Winter v. Spring Berries (again) for Milling and Baking
There are lots of discussions of hard winter vs. spring wheat that are all over the board, and often don't stipulate whether the discussion is about factory milled flours or fresh home milled flours as well as the type of breads being made.
I understand the basic differences in growing and resulting protein content, but I wanted to get another round of input for use regarding:
- HOME MILLING - what differences do you notice in the milling characteristics and resulting flours, what do you prefer and why? [I will be using a Retsel Millrite]
- FOR BAKING BOTH HIGH HYDRATION ARTISAN HEARTH LOAVES AS WELL AS LOWER HYDRATION PAN LOAVES/SANDWHICH BREADS - how does the performance of each type.
I'm headed to Central Milling and am having diffulty deciding which to buy (they also throw in that the term 'dark' in describing their hard red spring wheat berries (???), from the catalog:
"Organic Hard Red Winter Wheat Berries - Blend of premium high altitude berries, 13%
Organic Dark Northern Spring Wheat Berries - Blend of premium high altitude berries, 14%"
for bread Hard is better than Soft , Red is better than White and Winter is better than Spring. That doesn't mean you can't make some fine bread with soft, white, spring wheat but it is better for pastries and cakes. What is missing from the rankings is the most important thing - taste. All of these combinations of grains taste different and taste is subjective.
It is more important to make bread that tastes great to you no matter what kind of flour you use.
Happy milling and baking
I get and agree with all of that, and am looking to get beyond general rules of thumb - what do you notice and prefer and why?
For 3 I like wheat, rye and spelt for 5 we add barley and Kamut of 7 we add emmer and oat for 9 we add Pima Club and einkorn for 11 we add Sonoran White and buckwheat for 15 grain challenge bread we would go with some flax, wild rice, corn, millet and teff or sorghum and triticale. Whole grains taste better than white flours where the goodies, nutrition and fiber have been removed.
All make great bread and I don't worry about protein or having enough gluten. So i'm not into red or white, spring or winter or hard and soft which aren't as important as taste and nutrition - but to each their own. Everyone should make the bread they like to eat ....... not the ones we like to eat!
I prefer winter wheat because it mills finer and tastes a little better.
The word "dark" is part of the description used by the industry for the highest grade of red spring wheat.
.