Cooking With Whole Wheat

Hard Red Winter Wheat

Cooking with whole wheat is not something most of us do, especially on a daily basis. We buy whole wheat for our food storage with the intention of leaving it there for many years because it stores very well.

But for the sake of rotating your food storage and, more importantly, getting your family used to eating it, it is wise to use it in recipes every so often.

What kind of wheat should you store?

For yeast breads, Hard Red Winter Wheat is best. They're higher in protein and gluten. Soft wheats are primarily used for tender pastries, cakes, cookies, flatbreads, crackers and muffins.

All-purpose flour (like that mostly available in grocery stores) is often a blend of soft and hard wheats and can be used in a wide variety of baked products.

Durum wheat is the hardest wheat and is primarily used for making pasta.

You can buy wheat already packed and sealed in 6 gallon buckets (I have seen it at Sam's Club) or at Nitro-Pak in 5 lb. sealed cans. You can also order all kinds of grains in large amounts at stores like Whole Foods or if you have a farmer's market nearby, you may be able to order in large quantities there. You would have to pack it for long-term storage yourself . . . so read the next paragraph for help with that.

How to store wheat

If unopened, optimum shelf life is 30 years or more. If opened, it will last about 3 years. However, once ground into flour, wheat loses most of its nutrients within a few days so only grind small amounts at a time. You can add oxygen absorbers, bay leaves, or dry ice to help keep critters out of your wheat. Check out this video on how to pack grains for long-term storage.

What to cook with whole wheat

When cooking with whole wheat, you may have to introduce it into your family's diet gradually, and literally "disguise" it a little. Try some of these recipes — you may find the family actually likes whole wheat. Like Mikey used to say, "Try it. You'll like it!"

BLENDER WHEAT PANCAKES

1 Cup Milk ( 3 T. Dry Powdered Milk + 1 C. Water) 1 Cup Wheat Kernels, whole & uncooked 2 Eggs (2 T. powdered eggs 1/4 C. Water) 2 tsp Baking Powder 1-1/2 tsp Salt 2 Tbs. Oil 2 Tbs. Honey or Sugar

Put milk and wheat kernels in blender. Blend on highest speed for 4 or 5 minutes or until batter is smooth. Add eggs, oil, baking powder, salt and honey or sugar to above batter. Blend on low. Pour out batter into pancakes from the actual blender jar (only one thing to wash!) onto a hot greased or Pam prepared griddle or large frying pan. Cook; flipping pancakes when bubbles pop and create holes.

Here's an old stand-by recipe using whole wheat flour substituted for white flour.

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Happy Cooking!