Here is a link to an interesting article I found on the web.  This baker uses whole grains, sourdough, and sells his product at the local farmers market and by subscription.  I haven't tried his bread but I will at the next opportunity.  Prairie19

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/magazine/11food-t.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Hello, I am wondering if anyone knows of mills that sell their organic products retail in reasonable sizes.  I am looking for a variety of organic flours and whole and cracked grains, as well as meals.  My son has a life-threatening allergy to nuts, and most flours I've found so far are either processed or packaged witn nuts, or both.  I cannot buy from bulk bins as the risk of cross-contamination with nuts (through poorly cleaned bins and customers using wrong scoops) is too high.  Therefore, I have been looking to buy directly from mills, so I am sure that the products are nut-safe.  A lot of them will only sell in 25 pound bags and more, which is OK for some products, but many products I need to buy in smaller quantities (1- 5 lbs).

I have been buying from http://dakota-prairie.com, which is a mill that sells wonderful organic flours retail, but they do not have any whole/cracked grains.  I found Anson Mills, Great River Organic Milling and Bluebird Grain Farms today, but again, they do not have most of the things I am looking for.  If you know of any mills that sells organic products retail by phone or on-line, please please let me know.

I live in Massachusetts, where, unfortunately, grains are generally not grown and/or milled.  All the organic brands available here (Arrowhead Mills, Bob's Red Mill, King Arthur except for 5-lb bags) are not nut-safe.

Best wishes and thank you in advance for your advice,

Yulika

100 % sprouted grains? 'Sounds great and interesting', I said to myself and printed the Recipe of Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads a couple weeks ago. This weekend I gave it a try.

I sprouted my grains as indicated. They all had cute little white tails and were pleasant to chew. I would have better kept them as a addition to my breakfast cereals instead of trying to make them into a bread.

"grind the grains into a pulp as fine as possible. If the grains warm up to much, let them rest for ten minutes and continue when cooled. A meat grinder works even better" - That's what Reinhart wrote. I should have been an english native to know what exactly a food processor is. I tried everything, and everything failed.

my kenwood mixer . . .

the mixer which normally fixes everything, the legendary bamix . . . The bamix addon grinder . . .

even the kenwood grater . . .

and last but not least, in desperation, I tried it with a passevite.

I fought about an hour, ended up with my bamix. All the other things blocked because of this doughy/grainy mass. My bamix just got very hot, so I decided to call it for good, even though there were still some whole grains. I added yeast, honey, salt, water and Vital Wheat Gluten, then fermentation, shaping, proofing, baking, cooling, slicing.

The result of this struggle? My bamix is somewhat weird. The exchangeable blades are very hard to remove and to put on again. (I hope my mom won't find out.) I washed kitchen equipment for about an hour. And I've got a bread which is jar-muscle-excercise. It is light, but the grains . . . Flavorwise, it's just bread. seriously, I had much better whole grain breads. I don't notice an exciting difference trough the sprouting and because of the considerable amount of yeast added, no other interesting flavors emerged. Even my family noticed a "lack" in flavor compared to other breads I bake.

You wan't to see pictures?I know the bread looks decent, but before you try it: Think about what gear you've got.

Salome

I need a little help here.  I'm a bit more skilled in the photography dept. than in baking, so I'm having issues getting the kind of crumb I want.  I'm getting there, but I think I'm deflating my breads a bit too much before the proofing stage.  I figured the whole grain+fruit_nut bread would have a crumb like I ended up with, but the white loaf on the bottom was really only shaped and slightly keaded before proofing.  I did the whole folding technique vs. punching down and solid 10 minute kneading.  I also made a poolish that sat out overnight.  It ended up more like a ciabatta and less like a boule texture wise.  Any advice?

although i have been baking for many years with all sorts of pan breadds and hearth breads, i am relatively a newbie to sourdough (a couple months) I am looking for some solid formulas that are made with mostly whole grains...like i mentioned, i have made many pan breads (bernard clayton has some great WW or WG recipes for these) but i can't seem to come across a mostly whole grain hearth  bread that is predictable..many seem to work well until i stick them in the oven, and then...not much oven spring:(  I realize whole grains are naturally denser, but I'm looking for any and all tips on this..and I like simplicity! last nite i made a sourdough boule from rose levy's "bread bible" and while it rose beautifully throughout initial fermentation and proofing, once it got to the oven, it pretty much sat there...I covered it with a SS bowl, to steam, and removed it after the first 20 minutes, but to no avail...once it cooled, it did have good flavor and a soft/chewy crumb..and decent crust...so not a complete flop, but still not what i'm after...advice and comments, please!
 

I have tried PR's basic whole wheat loaf from his whole grains bread book three times and love it. I am following the instructions exactly but I have questions that I feel he doesn't explain or I can't find clearly written on the website.

1. The soaker oxidizes and turns grey. I wrapped it completely in cling wrap so no air could get to it and it still turned. Would a vacuum sealer/container stop this from happening or is there something else I can do?

2. When I mix the soaker, biga, and other ingredients together, is there a method for properly mixing the yeast, honey, and oil where they do not combine first before being kneaded together or does it matter?

3. When finally kneading the dough, I have to keep adding water to my hands (like every third or fourth knead) so they won't get gummy from the sticky dough and then I have to add more flour to adjust for the water. All PR mentions is putting water on hands but for me it seems like a lot of water and flour adjustments from the original recipe. Is my dough not adjusted properly to begin with or is this normal?

Thank you for your help.

Hi all, I did a search for coops in the Portland area through the TFL search engine, but could not find any threads.

I live in Newberg Oregon about 19 miles from Portland and close to Salem.  I am looking for good places to buy Whole Grains in bulk.

Does anyone who lives in or near Portland know of a coop or grain supplier with clean, high quality grains that is reasonable in price?

Thank you,
Dennis

I'd just like to introduce myself and say that I am very impressed with this site and the great information that everyone here contributes. Mostly I bake with whole grains and sourdough. Over the past 7 years I've learned that maintaining a good culture is much easier than starting a new one. Although now that Debra Wink has come along with her research, starting a culture looks pretty straightforward as well. Inspired by her recent posts on fermentation, I am experimenting with my 125% hydration starter. One bowl is kept at 57F in a small wine cooler and fed once a day. A second is fed twice a day and kept at about 72F in a large container that is temperature-controlled by an in-line thermostat and standard incandescent light bulb. After another week or so, will bake with both and compare the results. I can't wait to see what happens, and experimenting further.

Anyway, thanks to all of you who make this site such a great resource and community.

-Brian

article on buckwheat from the SanFrancisco Baking Institute - Fall '08 newsletter

Renewed Respect for Humble Buckwheat

http://www.sfbi.com/FileUpload/files/SFBINewsFall08.pdf

Sourdough chocolate cherry bread has become a Valentine's Day tradition around our house.