In an effort to be more self-reliant, maybe you’ve considered buying and storing wheat. After all, it’s one of the basic foods for most Western people.
But what kind is best?
When you go wheat shopping, you’re likely to run into a few confusing terms. Hard, white, red, soft, winter, spring . . . what does it all mean, and does it matter?
In the olden days, which by this the Damsel means twenty-plus years ago, pretty much the only kind of wheat people bought for storage was called “hard red wheat,” sometimes called “red winter wheat” or even “turkey red wheat.” No one will tell the Damsel why the turkey thing.
Ever notice what a weird word turkey is? Turkey turkey turkey. Say it a few times and pretty soon you’re laughing for no reason.
The hard red kind is great because it stores like, forever. People love to tell the story about a guy finding some of it in a pyramid that was 2,000 years old and it still sprouted. Also, it has a high protein content so that’s good.
Other types, such as soft white wheat, are used by bakeries who don’t care about being able to store wheat for 2,000 years, and yield a–you guessed it–softer, whiter product.
So, people have stored the hard red kind, and try to make bread from it in an effort to become self-sufficient and to rotate the blasted stuff. But the Damsel admits she has seen, on more than one sad occasion, grown women break down and cry in the attempt.
It’s not impossible. But it ain’t easy, especially since the folks who eat it are accustomed to fluffy white bread rather than rough peasant loaves.
Then, in 1986, a farmer in Montana cross-bred the two types of wheat and came up with a new wheat that had both the storability and protein content of the hard red wheat and the lighter flavor and “fluffiness” of the soft white type. It’s come to be called “hard white wheat” and has gained huge popularity among wheat storage enthusiasts.
Yes, there is such a thing as a “wheat storage enthusiast.”
The hard white wheat is a lot easier to make bread with. Those same sad women who cried over their door-stop loaves of red wheat bread, cried tears of joy when they tried again with hard white wheat. It was as if their femininity was affirmed. Crikey!
Now, to be sure, some people prefer the nuttier, “darker” taste of red wheat. But if you’re a wheat buying novice, the Damsel will bet 99 turkeys that you’d like this newer “hard white” wheat. And–now that it has become more widely known and grown, the price has come way down. You used to have to pay a premium for its light fluffy goodness. No longer.
As for the “spring” and “winter” designations, there is a small protein content difference, but the Damsel advises not getting worked up about it.
So unless you are a red wheat lover, the Damsel says go thou, and buy thyself Hard White Wheat.
I well remember the doorstop loaves my mother made for us after grinding her own wheat in the basement of our house.
I am happy to know that I will be able to swallow my bread when the apocalypse arrives.
I’ve heard of a lot of bread shops that mix both the red and white together!
I guess I’m not sure where you live…but in Utah at Costco they sell Lehi Roller Mills Wheat and it’s fabulous! Their flour is a favorite in these parts because people claim they get more volume out of their baked goods. So, I always get their wheat in the 40 pound buckets……..great post!
The timing of this post was perfect for me, because I am trying to build up my food storage and was looking at different types of wheat! My mom always had the red wheat. And while I actually enjoy heavy rustic bread on occasion, I know my husband and children are less adventurous when it comes to food.
Great post!
I think you’ll like the white wheat, and even though it’s lighter than red wheat, it’s still very hearty. Good stuff!
The red wheat flour does work very well in quick breads! I haven’t had any doorstop muffins yet. (unless they accidently burn.
I guess its because regular bread needs 5-7 cups of flour whereas quick bread need 1-2 cups. I substitute one of those cups with oatmeal so it makes a difference I think…
I usually grind the hard white wheat, and make bread in my breadmaker. I am now too lazy to actually knead by hand! Mmm Mmm good!. I also have mixed the red and white half/half with great results. Sliced thin with an electric knife, I store a few slices in bread box, and the rest in the fridge., to prevent mold when it sits too long in the bread box. I will nuke the slice in fridge to get that non-crumbly texture. thanks so much for your site.
Sounds delish! I love the half-and half bread too. Thanks for stopping by!
I bake with both red wheat and white wheat. (Luckily I have my own wheat grinder, too) My bread turns out really good, but I only bake one loaf at a time and I use a bread machine AND (this is important) a stone ground bread pan. I swear by it! I can’t even remember if I’ve ever had a loaf fail with this pan. The loaf pops right out, and I rarely even wash the pan (just wipe with a paper towel, or rinse with water–no soap.)
I’ve tried a lot of bread recipes and pretty much came up with one that works for my tastes with various experimenting. For a light loaf of bread, even out of red wheat, use a couple of tablespoons of Gluten. And/or sub out 1/2 to 1 cup of the wheat for some unbleached white flour. (I buy Gluten in the bulk section, or you can look for it in the health food section–I’m not sure if they ever put it in the bakery section.) You still get lots of nutrition with a lighter taste. I used to prefer white bread to wheat bread, but I have come to love the taste of wheat so much through my own homemade breads that I now prefer wheat!
You can also sub out some of your white flour for some of the white wheat flour in many recipes and not tell the difference, especially in a cake from scratch like an oatmeal cake. Yum!
Yes! I’ve bought the Lehi Roller Mills wheat and I love it too. Plus it’s all packed in a nice bucket, poof.
Mixing the two wheats is a good idea. I often suggest people do that if they have a basement full of red wheat and are still crying about their bread. If they make bread with one third red wheat, one third white wheat, and one third white flour, it will usually turn out pretty good, and they can get that red wheat used up.
There are some great non-bread things you can do with that pesky red wheat, too, but that’s another post. LOL!
oo! You are so prepared! lol