Ground Wheat, dried beans, etc.

I don't know a thing about baking bread, myself. So, I'm not including flour or wheat in my preparations. If you're interested in doing something like this I would suggest buying a cookbook and practicing before you need to know how. I figure all the rice, beans, powdered eggs/milk, top ramen, canned & dehydrated vegetables, etc. I have stocked up on should sustain me. I would highly reccomend buying some multivitamins. Sam's Club has big bottles that contain over a years supply for under twenty dollars.

Howdy jo007athome.........      

Hi Penguin,

Wheat berries can be soaked and cooked and eaten like a breakfast cereal.  If you don't have a grinder, then this is one way to use unground wheat.

Wheat will keep a very long time (decades) if properly stored.  The huge advantage of unground wheat is it's nutrition - it's retained far, far longer when it's unground.  But of course, you will need a grinder.

Wheat is used for more then baking bread, pancakes, biscuits, muffins, rolls, pastry, scones, etc.  By storing wheat instead of flour, you can be assured of long lasting high level of nutrition.

Protein values range in the 12% - 14% range, making wheat a good substitute for animal protein.

Almost everyone eats wheat (and prepares with it), even if you don't know it.  All the store-bought mixes (cakes, muffins, rolls, biscuit, pancake, etc.) mixes contain wheat of one type or another.  These products have a fairly limited shelf life in their supermarket packaging, but will do in a pinch if you have to eat stale food (figure a couple of years).

If your wheat intolerant, quinoa is an option for some, or you could try kamut.  These can help for those that have digestive issues with wheat.

There are two main types of wheat, hard red and hard white, also known as golden 86.  This latter type makes the lightest bread (or you can add gluten) for light bread.  Heavier breads are usually made with hard red wheat. 

Another option is Ezekial mix, a mixture containing several other grains (red wheat, spelt, pearl barley, millet, lentils, pinto, great northern, and kidney beans).  This can be ground up to make a wonderful bread mix.

Fresh ground wheat is "best" given the choice, but you have to be prepared to grind it for your baking needs, whatever they are.  We fresh  grind ours and store the remainder in the freezer for a short while.  It taste better and has a higher nutritional value then stored flour (or even "fresh flour" from the supermarket).

2 cups of wheat will make 3 cups of flour, so a pail of wheat actually expands if ground up for baking and goes pretty far.  This makes wheat a great source of concentrated food nutrition.