The one thing I would be concerned with is mold (aflatoxin), and that can be dangerous if ingested. So if your wheat smells moldy or has black mold spores on it, then I'd be sure to destroy it. You may also want to contact your County Extension Ag Agent for further information. The fact that it is 12-years old isn't a concern. I'm using wheat that was purchased and placed in storage in 2007, and most wheat sold for commercial or home milling is generally 2-3 years old before it's sold. Wheat has already been stored in temperature extremes, so that isn't an issue with me either. Because it was in oxygen-free storage, it is possible that a lower percentage of them will sprout than normal. You can find more information at the link below in the article by Rita Bingham (my food storage guru). -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Sprout Seeds for Cheap Nutrition

WOW!!! What's old is new again..... ;-) dian57, your recipe looks great! I have a new-and-improved add-in choice since this thread - it's High-Maize Resistant Starch. High-Maize would be a good substitute for wheat germ (measure-for-measure) in the Cornell Bread Recipe. Wheat germ is unnecessary in the Cornell Bread Recipe IF you use at least a portion of freshly-milled whole wheat flour in the recipe to begin with...fresh wheat germ is already available in whole wheat flour. Milling your own flour will also assure the highest amount of nutrients from the wheat. This is why I find it amazing the Cornell Recipe didn't use whole wheat flour in the first place. The nutrients in freshly-milled whole wheat flour begin to degrade within 3-hours of milling, and the wheat germ oil oxidizes quickly. You will find wheat germ purchased as an individual ingredient is basically a rancid product - which means it's a free-radical, which is destructive to the body. The rancidity in the wheat germ purchased commercially is covered by the toasting they do to the raw germ. Rancid oils don't have to smell rancid to BE rancid. If they smell rancid, then they have been rancid for a VERY long time. If you want to add wheat germ to a recipe, add freshly-milled whole wheat flour - it's in there... I add High-Maize Resistant Starch to all my recipes for baked goods anymore. Here's a bit of information from King Arthur Flour: -Natural dietary fiber is derived from corn. It's an easy solution for adding fiber to your gluten-free diet. -One serving of Hi-maize (about 1 1/2 tablespoons) contains 6g of non-soluble dietary fiber: about 20% to 25% of your suggested daily requirement. -Substitute for up to 1/4 to 1/3 the flour in your baked goods; adjust up or down to taste. -Add to soups, sauces, and smoothies. -Wheat-free, soy-free, nut-free blend is packed in a dedicated gluten-free facility. King Arthur - 12-ounces for $6.95. I buy High-Maize 5-in-1 Fiber from Honeyville Grain. $18.49 for 5-pounds. http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/hi-maize5-in-1-fiber.aspx Here's what Honeyville Grain has to say about Hi-Maize: Hi-maize has some real health benefits. Hi-maize is lower in calories than the flour it replaces. Hi-maize delivers between 2-l kilocalories/gram while flour delivers 4 kilocalories/gram. Hi-maize also helps your body burn more fat and may lead to lower fat accumulation. Hi-maize helps maintain healthy blood sugar levels in healthy individuals because Hi-maize increases insulin sensitivity in healthy people. Hi-maize helps balance your energy in the hours following a meal. It has a lower impact in blood sugar and blood insulin than the flour it replaces. For individuals following a "carbohydrate-control" diet, it lowers the "net" or digestible carbohydrates in foods. Hi-maize promotes digestive health. The fiber in Hi-maize is fermented within the large intestine and encourages the growth of friendly bacteria (a "prebiotic" fiber). It reduces harmful compounds such as ammonia, while producing beneficial compounds such as short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, the preferred fuel for colon cells. Hi-maize is ideal for use in a gluten-free diet. Hi-maize is well tolerated. It is slowly fermented and does not produce the uncomfortable digestive side effects sometimes found with fiber. I add a heaping tablespoon to my morning smoothie (homemade kefir, 100% fruit juice, flaxmeal, High-Maize and a nutritional supplement. I also substitute up to 15-20 percent of the flour in a recipe with High-Maize. Another good substitute for wheat germ in the Cornell recipe is amaranth (I believe I mentioned it above in an earlier post). You could add whole amaranth seeds or amaranth flour (amaranth is so tiny it needs to be milled in a seed mill or in a coffee/spice mill). The seeds look like golden poppy seeds and I like to add amaranth seeds to quick breads. Amaranth flour is high in protein, and protein is why wheat germ is used in the recipe. The fiber content of amaranth is three times that of wheat, plus good amounts of iron and calcium. Amaranth also contains vitamin E (also found in wheat germ). Amaranth is easy to digest. The Cornell Bread Recipe was a good start to improving nutrition, fiber and protein in bread, but there are a lot of other things you can add to your recipes way BEYOND what was used in this "old science" recipe. -Grainlady

