Erin, thanks for such a great and informative evening on cooking with wheat. The food was amazing, demo amazing and so very informative. We appreciate all the work you put into it and the great advice you had. For those that missed it, below are the recipes, and highlights of what was discussed. For those of you that attended and noticed I left some info out, please comment with your suggestions.
ALSO, LaRue is able to get wheat grinders cheap. You can get an electric that retails for $239 for a price of $140, or an hand grinder for $55! For more info please call her, you can get a hand grinder or an electrical grinder - orders need to be placed NOW!
BUYING WHEAT
Wheat grain is purchased from either Walton Feed or at Honeyville Grain from the ladies that attended the DK Wheat demo at Erin's. Some buy it form WinCo, however I understand that WinCo gets their supply from Walton Feed, so you might as well go to the source.
LASTING POWER
In grain (berry) form it will last pretty much forever. It is when it is ground into flour that the life shortens to about 3-6 months because once ground, the nutrients have a shorter life span in giving off nutritional value (I can't remember exactly why).
KEEPING WHEAT
Keep the wheat grain in sealed containers and pull out when necessary to grind. Upon grinding it will stay good for a few months at room temperature in a four container, but a way to keep it longer is to pack in ziploc baggies and place in your freezer. This way the micro-organisms 'stop' growing and nutrients last much longer. Same concept to freezing seeds and yeast product. Correct me if I'm wrong Erin or anyone.
DIFFERENT WHEATS
So I guess there are two different kinds of wheat. They yucky wheat (hard red wheat) and the yummy (hard white wheat). The consensus at the demo was that hard white wheat is what you want if you are partial to white flour, am I confusing you all yet? HOWEVER, hard white wheat is NOT the same as white flour wheat, it just has a closer taste factor and cooking factor match.
The drawback to hard white wheat is it isn't usually available at the grocery store in bulk, and is much more expensive if you choose to buy there in small "gouremet" 1 lb. bags. Definitely buy at Walton Feed or Honeyville Grain and you're cost shouldn't be much more than hard red wheat. If you are wondering too, which you have in your pantry, the ladies thought Western Family is hard red wheat. SO sorry ladies, eat up the yuck and then move on. HAHA just kidding. Now this blog post is getting too long.
THE MYSTERY SOLVED: White Flour vs. Wheat Flour (Hard Red or Hard White)
From what I gathered, again correct me if I'm wrong; White flour has little nutritional value due to the fact that when it's processed the wheat germ is processed out (which contains most of the nutrients). On the flip side, because the germ is gone (the living part) white flour lasts WAY longer in your pantry. For more info I would consult the all knowing Wiki on this matter.
White's caloric count is higher than the equivalent wheat substitute.
And did I say it's pretty non-nutritious (white). Wheat also has protein so if you are a slacker and don't have meat in your food storage, then I guess you could survive on wheat flour instead of glue (white).
RECIPE SUBSTITUTUION
Now that you are all excited to get cooking with wheat, remember that if you are a white wheat family, make the transition slowly. Their digestive systems (and yours) might not be able to handle a heavy dosage of wheat to begin with. Make it a gradual transition.
With that said, there's no formula given from Erin except that you should just start subbing small amounts like 1/4 c. wheat if it calls for 1c. white and gradually make the transition each time you cook the recipe. That way you can see how the texture and consistency of the recipe changes and decide if it works for you, and at what ratio would be reasonable.
Next, Erin suggests changing the fat content. She subs out butter for oil in some cases to lessen the saturated fat, and often you can cut out fat because you don't need as much oil as butter. I don't know ratios, Erin help?
I also can't remember why you sub out fat in relation to wheat, if you know please comment!
Lastly, if you are not to keen on the denseness of wheat, try using super moist ingredients especially in your cakes and breads. Cherie suggests applesauce, I use vanilla or plain yogurt, and in certain recipes sour cream can do the trick.
GLUTEN INTOLERANCE
Lastly for those that have Celiac or a gluten intolerance, there is wheat without gluten for you special people. I've seen the good stuff on Amazon.
Again thanks Erin and to all those who participated. If any of you have a wheat recipe you'd like to share please comment or post it!
