercial-channel expire date.

So what I'm suggesting is that is not necessarily what you want for real long term storage. You'll want to use it up within a couple years -- or seal it right away, and make note that it was 2 years (or whatever) old at the point you packaged/sealed it.

 

wlaut's picture
wlaut

Thank you for mentioning it.  By the time I'd have learned that, I'd probably have my long-term grain stockpiled.  Now I know better.  Thanks again!

 

wlaut's picture
wlaut

I hadn't thought about that.  Will definitely ask when I buy my initial wheat -- and also when I locally source my supply from local farmers.

 

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

It is very much dependent on original wheat quality, ambient conditions, humidity, bugs, temperature.

Re:  quality of wheat. Does it already have blackpoint?  Are there many broken kernals.  Broken kernals degrade very fast compared to whole kernals.

i think, but I can't swear to it, that blackpoint grows and spreads in storage.

These are very rough guidelines:

Here's how I try to illustrate that quality slowly declines.  It's not a fixed point of "going bad."  It's in stages, like: gourmet quality bread, good bread, okay bread, meh bread, bad bread but edible, good for non-leavened flatbread only, cracked cereal only, feed it to the pigs, use it for compost.  It's a slow progression, no matter how you store it. But you can slow the progression.

If you store in plastic buckets, with tight fitting/sealing lids, like Gamma lids, at least 5 years for good bread, and after that, up to 10 years, it will still likely be "edible".   The more often you open the bucket, the faster it will degrade.

If you store in buckets, cans, or mylar pouches, with tight perfectly sealing  lids, or other perfectly sealed enclosure, (I once used cleaned 2 liter soda bottles) and put an oxygen absorber in it,  and it holds the vacuum it creates,  then 10 years for decent bread, and 20 years  for "edible."  Up to 30 (for "edible") if wheat was perfect, and things go perfectly, but don't absolutely count on it.  I've gone through wheat and spelt that was 8 to 10 years old. The wheat made  okay bread. The spelt was at "meh" level.

I'm currently rotating (using, eating) hard red winter wheat that was harvested and sealed with oxygen absorbers in 2008, (11.5 years) and it works, though I am not making bread 100% from it.  It not like wheat berries that are 0 to 2 years old, but it's still good, just not "gourmet fresh."

So, if you spend money on good buckets and lids, 5 years without oxygen absorbers, 10-12 years with oxygen absorbers, for "good" bread.  But again, your mileage may vary.  Don't seal up mediocre or bad wheat and then expect to bake "good" bread with it in 10 years, no matter how much you spend on storage equipment.

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Oxygen absorbers are essentially packets of iron powder.  They soak up oxygen/moisture in a matter of minutes and turn to rust, literally.  They create a vacuum in a sealed container.

They have to come sealed when you buy them. You can only let them sit out for 15 minutes, or they use up their oxygen-aborbing ability.  So when you use them, you have to immediately re-seal what you do not use.  Those you pull out for immediate use, keep enclosed in something.

In 30 minutes to 2 hours, you should see the vaccuum effect on the container of wheat/whatever that you put them in.  

But, if you are going to rotate/use your wheat in 5 years, I don't think they are needed, again depending on wheat quality and conditions.

--

I sort and cull my wheat berries, 1/4 cup at a time, right before milling. So I get a good feel for quality.  This post has links on how to grade wheat, also see my comment. ( At least one of those links went away.)

http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/61578/grading-wheat-berries

Wet years generate blackpoint, which is not a big problem if it is not advanced into the crease or germ.  Grade 1 (the best/highest quality) is allowed so many %  blackpoint-ed kernals.  If blackpoint is in the crease or germ, then even fewer of those kernals are allowed, and it varies by grade level.

 I think grade 1 and 2 are for human consumption, and lower grades are animal feed only, but don't hold me to that.

If you have questions on what counts as what on those charts, don't ask me, but contact that agency or university. All I know is what the charts say, I do not know how to interpret them.

I just look at the kernals and throw out the ones I don't want to eat. ?

On a wet year's harvest, or bad year for other blights/whatever, you're going to get some Grade 2 wheat into the consumer distribution channel of whole berries.  I've had that happen to me.  The big corporations are always going to get the best wheat, and farmers are contractually obligated to supply them first. Consumer channel is not a priority.

--

Just an anecdote:  If low end Grade 1 wheat berries gets into those "silo" things at Whole Foods, after a while, the smaller "stuff" (less than perfect kernals)  filters/sifts to the bottom through bumping/knocking around, pulling the handle etc.  In that situation, the wheat in the lower half of the silo will be high end grade 2, while the upper wheat will be relatively "improved" .  (Lemme know if I painted that picture sufficiently.)

wlaut's picture
wlaut

Thank you for your VERY detailed and informative reply!  I'm spending the weekend to digest it, but have no doubt I'll have more questions.  Thanks again!

idaveindy's picture
idaveindy

I mentioned this on another thread, but wanted to duplicate it here so you conveniently have it on your own post.

As far as I know, people don't bother putting soft wheat ("soft wheat" according to the U.S. meaning of the term) in long term storage.  It just doesn't keep that long.

I'm sure it can keep for a few years in buckets.  But no one I know bothers to seal it up with oxygen absorbers for long term.

I'm willing to learn, so please inform me if you find counter-examples.