Yes...(about powdered eggs). This is information I received via e-mail from Honeyville Grain just the other day. "As many of you know we have been out of stock on our #10 cans of Powdered Whole Eggs and Egg Whites for about 3 months. This has been as a result of working with the USDA on plant and label approval with new stricter requirements with respect to eggs. We've endured numerous delays and setbacks throughout the process. About a week ago we had received approval to begin Production. We did so and even had product on UPS trailers ready to be picked up. We got a call from the USDA stating that they had put us through the wrong process and we would have to start over again. We had to pull all of the outbound orders and go back into a holding pattern. At this point we are moving through the process but have no idea when we'll be back in business with the canned eggs. It is a frustrating situation with one of our best sellers and we apologize for the delay. Just as soon as we have product ready to ship we will send out an email to all of our great Honeyville Customers. We appreciate your patience." Kefir - I only use powdered milk products - period. I don't purchase store-bought milk. We use a whey-based milk substitute - Morning Moo's - for drinking and cooking. I store another brand, Country Cream, and use it for my kefir - http://www.grandmascountryfoods.com/. The Country Cream seems to work better than the whey-based product for kefir, unfortunately it's more expensive than Morning Moo's. I've never tried it with store-brand powdered milk. If you do let me know how it works - just out of curiosity. I've made it with fresh goat milk, but I don't have a source for it anymore. Do you know you can place your grains in a jar of milk and "rest" them in the refrigerator (for 7-10-days, or so)? I usually keep 1/3 to 1/2-cup of grains going, and place mine in 1-cup of milk in a pint jar and rest them for 5-7-days before making kefir. I usually have 4-6 cups of kefir in the refrigerator at any one time, and when I get that much I'll rest my grains until I need to make more. When I want to use them again I'll remove the grains from the milk and place them in 2 to 2-1/2-cups of milk in a quart jar. You can leave the pint jar of milk the grains were resting in sitting out at room temperature and it will have enough kefir in from the grains to ferment into kefir. My new favorite... I make kefir using coconut milk. I use coconut milk powder (reconstituted) but you can use canned coconut milk. You might try it when your grains get bigger and you need to divide them and have some extra grains. Once I used them in coconut milk, I store them in coconut milk and only use them with coconut milk. We love it added to pineapple/orange juice smoothie for a great pina colada taste - or just plain instead of yogurt, or topped with homemade granola. I use kefir as a replacement for buttermilk, and I use it in my bread. I never thought about it rising better because of it. But then, that's what I've always used in my bread recipe ;-) -Grainlady

1. Real kefir grains must be shared, person to person. Kefir is easier to make than yogurt, and much better for you (book: "KEFIR Rediscovered!" by Klaus Kaufmann and web site: Dom's Kefir Insite - see link below). There is a powdered version, but other than the name, it's NOT real kefir grains. Real kefir grains will last virtually forever. I've used mine over and over for many years. They grow larger and you pull them apart to make more. Powdered version of kefir is more like yogurt cultures, which are NOT self-renewing. Check this site for a source near you: http://www.torontoadvisors.com/Kefir/kefir-list.php 2. I have used all kinds of "milk" products (liquid and reconstituted powdered "milk" products) for making kefir, as well as fresh goat milk, but regular liquid milk is probably the most common. The flavor and texture can differ depending on the "milk" product. 3. Coconut oil - Yes, it's expensive, but normally less expensive than butter when you figure it ounce for ounce. You can generally use less of it in recipes - about 25% less - and get the same results. I haven't used shortening or vegetable oil for about 15 years, or so. I always say you'll pay for good health, or you'll pay for bad health. I'd rather try the former than the later (so far so good). After a lot of study, I consider coconut oil a contributor to my good health. I normally get LouAna brand at Wal-Mart (in the same isle as cooking oils/shortening). It's solid, like shortening, at room temperature. LouAna is sold in a round, white plastic, quart-size container with a green lid (under $5 for 31.5 fl. oz.). It starts to get mushy when stored at warm room temperature and liquifies around 78°F. LouAna brand is tasteless. It's also non-hydrogenated. Always choose a non-hydrogenated coconut oil. Other brands I use have a mild coconut flavor and I like to use those in a variety baked goods. I also order it from Wilderness Family Naturals - http://www.wildernessfamilynaturals.com/ (mild coconut flavor), and I've ordered from Amazon.com (Nutiva brand - mild coconut flavor) when they had a good buy on it. Salt & Grain Society (http://www.celticseasalt.com/) is another resource for coconut oil (with and without coconut flavor). -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Dom's Kefir In-Site