August 17, 2019 - 11:54am
For those of you who mill your own grains, what do you keep on hand and how much of each?
Right now I have:
25 lbs Hard White Wheat Berries (for bread)
10 lbs Einkhorn Wheat Berries (for bread)
25 lbs Soft Wheat Berries (for quick bread, etc)
25 lbs Groats are on their way for all sorts of cooking (I have a flaker)
25 lbs Wapsie Valley corn (soon to get)
That is getting to be a lot! I thought about getting more grains as they can keep basically forever if they are stored properly, but then I started to ask myself if I would ever use them!
I bake about twice a week for bread and other baked foods.
I know everyone bakes differently and have different needs, but has grinding your own grain changed what you keep on hand?
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As soon as I get a sack I vacuum pack them in 1-2kg packs.
But what? and how much do get at a time?
Oh, and I want durum wheat berries!
I buy 30 lb of white wheat at a time from Honeyville. In six 5-lb cans, it's easy to store.
I stopped buying soft wheat. The bran in whole wheat weakens the gluten enough that hard wheat, especially hard winter wheat, works for quick breads.
No longer buy groats. Got tired of cleaning and flaking.
I buy dent corn similarly to you, sieving flour from grits. Sometimes I have the opportunity to get good flint corn or supplement with flour corn.
I can't tell you my exact quantities currently because most of my grains have been in use since they were purchased in bulk. Here's a list of the quantities l have purchased in the past and still have some in storage:
50 lbs Hard white wheat
50lbs Hard red wheat
10 lbs Soft white wheat
5 lbs Spelt
25lbs Oat groats
25 lbs Yellow corn
5lbs Durham
25 lbs Rye
5 lbs Buchwheat
Some are more recent purchases than others. None are unused.
It's a lot of start-up cost or CAN be. Of course, I could have gotten just one thing and add little by little! I think, for now, the only additional thing I want to get is durum wheat berries and then I'm set for a LONG while.
Many of the grains I buy are both milled into flour for bread or cooked whole (or lightly cracked) for hot cereal or a side as a rice substitute. Quantity of each grain on hand is 15 lb or less.
GRAINS CURRENTLY IN STOCK
Hard red spring wheat (milled for bread)
Hard red winter wheat (milled for bread)
Khorasan wheat (aka Kamut) (general cooking and milled for for bread)
Soft white wheat (flour for cookies, pancakes, crepes, etc)
Rye (milled into flour for bread; fed to sourdough starter)
Hulled Barley (general cooking & soaker for bread)
Hulled Oats (general cooking & soaker for bread; never rolled, whole groats only)
Popcorn (milled for grits or polenta, sometimes for cornbread)
GRAINS USED IN THE PAST BUT NOT IN STOCK NOW
Hard White Wheat
Triticale
Buckwheat (also kasha)
Spelt (aka Farro grande)
Millet
GRAINS I'D LIKE TO TRY IN THE FUTURE
Turkey Red Wheat
Red Fife Wheat
Durum Wheat