I have a Golden Grain Grinder that is 30+ years old...my dad gave it to me about 15 years ago. I really like it. It has 2 stones that grind the grains and you can adjust it from coarse to cake-flour fine. All of you that are grinding wheat, can you tell me what is the whitest wheat? We have several Amish and Mennonite communities near us and I have bought several wheat and flours from them, but they all have their own name for them. Some call it "naturally" white wheat...is that whole wheat, or just unbleached? Last week I bought 3 lbs of "hard spring white wheat" to grind, and it does seem to be whiter than a lot of wheats.

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

Annie, I've found there's a lot of differences between the wheatberries from different farms. If yours aren't working, you might try finding one with a tested for that crop higher protein level. These might not apply to you, but are some of the things I've learned for 100% whole wheat, home milled, bread: If you mill at home, and aren't looking for a sweet flavor, you don't need any sweetener. What the honey is for in a lot of recipes is hiding the bitterness that whole wheat flour develops when it sits awhile (weeks) and starts to go rancid. A little acid, besides dealing with the anti-nutrients, works as a dough conditioner and retards mold growth (if we leave an end long enough to mold it's the free flour on it where it starts, not the bread itself). Ascorbic acid is fairly easily found as vitamin C crystals. I figure a jar may last me forever. It does add a little complexity to the flavor, which you might notice as acidity, but won't taste sour like vinegar. Handling the risen dough as little as possible, helps keep the gluten from being cut. It does not like "drawing a tight cloak". Like that saying about teaching a pig to dance, drawing it around like that just annoys the bread--the gluten breaks rather than stretches. A better way to shape, if necessary, is by folding, lightly. Do your best not to degas because it may not reinflate. If you're willing, adding vital wheat gluten makes up for the deficiencies of the protein content of the wheat. Re hydration, I always do a soak. A soak is where you either make up the dough for a long rise (at least 8 hours), or just combine the flour and liquid and let that set for at least 8 hours. This can be done in or out of the fridge. It takes awhile for the wheat to hydrate and what seems too dry turns damp and sticky. Whole wheat also takes more hydration than white. The best proportion I've been able to find, and have been using, but haven't tested extensively enough to know for sure from my own hands is 5 tsp. water for every cup of whole wheat flour that you substitute for white flour. Also be careful of the rise. If it doubles, it's probably too far gone. Aim for half that (1.5 times the original bulk). Maybe a little more. I haven't found a lot of good recipes, but that's common to all of the ones I do have, and if I miss and it gets to double on the rise, I don't get any oven spring. Oh, and no double rises. It doesn't want to be punched down. I found this recipe in a surprising place when I was looking for a low cleanup (water saving) daily bread: http://www.instructables.com/id/100-Whole-Wheat-Crusty-No-Knead-Artisan-Bread/ It's a good recipe. I've been playing with it, adding in other grains, and mixing in seeds and all. Overdoing that can also interfere with the rise, but I've got it to where I like it, and I prefer the multigrain flavor. I don't know if any of that is helpful to you. I've been on the same journey for a year, and had some sourdough flats of my own. :) Great sympathy here!

My main concern now is whether I should let the dough rise overnight. I was planning to go back to Cathedral City tomorrow (at no particular time) because my sewing machines are there, and I have a lot of new fabric that I want to use on new sewing projects, including a bunch of new accent pillows for the pool patio, a new light-weight cabana jacket, and a couple of soft linen shirts. I'm wondering if I should have just bought linen shirts, since they do not cost that much more than the fabric, when on sale. I also plan to make a birthday present for my sister, whose birthday is at the end of August. I don't have a good sewing space in L.A., now that Kevin is using the sewing/guest room as his office, but I could use his art studio and our dining room here as a sewing space. Still, I prefer the setup I have in the desert. At this point, I have become reattached to my plants and garden in Los Angeles, and I have several orchids plus many bromeliads blooming right now that I will miss when I go back to the desert. In the desert, I do not have to do any gardening, however, and when I am there alone, I have less cooking to do. I plan to take half of the new bread with me and leave half for Kevin. I am curious to find out if grinding the wheat berries will make a difference in the flavor. It was certainly no trouble to grind the grain and took only a couple of minutes to do. I had bought the grain container specifically for grinding grains, but so far, I've only been using it for making bread crumbs, and it is very efficient for that. When I go back to Cathedral City, I will have to go past the Apple Fire evacuation area in Cherry Hill. I hope that will not affect traffic, as there is really no way around it.