Kari & Clare - Kari - My sources for wheat: 1. locally grown hard winter red and white wheat (free or very cheap, but usually NOT chemical-free or organic) 2. Heartland Mill, Marienthal, KS - organic grains 3. Bob's Red Mill - soft white wheat (and other grains) 4. Wal-Mart - Hard Spring White Wheat - Prairie Gold (from Wheat Montana - chemical-free) - they also carry hard red wheat Bronze Chief. Wal-Mart has only recently started carrying Wheat Montana wheat around here - $5 for 25-pounds. Mills: 1. (A very old) Whisper Mill - which is an electric impact mill (now known as a Wonder Mill) - this mills most grains/seeds/beans into a very fine flour - fine flour = fine bread, coarse flour = coarse bread. 2. Marga Mulino Flaker Mill - for cracked grain, flakes, and coarse farina (for cooked cereal) 3. Corona Corn Mill - for coarsely milled grain and corn meal. 4. Porkert Seed Grinder - for small seeds, such as amaranth, poppy seeds, teff, etc. 5. Bosch Coffee/Spice - for milling flaxmeal. 6. Family Grain Mill - a hand mill, that also has an electric-powered motor to run it as well, that has a lot of attachments available for other uses (meat grinders, flakers, etc.). This is my back-up mill. You have to mill the flour twice to get a reasonably fine grind of flour. Source for recipes: I suggest you start by substituting unbleached/bleached flour in your favorite recipes with a portion of wholegrain flour. There are all kinds of books out there on whole wheat baking. I have a collection of 28 beans, seeds, and grains that I use milled and whole - included in that, several types of wheat. I develop many of my own recipes because I use really "odd" ingredients, including gluten-free baking. Here's a few books I like from the large selection in my library: RECIPES FROM THE OLD MILL (Baking with Whole Grains) by Sarah E. Myers and Mary Beth Lind WHOLE WHEAT COOKERY (Treasures from the Wheat Bin) by Howard and Anna Ruth Beck THE AMAZING WHEAT BOOK by LeArta Moulton THE SPLENDID GRAIN (all kinds of seeds and grains) by Rebecca Wood WHEAT COOKIN' MADE EASY by Pam Crockett --------------- Clare - Wheat comes in HARD (strong/high-gluten) and SOFT (weak/low-gluten) varieties. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour is milled from (low-gluten) soft red wheat, just like you thought. It's best used just as you described - in baked goods where you don't want a lot of gluten development - for the most part, anything other than yeast breads. Low-gluten bleached flour would include White Lily and Martha White - which are great for quick breads, pastry, etc. I purchase soft white wheat berries from Bob's Red Mill to mill into whole wheat pastry flour. I also use freshly-milled spelt and some rye, barley, and triticale for baked goods that need low-gluten flour, as an alternative to soft wheat flour. All wheat has a protein level that determins if the grain is hard or soft. Even in the same field you'll find protein (gluten) level differences from one side of the field to the other. If a portion of the field is shaded(usually at the edge of the field) and/or there's a low place in the field that retains water after a rain, the wheat that receives a lot of water/shade will usually have a low-protein count. Even though hard wheat may have been planted, the protein level is also determined by the amount of rainfall, and other factors. Soft wheats are characteristicly plump (a lot of endosperm), while hard wheat varieties (especially winter wheat) is small, wrinkled, and very hard when you bite it. When soft whole wheat is milled, the flour is exactly that - very soft to the touch. Hard whole wheat is much 'grittier' - due to the higher percentage of bran to endosperm ratio. All bleached/unbleached flour is milled from a combination of wheat protein levels to formulate the amount of protein for the type of flour needed. High-protein wheat is used for yeast breads, a combination of hard and soft wheat is milled for all-purpose flour, and pastry flour is milled from soft wheat. There are also fields of extremely high protein wheats (15% or more), but they are mixed with lower protein wheat to make flour. I've used some wheat that was 16% protein, and it took forever (lots of kneading and a very long fermentation) to develop the gluten in bread - 12-13% protein level is much better for yeast bread. Too much gluten will make a tough loaf of bread. The highest protein level wheat is durum wheat. Unlike hard red and white wheat varieties which are used for yeast breads, durum wheat is used in pasta. I mill durum for whole wheat pasta - NOT red or white varieties of wheat. Commercial whole wheat pasta is made with wholegrain durum wheat. The elements in wheat protein that we call "gluten" are actually a gluten group - GLUTENINS and GLIADINS. Glutenins provide the elasticity quality that allows bread dough to expand. Gliadins contribute to the viscosity and extensibility of bread dough. Red and white wheat varieties have a dominance of GLUTENINS and less GLIADINS. Durum wheat has a dominance of GLIADINS and less GLUTENINS. Therefore, even though durum wheat has a high protein level, it's unsuited for bread making, due to the type of protein. -Grainlady

