# Fullfilling my wheat storage, HELP



## missDaniMF (Jul 9, 2012)

Ok, so I'm baffled a bit. I understand we need to store 400ish #'s of wheat per adult person. But I'm having a hard time bringing myself to store up on huge bags of wheat. (why? What the heck do I do with wheat berries) I understand grinding it down and using it for breads... But beyond that what?
What other "wheat" items can I store in place of whole wheat to fulfill that store? Wheat pasta, wheat flour? Need some help!
I've tried to stay only buying things I know my family will eat in dire situations. Lets say I steer clear of the pickled pigs feet cause its senseless to store things that won't be eaten. 
Thanks for the help!


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Store what you eat, eat what you store*

Besides storing wheat, Mormons especially use their wheat to keep themselves in touch and experienced with the possibilities of wheat. Wheat is much cheaper than the derivitaves of wheat.

Why wheat and not flour and pasta? Wheat has been found in caves that is thousands of years old and it still sprouted, which means it still had life and was a viable food. Flour, ground wheat, has a very short shelf life. But, you can grind your wheat, and now you have FLOUR! And you can take the flour and make pasta. And bread, crackers, and many other wheat based foods. You can soak your wheat overnight and heat it up for a breakfast cereal. You can grind soaked and sprouted wheat and add it to bread.

Using wheat instead of all kinds of premade foods requires much work. I have invested in an electric grinder and a bread maker to help with that. I see lots of people who don't cook, don't know how to cook and don't want to cook.

As a teacher, I see that students bring lots of highly processed foods for lunch. I try my best to eat whole foods, avoiding highly processed foods as much as possible. But I know that we are a population of people who really prefers premade foods and fast foods.

There are varieties of wheats also. It is good to know about the different types of wheats and which ones to use for what.

You are not the first person I have heard that is not interested in having wheat. The reason it is a basic food is due to the versatility and shelf life.


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## Zanazaz (Feb 14, 2012)

missDaniMF said:


> Ok, so I'm baffled a bit. I understand we need to store 400ish #'s of wheat per adult person. But I'm having a hard time bringing myself to store up on huge bags of wheat. (why? What the heck do I do with wheat berries) I understand grinding it down and using it for breads... But beyond that what?
> What other "wheat" items can I store in place of whole wheat to fulfill that store? Wheat pasta, wheat flour? Need some help!
> I've tried to stay only buying things I know my family will eat in dire situations. Lets say I steer clear of the pickled pigs feet cause its senseless to store things that won't be eaten.
> Thanks for the help!


If you haven't bought the wheat yet here's a bit of advice. You don't want to leave it in the bags. Either buy it prepackaged in the buckets, or package it yourself. Yes, it's a bit more work, but it protects your investment. Wheat stored in mylar bags in buckets prevents spoilage, and vermin infestation. A mouse or rat will chew right through the bags.

If you have a storage location that will remain dry and vermin free then I guess it wouldn't be a problem to store it in the bags. However, if you have to move it, in my experience it's easier to move in the buckets. At least that's been my experience.


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## missDaniMF (Jul 9, 2012)

I agree weedygarden, I too make most things from scratch but and our family as a whole eats minimal processed foods. We farm hens, meat chickens, and garden large scale. But the thought of storing 1200# of wheat seems excessive for us. I'd almost rather plant and harvest wheat yearly in that case. 
And as for electric grinders and bread makers, what use would they be with out power. Which puts me buying a hand crank grain mill UGH.
what about storing other grains? Sorghum maybe? do oats fall under that too? Or is wheat specifically needed?


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Wheat was the basic, but what works for you?*

I have some wheat in storage, but I keep other grains also. I have some corn, oatmeal (canned at LDS cannery), rice, many gluten free grains in small amounts. I don't have sorghum, but we have a celiac and it is a good alternative.

The Mormon mantra: store what you eat, eat what you store. I don't do much gluten free foods, but I know I should.

I totally agree with the electric versus hand crank. I know I will be more used to eating and cooking with wheat with my electric grinder than I ever was with my hand crank grinder which is many years old and hardly ever used. But, we may have some access to electricity. You can get a hand grinder for less than $100, while electric grinders are much more. Unless you get lucky and find a deal at a garage sale or on Craigslist. It can happen, because it did for me, but with years of watching and waiting.

So, think about what you eat and cook. That is the direction to go in, unless you are someone who would like there to be a Mickey Dees on every corner when the ship hits the sand. It doesn't sound like you are. Many people are going to be hurting for that reason alone. A discussion at work was about how many people do not like to drink water. Children do not want to drink water. Oh the hurt is a coming!

