ovenbird - "Are most commercially available red WW flours made from soft varieties?" No, they are milled from hard wheat (or a combination of hard and soft to get a certain protein count) unless it says something like "Whole Wheat PASTRY Flour", then that would be milled from soft wheat. I've had 16% protein wheat, which is almost too much gluten and will make a tough loaf of bread, and I have had to mix it with other wheat varieties, because that much protein would take forever and a day of kneading to develop that much gluten. I don't mix soft and hard wheat flours to make an "all-purpose" flour because I consider it a general purpose flour that really doesn't address all the gluten issues. To me, all-purpose flour is a "lets settle for something in the middle since most people don't know the difference" kind of flour. In all-purpose flour there is enough hard wheat for gluten for fairly good yeast breads, and enough soft so you can make a fairly good cake or quick bread, but it really doesn't address all the gluten factors and options like when you have a chance to mill your own grains, nor is all-purpose flour optimal for all uses. When judging cakes at the local County Fair, I can tell who used cake flour and who used all-purpose. There's a great deal of difference. I often know the protein level of the grains I get (from test weights at the elevator), or I can do water/flour tests as outlined in "CookWise" by Shirley O. Corriher, to figure what the gluten content is, but that's a rare occasion that I'd need to do that. I get grains from reputable sources. Spelt is also a good choice for a replacement for all-purpose flour, especially when making anything other than yeast breads with it, and I use a lot of spelt - nearly as much spelt as wheat. I can also tell from the feel of the flour, once it's milled, if it's hard or soft. If I were to forget which type of grain I had milled, I could usually tell by feeling it. Soft wheat makes a very fine, powdery flour, while hard wheat is a bit more coarse. There is usually more endosperm in soft wheat than there is in hard wheat, but not always. Hard winter wheat is usually small and wrinkled looking and has more bran and less endosperm. Hard Spring Wheat usually has more endosperm than Hard Winter Wheat, but also has less gluten because it has a shorter growing season. Commercial wheat is milled from a combination of hard and soft wheat to get the correct protein content because there is so much variance in grains. Even in the same field you'll have a combination of hard and soft. Anywhere there are puddles where water lays in the wheat fields, the wheat growing in that area will be soft from too much moisture. If there is a side of the field that has some shade from trees, that might also be lower protein than the rest of the field. So most commercial flours, whole wheat and processed white/unbleached, are usually a combination of hard and soft grains. I mill soft white wheat and oat groats (3:1 ratio) to make a very fine wholegrain "cake" flour. That's one that is a bit different.... -Grainlady

If you are into sourdough, this is a simple recipe (for more information, see link below). I use an old-fashioned form of starter called "Everlasting Yeast", but it works essentially like other starters. I make an overnight sponge and in the morning I mix: 1-1/2 c. starter 1 T. oil 1 t. salt 1-1/2 c. freshly-milled whole wheat flour If I'm going to use it immediately, I knead the dough for a few minutes, then let it rest (covered) for 1/2 an hour, form and pre-bake the crusts. If I use it in the evening, I toss the dough in a plastic bag and retard the dough in the refrigerator all day. Take it out about an hour before I need to form the pie/s. You can bake this panned, or on a stone - your choice. I'm with rhome410 - there's nothing like using freshly-milled flour. I think commercial whole wheat flour tastes like "old dirt" (she mentioned "sawdust") compared to freshly-milled. Most of the commercial whole wheat flour products (with a few exceptions) are nothing more than white flour with some of the bran raked back into it. By law, in many places, the wheat germ has to be removed from whole wheat flour so that it has a longer shelf life because the germ oil goes rancid very rapidly. Only by milling your own grain will you ever experience the best of the nutrition and fiber available in the wheat. Once wheat is milled, the nutrition quickly begins to degrade, the germ oil quickly goes rancid, and you'll NEVER experience anything like freshly-milled flour if you use commercially milled whole wheat flour. I also like Montana Wheat Prairie Gold Wheat (Hard Spring White Wheat). I've been able to get it at Wal-Mart recently, $5 for 25-pounds (regularly $11), so I've stocked up hundreds of pounds (I also mill many other grains/seeds/beans - not just wheat). Wheat keeps well for very long periods of time. You can get approximately 90 one-pound loaves of whole wheat bread from a bushel (60-pounds) of wheat (source: Kansas Wheat Commission). I also have an old Whisper Mill (now they are made under the name Wonder Mill), and if I had to replace my Whisper Mill, I'd get a Nutri Mill, as well. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Sourdough Home

