Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

I'm looking to get some wheat and a grinder for bread. I'm just not sure which kind of wheat to purchase. I will be buying a large amount, so i want to be sure what im getting is what i want. What are the advantages, disadvantages, of each? Should one get some of both? I'm basicly looking to make my own dough, but I Dont want fluffy balloon bread, but also don't want a big hard rocky scone either. I never new there were soo many kinds of wheat out there untill recently. Any in:smile:put appreciated.

Re: Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

one way to decide is to grow a small crop of the various kinds of wheat and see what does well in your climate.

i don't know what official color wheat i have growing. it's from last year's seed crop. the wheat seeds are light brown.

Re: Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

I prefer hard white wheat more than hard red wheat for bread flour; but you need to make your own decision. Order a #10 can of each from Walton Feed and try them before you buy. You might be able to find them at your local health food grocery as well. Just stay clear of soft white wheat unless you're into pie crusts and biscuits; the soft wheat doesn't have enough gluten to make good bread.

Re: Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

Red has a much more 'wheaty earthy' flavor to it, some would just say it is stronger tasting.

Red also seems to make heavier bread. I have not practiced much, but what I have observed so far.

Re: Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

Having sifted both red wheat flour and white wheat flour, I've observed that the hard red wheat berry contains more bran than the white. That has something to do with the heavier loaf.

Re: Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

Red wheat does have a stronger flavor - that's why many folks are using white hard wheat instead. It's bred so as to not produce the chemical in the bran layer (can't recall the name right now) that is present in red winter wheat.

I use the red stuff, and blend it 50/50 with store bought flour when making bread.

By the way, RushIsABand. Rush isn't just a band, it's a freakin' great band!

Re: Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

Hard red spring wheat is the highest quality wheat in the world.
Other wheats are blended with it to bring their quality up.

Its the bench mark,everything else is below it.

I've grown thousands of tonnes.

Re: Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

That and it's the most widely used wheat around the world, middle easterners use it for couscous...... I loves couscous :biggrin:.

I usually mix my red wheat with hard white or store bought organic flour that I find at a reasonable price from Costco.

And then there's times I make all hard white or all hard red winter, jus depends on my mood.

For every day I much prefer the #10 cans from LDS or where ever and still maintain my stash of 6 gallon buckets for long term.

Re: Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

OH ! and for every day use you can't beat the Nutrimill, and for TSHTF scenario the Country living mill is hard to beat , I bought both at the link below along with the Bosh mixer, mixer is awesome to !

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/index.aspx#Nutrimill

Re: Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

Montana's Prairie Gold is absolutely the best for bread, it's excellent.

Here's a picture of the bread I make for sandwiches and toast, 100% wheat. As you can see, it's very light in texture.

http://tinkletimes.com/blog/wp-conte...g/img_8261.jpg

Re: Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

If you like the taste of red but dont enjoy its density, mix the two. Do a 60/40 split of the two. 60% white and 40% red. That should give you a good balance and if not, then work with the ratio till you find one that does.

Re: Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

I can't get the same lightness with red wheat Imacannin, my loaves are always denser.

Re: Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

It depends on what you are making. Pie crusts take a low protein wheat, but you would like a high protein wheat for bread. Cake flour is the lowest. Gluten content varies too. I looked up several web sites to study this topic, but when I went to buy, some stores were using different names and others had no idea what they were selling. The only thing certain is that if something doesn't work, everybody blames the chef!

Re: Hard white, or hard red wheat for bread
 

Should mention that durum wheat is what is used to make paste,which is apparently VERY easy to make yourself.And a small amount goes an extremely long way.