Raising wheat? Have you? What if you had a year or two of failure? Then what would you do? It is going to be a failure for many this year. Right now wheat is very, very cheap. But so is rice and oats and many other basic foods such as beans. Many people just are not up for the idea of cooking.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*One more suggestion*

I took a class at a local LDS church on food storage. I am not a Mormon, but they are well rehearsed and knowledgable in preparedness and food storage. I think you could find someone who is their preparedness specialist whom you could pick his/her brain and get your concerns met. I happen to have a good friend who fills that role in her LDS church. I do not believe in their beliefs, but I do believe in preparedness.

And they have preparedness fairs that you might be able to attend. Also, if you are at all close to a cannery, you can ask them questions. If you go and can, there is always someone else canning that you could ask questions of.


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## showmegal (Sep 14, 2011)

Not long ago I was where you are. I was overwhelmed with the wheat. The best thing you can do is educated yourself, get some recipes and experiment. I finally decided after reading and reading to suck it up, buy a bag and a hand grinder and go for it! Now once a week we have a new bread creation to test and I keep the recipes that work. I'm slowly incorporating into our diets. I have not tried boiling, popping, sprouting, etc. but its on my to do list. Oh, and yes, I made the choice to have a hand grinder because I don't want to worry about the electric issue. It is quite a workout when you have to grind but don't let that scare you. The whole process is not that bad.


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## PrepN4Good (Dec 23, 2011)

I feel your pain, MissDan...I'm not a big fan of the whole wheat thing (unless you have lots of kidlets to help you grind when the grid goes down).  I have prolly 200 lbs, but an equal amount of oatmeal & rice as well. I prefer rice, as it's easy to make & pretty much goes with everything, IMO.


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## missDaniMF (Jul 9, 2012)

Thanks everyone, and good idea Showmegal. I guess I'll just have to suck it up and do the hard work now so it doesn't seem so bad later. 
As for kidlets grinding. Mine are 3&4 so not much help in the grind department. 
hand crank mill here I come, lol


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## DKRinAK (Nov 21, 2011)

Wheat, and rice, corn/cornmeal, oats, beans, honey, sugar, salt...

A ton of wheat is of little use without a mill and items like baking powder, yeast, and so on.

"Just in Case" by Barbara Salsbury has a ton of recipes for wheat, how to make bulgar and other things that may be of interest to you/

Just in Case: A Manual of Home Preparedness
Author	Barbara G. Salsbury
Edition	illustrated
Publisher	Bookcraft, 1975
ISBN	0884942805, 9780884942801
Length	268 pages

can be found used on line.


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

I tend to think of the guideline you mentioned in terms of 'grains'. So rice, amaranth, barley, quinoa, oats all fit into our 'grain storage'. We use nut flours and bean flours also, as in gluten-free recipes.

Edit: I should add that we don't take the 'store it and leave it' approach, rather we rotate supplies into daily meals.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

We're not big on eating much bread or pasta so I don't store much wheat, less than 100lbs. We're more meat & veggie people. We do store baking mix, pancake mix, oats, spaghetti, cereal, & lots of potatoes. Most importantly, we have a good sized stash of cake mixes, brownie mixes, & muffin mixes. I say store what you eat & eat what you store. Use the charts & other references as merely guidelines or suggestions. You know best what will work for your family. Good luck!


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## Freyadog (Jan 27, 2010)

The books that I use are
Cookin' with home storage 
and
Wheat cookin' Made easy.

I make a hot cereal in the crockpot 2cups water 1 part wheatberries
on low. in the morning I have hot cereal that I add raisins, brown sugar whatever to it. ...Already cooked just add whatever.

You can also make the bulgar and add flavoring to taste like hamburgers, sloppy joes, etc. Tons of ways to use your wheat berries. Also sprouts.....


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

When I first decided to start preparing I scoured numerous sites and boards for the best long long term food solutions. I ended up buying wheat berries from Wheat Montana. I sealed them in vacuum seal bags and placed them in plastic tubs in my storage room. I then bought a hand crank mill (the whole no electricity issue!) To turn the berries into flour. It isn't that hard to crank out flour now and our homemade bread is off the charts amazing. When you eat flour that still has the bran and germ in it (its removed in flour you buy in the store so the flour will stay good much longer) you will kick yourself for not doing it sooner. As far as oats go I also recommend steel cut oats. The actual oat grain is fairly large so they either roll it (standard rolled oats you get at the store) or cut it up so it cooks faster. So jump in the grain grinding style cause you will love the flavor!


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## kilagal (Nov 8, 2011)

Country Living makes a grain mill you can get a motor for or add one you have. You can also hook it up to a bicycle to it to grind. Or do it by hand. So that might be soemthing you might want to look into.


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## Londoner (Aug 24, 2012)

Actually IMO a better thing to store is oats as in porridge oats. cheap to buy, I can only work from British prices but around $1 per kg. You can make porridge and live off that alone at a pinch. Mix in nuts and raisins, chopped fruit etc Not the most exciting food but it kept thousands of poor Scottish hill farmers alive over the centuries. It is nutritious unlike rice but the main thing is you can soak it in water and eat it cold mixed with cane syrup or molasses_ if you really have to_. It doesn't need cooking, but its not always possible or safe to cook. It will go into stews as a thickener.

