Wheat To Grind For Breads

[Jeepers]

What is the best wheat to buy for grinding to make bread?

 

I see all kinds of wheat. Hard red winter, soft red winter, hard red spring, hard white, soft white and so on.

 

I just want it to make bread and gravy. 

 

I'm planning a trip to the Amish bulk food stores soon and I need a clue. I'm making a list so anything you think would be prudent, alert me. I don't have a bread machine yet. We'll see how that goes with a stimulus check. I also want to learn how to make flat breads like for tortillas or wraps. 

 

 

I see a lot of Bronze Chief and Prairie Gold here and at other places down there. There are other bulk stores down there too. These are the two biggest.

 

http://asherybulkfoods.com/bulk-foods-baking

https://www.walnutcreekfoods.com/products/baking-supplies-bulk/grains-sugars?page=4

 

[Littlesister]

Jeepers, I am not sure which is the best. But what I have is hard wheat and hard white. i have had no issues with either of those and they make up some good bread. The Amish store might be able to better help you on that. 

[euphrasyne]

I love to bake even though I cannot eat too much of it myself anymore  

 

It depends on what type of bread you want to make.  Red wheat has a higher gluten content than white which makes for much better rustic type bread loaves; it has a slightly nuttier flavor.  White has less gluten which does better in say ....dinner rolls; it has a slightly sweeter flavor because of the lack of gluten.  The red will have a slightly nuttier flavor.   Soft wheat has less protein with  a crumblier, more powdery like texture and is better for crackers, cakes, and pie crust. 

 

If you are mostly making sourdough, some type of french/italian bread, or other older recipe type stuff, you want any of the hard red.  Winter/spring are about the same and are really just grown in different places.   The hard red will also do better if you are eating wheat meat (seitan) for vegetarian or survival reasons.  Unless I want to sell a bunch of cakes, I stick with red--it is a better all purpose wheat with more applications.

 

Despite the current 'war on gluten,' it is actually better to have it (for most people.)  Gluten is basically protein and gives the bread its dense structure and keeps it from crumbling.  My best brown bread recipe calls for adding in extra gluten and flax.  

 

I used this website to explain the differences to one of my kids last month:

A Guide to Common Wheat Flours | Serious Eats

 

Your flat breads can be made with any type of wheat but for may do better with a white--just like biscuits.   I might suggest getting small batches of each and using them to make different things --red for bread and white for biscuits/cakes/tortillas.  

 

Edited December 27, 2020 by euphrasyne

[Jeepers]

Thanks TheCG! That helps a lot.

I copy/pasted your post and I bookmarked the site and will print some of it out too. 

[TheCG]

12 hours ago, Jeepers said:

Thanks TheCG! That helps a lot.

I copy/pasted your post and I bookmarked the site and will print some of it out too. 

Was that supposed to be a thanks to euphrasyne?

[Jeepers]

   Yes.  Sigh.  

 

 

THANK YOU EUPHRASYNE!

Too much of Littlesister's spiked eggnog I guess.

 

[euphrasyne]

LOL its all good