Ugh - what wheat berries should I order to mill into flour?!
Man I'm sorry - I've been so dependent on this forum lately! : - /
I'm unsure about what to do. For weeks I've been meaning to put in my first order from Azure Standard who will deliver wheat berries and pails, lids etc. (along with any other natural/organic foods) to a co-op drop off location a mile from my house. So it's great that I won't have to pay for shipping! But I keep putting it off cause I'm not sure what to order!
I got t Nutrimill grain mill from a Craigslist ad though I'm new to bread-making (also got one of those lovely Ankarsrum mixers cause I figured I'd be more likely to make lots of bread if it's made as easy as possible and so far that has indeed been the case with this mixer - albeit using store-bought flour so far). I want to start making all homemade breads for my family (3 kids and husband) on a regular basis and hopefully stop buying bread at the store. That would include whole grain sandwich bread and the occasional nicer rustic loaf (hard white berries I guess) to go with dinner. I don't make pastries as often though I do expect to make them occasionally - things like cinnamon rolls or the rare pie crust. So that's yet a third grain it sounds like (or since it's not healthy anyway, should I just buy the flour in a bag?).
Lastly, I want to cut down on wheat consumption for the adults in the family anyway - not totally cut it out though. While I haven't jumped on the "Wheat Belly train" (not big on fads - especially ones that are extreme and tell you one thing is all good or all bad) I do think it's possible there's a legitimate link between modern wheat and stomach bloating, low energy and possibly also inflammation i.e. may not help arthritis sufferers (not sure about any of this...but my ears are pricked up at least). I'm very intrigued by all the good things I'm reading about the use of the the "ancient grains" combined with homemade yeast/sourdough starters and allowing the dough some time to ferment. So that's yet another quandary - do I also order some einkorn and a pail and lid for it, too? Hahaha. Or perhaps I should get a smaller amount to try first. Have any of you had luck with bread using this grain? I've read it doesn't rise quite as well which may or may not be a deal-breaker (and there may be a trick to getting it to rise better, I don't know).
So clearly I need hard red wheat berries (not sure how much), hard white berries... what about soft white berries? What do most of you have/recommend for keeping on hand in those larger pails, at the very least? What have you grown into also keeping on hand?
As always, thank you!