Along with that, investigated tinned milk called condensed milk over here. I don't know if its called the same over there. Its disgusting stuff for everyday use, its packed full of sugar but in a survival situation its a milk substituted plus lots of calories. Use it to make porridge with your oats and you are doing well all thing considered.


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## Lake Windsong (Nov 27, 2009)

Good points about oats, very useful.

Condensed milk and evaporated milk in cans are handy to have in the no cooking situations you mentioned above. Also shelf stable milk in cartons similar to juice boxes, although these have a shorter shelf life.


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## gam46 (Jan 24, 2011)

Wheat berries can be used in a variety of ways even without being ground into flour. A recipe which floats around the net does involve grinding, but only as the berries and other ingredients are mixed in a blender to make a pancake batter. The berries can be cooked to form a starchy rice-type dish. I prefer to soak them overnight to minimize cooking time. Also I prefer to cook them in broth for flavor. Those cooked in plain water can be used as a breakfast cereal. Otherwise the cooked product can be used to make a pilaf, can be added to soups, can be stir-fried just as in making fried rice, and can be sprouted for using in soups, salads, or adding to quick bread batters


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## Caribou (Aug 18, 2012)

I went with the Country Living mill for the following reasons: I could hand crank it, it was easily converted to electric, it had good reviews, I could also grind beans and corn.

I only have a couple hundred pounds of wheat. Is that enough? Probably not. It certainly isn't according to the myriad lists but it suits my needs today. Two hundred pounds takes up an entire shelf of my available storage area and four shelves is more area than I wish to commit to wheat for the two of us for a year, according to the lists. When I have more space I will address the issue again. 

I currently buy bread so my flour usage will increase if I can't. I try to keep my bread consumption low so I don't expect to need as much as the lists suggest. Having said that, extra flour to swap might come in handy. Also, having the grinder might provide a barterable service to someone with wheat or another product to grind. 

I do have rice, oats, beans, barley, pasta and probably stuff I'm not remembering.

I like the lists that are available but Moses didn't haul them down from the mountain. Figure out what you eat and and store that. Make your own list but use the published lists as a guide. Store as much as you can of everything you use. Try and keep a balance in your preps. A weeks worth of rice and twenty years of canned mushrooms in not balanced. In order to see how much of something is used, date each item as it is added to storage. I have my pantry that I cook out of and my storage that I fill my pantry from. I stock the storage from my shopping trips.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

missDaniMF said:


> .... the thought of storing 1200# of wheat seems excessive for us. I'd almost rather plant and harvest wheat yearly in that case.


1000 lbs of wheat will fit in 3 blue poly 55 gallon barrels. Mine are sealed tight and stored outside in a lil' shed made from old pallets 



missDaniMF said:


> And as for electric grinders and bread makers, what use would they be with out power. Which puts me buying a hand crank grain mill UGH.


The big 2000/4000 peak inverter from Harbor Freight will run my Nazko Sunshine Mill, but neither device is happy with each other! I plan to be able to run a generator for an hour or so each day as needed, and can mill during that time.


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

Caribou said:


> I went with the Country Living mill for the following reasons: I could hand crank it, it was easily converted to electric, it had good reviews, I could also grind beans and corn.


We also have the Country Living grain mill. It's powered by a motor off a treadmill that gives it variable speed control; however, the hand crank is on the top shelf in the pantry should it be needed.


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## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

wheat is a good thing to have, but many store alternatives: white flour (I know, its supposed to be 'bad') stores better than whole wheat flour and helps in transitioning to whole wheat (jst mix in greater & greater percentages of whole wheat as you go). I also store white whole wheat berries & they cook up nicely. I like them MUCH better than brown rice, and the white holw wheat lacks the bitterness that red whole wheat can have. What grains does your family eat lots of now - store more of those. Some folks are big rice eaters, they store more rice. Pasta is durum wheat - some prefer to store their 'wheat' that way. I like for a combination of red whole wheat, white whole wheat, white flour, and pasta for my wheat allotment; then fill in the rest of the 350 lb per person of grains with rice, barley (the un-pearled is much tastier), quinoa (pretty expensive, but good), oats, a little rye (nobody likes it but me), and whole corn kernels (good for cornmeal and hominy). Plenty of variety in the 'grain' section that way.
Nobody says your entire allotment of grains has to be wheat - it would get pretty boring.


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

We use about 2.5 - 3 lbs of flour a week, this includes baking for guests. That's all breads, cakes, cookies everything I need flour for. We eat maybe 4lb of rice a year and much less than that of other grains and legumes. We just don't eat it so I don't store it. Store what you eat, eat what you store.


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