Week # 35: 50 lbs of Wheat (white or red)

Week # 35: 50 lbs of Wheat (white or red)
(If you can’t accomplish this in 1 week, don’t worry, just take your time and do it in baby steps.)

I do not recommend buying cans or bulk of already ground whole wheat.  Please store wheat and grind it when needed. Once the wheat has been ground, it starts to break down and lose nutrition. I will grind one #10 can into flour at a time and put it into a gallon size ziplock bag and put it in the freezer.   Then pull it out and use it when needed.  Let the flour return to room temperature if making wheat bread. If you do not have a wheat grinder, you can buy a manual one for around $60 or an electric one starting around $100.  I recommend having a manual one in the event there is no electricity available and then buy an electrical one for easy. 

Hard Red Wheat

Hard White Wheat 

Baby Steps: 

1. Choose location for storage
2. Purchase containers (#10 Cans, Buckets, Jars, Bottles…) for wheat or purchase pre-packaged wheat.
3. Purchase your wheat for containers.
4. Fill and date your wheat containers. (Leave some extra wheat out in order to test it some recipes.)

10 Reasons to love Whole Wheat:

1. It’s more nutritious, providing several more minerals, vitamins (18 more to be exact!), and natural photochemicals than white flour.
2. Relax! It has More B Vitamins which are known to help with nerves & stress.
3. Get cleaned out. Whole wheat provides more fiber, preventing constipation & diverticulosis. The American Dietetic Association recommends 20-35 grams daily, the average American consumes only 12 grams.
4. Lose weight and keep it off! Whole wheat has a lot of fiber which has almost no calories, keeps you fuller for longer, absorbs 3x it’s weight in water, cuts absorption of calories, cleans out impurities, requires more chewing, and takes 1/2 as much to fill you up and takes longer to digest.
5. Reduces your risk of colon cancer & other diseases.
6. Lowers blood pressure, cholesterol levels, and risk of adult on set Diabetes.
7. Cheaper! It will lower your food costs by at least 30% to 50%!
8. Lowers doctor visits, bills, & medications.
9. Lowers Dentist Bills by cutting down on tooth decay.
10. Eating Whole Wheat keeps your body both emotionally and physically used to wheat.

Click here to read the 1st post on why you need wheat, how to store it and what to do with it.
If you’d like to learn more about Wheat Grinders before you make your purchase we have a great comparison chart. Click the image below to zoom in or Click here to download the PDF.

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Click on the images below to view all 52 weeks at once or the recipes to go with it, in a .jpg or download the 52 Week Food Purchasing Plan (PDF) or the Custom 52 Week Food Purchasing Plan (Excel file) and calculate exactly how much you’ll need for the size of your family.
 

I have had several people asking me what grain mill and/or flaker do I recommend.  I came across this mill recently and I think it is a great choice.  There are many others out there, so you will have to decide what you think is best.  I am personally waiting for my 30 year old Magic mill to give out so I have an excuse to purchase the one that is discussed in the attachment on this email. The cool thing is that this mill has a hand attachment and you can just get the flaker if  you already have a grain mill.

Below you will see the information I have put it past emails and a link to a comparison chart.  For some reason the 'Family Grain Mill' discussed in the attachment is not on this chart. What I like about the 'Family Grain Mill' is that you can purchase the flaker or the grinder or both, the motor base or you can use your Bosche or Kitchen Aid as the motor base.  Note: Some have commented that the flour may not be as fine as some of these other mills.

Types of Wheat Grinders:  

Manual Wheat Grinders

Pros

Inexpensive

Can be used with no power source

Small to store

Cons

SLOWER to grind than an electrical grinder.

Except for the very high-end models, you cannot grind a fine flour

Inconvenient (messy and hard to fit a large bowl underneath)

KitchenAid Attachments (This one is made by Kitchen Aid, it is not the 'Family Grain Mill'

Pros

Less expensive than an electric grinder

Small to store

Convenient to use and then mix bread in the same machine

Cons

I have heard from multiple sources that these units will BREAK your KitchenAid mixer

Not as fast at grinding as electric grinders

Electric Wheat Grinders

Pros

Grinds very fast

Useful for many types of grains, beans, nuts, etc.

Easy to select how coarse or fine to grind, and has a large range

Cons

Fairly expensive, even for the lower-end models

Must have a generator or battery pack to use with no electricity (unless you buy a high end model that comes with a manual crank)

A large appliance to store in your kitchen

Prices of Wheat Grinders

Manual Wheat Grinders

Low: $20-30 models will not grind flour, only coarse corn meal, etc. Not very useful.

Medium: $75-$175 is a good price range. Back to Basics Grain Mill is $75. It can grind fine enough for bread flour but not for very fine cake flour. Wonder Junior is higher-priced at $169 but it can grind into cake flour.

High: Up to $400 for the Country Living Grain Mill. It is quicker than other manual grinders and is able to grind a fine cake flour.

KitchenAid Attachments

$100-120, some may be used on any stand mixer.Electric Wheat Grinders

Low: Under $200 for grinders such as the Blendtec Grain Mill. Its drawbacks are it is very noisy and cannot do very coarse grinds.

Medium: $200-$300 can get you a great grinder. The two most popular electric grinders are the WonderMill and the NutriMill. In my tests I found the WonderMill to be faster, quieter, cleaner, and easier to store. And priced at $239 it is even cheaper than the NutriMill which is $269.

High: Over $300 is an unnecessary amount to spend in my opinion. There are heavy duty models out there but you can get the job done with the mid-range models.

Sample Wheat Grinders:
Click here to see sample wheat grinders or here to view a detailed comparison chart.

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