WAY-TO-GO!!!!! Where there's a will, there's a way.... ;-) That's a wonderful price for wheat!!! This is similar to recipes where you sprout the grain then grind it (see link below for information) for unleavened and leavened breads. You'll get more nutrition from sprouted grain, but there are advantages when you soak the grain, as well. Your method couples this ancient method with the bread-making method from the book, "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day" by Jeff Hergzberg and Zoe Francois. BRILLIANT! Many traditional people (pre-industriliazed people) soaked or fermented their grains before making them into porridge, breads, cakes and casseroles. Ask someone who is "of-an-age" if they remember when the instructions on the oatmeal box called for an overnight soaking. All grains contain phytic acid in the outer layer (the bran). Soaking allows the enzymes, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break down and neutralize phytic acid. When you soak cracked or rolled cereal grains overnight, it will improve their nutritional benefits. Instead of the "glug of vinegar", I'd probably use some whey from my homemade kefir as the acid. I already use grains that are chemcial-free. Using an overnight sponge method for 100% whole wheat bread will make the loaf much lighter. Soaked flour is also a method used with wholegrain flour that makes it much lighter. Soaked grains are also easier to digest - for you folks who have digestive problems with whole grains (NOT related to gluten intolerance). If you use steel-cut oats, try this soaking method. Oats happen to have a high amount of phytic acid in them, so this is a very beneficial method for preparing them. I mill my own oat flakes in a flaker mill, or coarsely milled oats (similar to steel-cut). This makes it cook much faster. Bring 4 c. water to a boil (in a pan that has a lid). Turn off heat and add one cup steel-cut oats. Add 1-2 T. whey, buttermilk, yogurt, or kefir (cultured dairy products) or even a little vinegar or lemon juice (all are acidic ingredients). Cover pot and leave overnight at room temperature. The next morning cook the oatmeal on low for 9-12 minutes, stirring occasionally. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Sprouted Wheat Bread Recipe

It's sort of real. You don't actually get bread flour. The absorption will be different. Adding vital wheat gluten will fortify the rise, however, and add to the gluten structure. I add VWG to whole wheat--my wheat is rated at 14% protein, which is the equivalent of strong bread flour, but the bran interferes with the rise and can actually cut the the gluten strands. In that situation, the VWG doesn't increase the rise, but it does make it stronger and more elastic. I can't remember proportions, but can look it up. With white flour, it should similarly strengthen the rise, but since white flour is so elastic to begin with, you might also get more height from the strengthening. The big difference between AP and bread flour is the amount of protein. Most bread will make from just AP. You can strengthen the gluten by resting the mixed dough in the fridge for awhile and kneading longer.

I store cornmeal in the freezer also, but I use a lot more whole wheat flour than I do cornmeal. I also store semolina and vital wheat gluten in the freezer, but they are in small bags because I do not use that much of them. I do go through these fairly quickly, but I once bought some VWG that had expired, and I had to take it back to the store. Now I carefully check expiration dates on VWG before buying and store it immediately in the freezer. I go through so much whole wheat flour that it does not have time to go bad. I make 100% whole wheat bread about every other week, and this recipe also has VWG in it. I generally use semolina on the pizza peel instead of cornmeal, but yesterday I had to use cornmeal, and while I did not notice the taste, I did notice that it was much worse about burning than semolina. Our pizza oven gets to 950°, and if there is any cornmeal left on the pizza stone, it will easily burn. We bake two pizzas in quick succession, and Kevin said that he cannot clean off the stone between them. I'm going to look for a tool to do this, but I'm hoping the peel will do the job.