Any DC residents have any luck procuring rye berries?  I've looked at Yes Organic Market, Whole Foods, and Harris Teeter with no luck!

Its strange, I can get Teff flour, and all sorts of other things, but the pickings for whole grains seems to be rather slim  Whole foods comes the closest with some wheat berries.

I grind my own rye berries with a Nutrimill and have noticed that the mill appears to have a much rougher time (takes at least twice as long to grind and seems to almost clog up at times) when grinding them than when grinding, e.g., hard spring wheat. Grinding rye also creates a lot more powder in my kitchen, so much so that I always grind rye outside.

The performance of my mill on rye has often puzzled me since rye is softer than wheat. I've tried both Bob's Red Mill rye berries as well as a number of brands purchased from the bulk food bins of local markets, all with the same result.

Perhaps my mill has a more difficult time with rye because rye is softer and the mill is geared towards harder grains.

I usually grind on low and fine, but often find that the mill almost appears to clog up at times (only when grinding rye) such that I have to move the dials up from fine and low from time to time to keep things moving while grinding a batch. I usually grind between 1 1/2 to 3 pounds per grind.

Anybody got any ideas on what's happening here?

--Pamela

What do you use rye berries for?  I got them once randomly at the store and put them in some bread I was baking, but they were far too crunchy.  If I food processed them to make them tiny, do you think they would make a good topping on a whole wheat loaf?  What else could I use them for?