Yes, white whole wheat flour can be used for cookies. And yes, there is hard and soft white wheat as plllog explained. There are also spring hard/soft white or red wheat and winter hard/soft white or red wheat to get even more complicated than things really need to be. And don't forget durum wheat (the type of wheat best used for pasta/noodles) and all the ancient varieties. Before going gluten free, I used a large number of wheat varieties: durum, hard spring white, hard winter white, soft spring white, hard winter red, hard spring red, triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye), as well as spelt, kamut, and einkorn (ancient varieties). I saved soft white wheat (because it was so expensive -purchased from Bob's Red Mill) for some (not all) quick breads, biscuits, and pastry, as well as for cakes (especially delicate chiffon and angel food cake). I would use a 3:1 mix of soft white wheat and spelt OR oat groats (milling flour myself) for a low-protein flour similar in protein to cake flour. I also milled rye, barley, sorghum, and many other grains/seeds/beans for flour. I milled the mixture of grains into a very fine flour and made sure to sift it (removing any large pieces of bran) before using it for cake. Since you may not have any soft white wheat flour available for your cookies, just make sure when making cookies (or anything leavened with chemical leavening - soda, baking powder) NOT to over-mix them or you will develop too much gluten and will get tough cookies or baked goods using regular (hard) white whole wheat flour. This is yet another time I suggest using a Danish Dough Whisk (or a wooden spoon) instead of a stand or regular mixer. Keep mixing to a minimum once the flour has been added. If you use white whole wheat flour in a recipe that is designed for bleached or unbleached all-purpose flour, you may find you need to add a little more hydration, OR reduce the amount of whole wheat flour by 1-tablespoon from each cup of flour called for in the recipe, and adjust accordingly, if needed. If you can find recipes that specifically call for whole wheat flour you will find you have better results until you get accustomed to using it. Check your public library for wholegrain cookbooks. The recipe at the link below from the Kansas Wheat Commission is one of my favorites using 100% whole wheat flour :-). This recipe will work with either white or red whole wheat flour, but white whole wheat works best due to the flavor differences. If you want to kick it up a notch, add 1/8-1/4 t. of Fiori di Sicilia (an all-natural citrus and vanilla scented flavoring from King Arthur Flour - but caution, a little goes a long way). You may want to take a look at their recipe collection for a lot of great recipes using whole wheat flour. I've collected the Kansas Wheat Commission Recipe Books for years (free when you attend the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, KS) and have them going back several decades. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies

No. Soaking the wheatberries will make them too soft, and you'll get slurry instead of flour, and it will be hard to control the hydration. Yes, soak the flour, but in the amount of water you want to use for the recipe. It may seem crumbly dry, but just make sure it's as well mixed as you can. It'll be nice and moist at the end of the soaking period. I think I'd soak all the flour, rather than just the WW, but that's something to experiment with. Maybe the white would be greedy and soak it all up before the WW had a chance. Best of both worlds, soak the ww, then do an hour autolyze after mixing the rest. Do soak the WW for at least 8 hrs. Overnight is good. This is even more important if you have little chunks you’re trying to soften. An alternative to having coarsely ground bits of wheat, would be to mix in some interesting other whole grain, like millet. Just toss it into the soak. It's very nice. I've also used amaranth, buckwheat groats, various seeds and whatever took my fancy. Just keep to a small enough quantity that it doesn't impede the rise. Don't chill it unless your baking day gets postponed more than a day or two, and you think you'll get mold. Just cover your vessel, and leave it on the counter. Ambient humidity does make a big difference. I know you baked professionally, but I can't remember what. IME, all that “baking is chemistry” cliche stuff is about cake (which includes quickbreads and cookies). You have to have the right specific ingredients, in the right quantities, with the right methods under the right circumstances, to get a replicable product. Breads are different. They're much more about art, about adjusting for how dry your flour is, how dry the air, how active the yeast. You know there’s enough flour or water when it feels right. Pastry seams somewhere in between.