# grinding wheat and corn for flour



## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

thinking of getting some wheat to grind for bread baking and wondering what would be best for a yeast bread. where do you get yours? also grinding corn for cornmeal, can I use popcorn?


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## Jim1590 (Jul 11, 2012)

I think sourdough is best for a yeast factory and I believe yes on the popcorn. Just be sure to buy plain without any additives.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

The best wheat(IMO) for yeast breads are the hard grains, the soft wheats are better for pastries and biscuits.

I get my grain from a local feed store, many on this site have mixed feelings on this practice but I have chosen to take that route. I cant afford to spend $60.00+ for a 45 pound bucket(+ shipping) from online sources and I dont know of anywhere locally to get it for less.

On the popcorn, I agree with stayingthegame, I have eaten cornbread made from popcorn before but in my situation it is not very practical or cost effective to use it.


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## cybergranny (Mar 11, 2011)

Dave---do you have a walmart? 25# bags real reasonable. Montana hard red.


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

I am with Dave on the corn and wheat. I buy mine at the feed mill also. Just grind what you need each day or two. You will also have to sift the flour to remove the husks. Once you grind it, you have to refrigerate the flour or corn meal .
You may have to remove the husks and or peices of the cob from the raw corn when you grind it but you can literally do this with your fingers. Don't worry if you accidently grind a small peice of cob with the corn meal once in a while, it won't hurt you. I use yellow dent corn and red wheat.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Wheat storage is a good idea!*



stayingthegame said:


> thinking of getting some wheat to grind for bread baking and wondering what would be best for a yeast bread. where do you get yours? also grinding corn for cornmeal, can I use popcorn?


Wheat storage is a good idea. I have mostly red winter wheat, but I understand white winter wheat is good to have also. If you are not used to eating grains, it does take a little time to adjust. If you eat bread regularly, making some regularly would be a good idea. If you have access to a bread maker, it can reduce the amount of work breadmaking takes. I prefer to have my loaves baked in the oven, and that is an option with breadmakers.

Popcorn is an option for grinding and many people have it stored for grinding. I have access to a local grains warehouse and they carry 25# bags of many kinds of grains. I do my best to stay away from GMOs and corn is one of the big ones. I understand that as of yet, popcorn and blue corn are not GMO. Blue corn is high in protein and makes a good flour.

Many decades ago, I belonged to a grains food coop, and we would buy grains in bulk, buying wheat in 25 and 50 lb bags. In the more recent decade I have purchase some grains at a feed store. It is not the best, but it would feed people.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

cybergranny said:


> Dave---do you have a walmart? 25# bags real reasonable. Montana hard red.


If our Walmarts had wheat I would buy it, unfortunately they dont. I think it is like the powdered whole milk, a regional thing.

The Texas economy is still strong enough that most people are not concerned enough about the future to be storing/using grain yet. Just give them a little more time and reality will set in.


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## LilRedHen (Aug 28, 2011)

Davarm said:


> If our Walmarts had wheat I would buy it, unfortunately they dont. I think it is like the powdered whole milk, a regional thing.


None of the WalMarts in my area carry wheat, but they do carry powdered whole milk in the Hispanic isle. The feed corn in my area is not very clean. I don't know where it comes from, but I really don't want to eat it.

I can't afford to order it either.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*You are not that far from an LDS Distribution Center*



Davarm said:


> If our Walmarts had wheat I would buy it, unfortunately they dont. I think it is like the powdered whole milk, a regional thing.
> 
> The Texas economy is still strong enough that most people are not concerned enough about the future to be storing/using grain yet. Just give them a little more time and reality will set in.


TX - Carrollton (Dallas)
Phone (972) 242-8595 
Address 1100 West Jackson Road 
Carrollton , Texas 75006

http://www.providentliving.org/pfw/multimedia/files/pfw/pdf/123141_HSC_OrderFormUS_EngNov2011_pdf.pdf

The current price on red or white wheat at the LDS Distribution Center is $11.45 for 25 #. You can buy 25 # bags, can it in #10 cans (5.8#), or in mylar pouches (7#)

To find a center near you, http://www.providentliving.org/location/display/1,12568,2026-1-4-39315,00.html

Call ahead and see if they sell to non-members as some do and some don't. If they say they don't, ask them to reconsider that decision. These people not only believe in food storage, they preach it. Once in a while, they will try to prosletize (sp), but that is rare. I told them I just didn't believe in their doctrine.


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## mojo4 (Feb 19, 2012)

Check with wheat montana. They have a hard yellow wheat, prarie gold, and that is some tasty stuff!! On their website they have lists of local companies that sell their wheat. Just store some sugar and salt and a grinder and yeast and you will have delicious bread for a long long time. I never had fresh ground wheat flour before and it was amazing. The flavor the bran and germ adds is off the chain!! I vacuum sealed the wheat in 7 to 10 lb bags for long term (100 to 200 years) storage!! Wheat never goes bad as long as its sealed and dry.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Thank you, I knew about the LDS Distribution Center but it never occurred to me to use it, I'm not Mormon. I guess I will give them a call and check it out. I could go for about 250 pounds to start with and that would give me the warm fuzzies along with what I already have.



weedygarden said:


> TX - Carrollton (Dallas)
> Phone (972) 242-8595
> Address 1100 West Jackson Road
> Carrollton , Texas 75006
> ...


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*They will give you help also!*

I go to my local LDS cannery. Sometimes they are really busy, but usually not. Sometimes they will have volunteers who will work with you every step of the way. Sometimes these are teenagers or young adults. If you want to try canning your wheat, they will show you how and if not busy, help you.

I like the idea of having some of my grains canned, and some in 5 gallon buckets. It is much easier for me to move around a #10 can than a 5 gallon bucket.

Sometimes families come in and the whole family participates in canning or sealing in mylar bags.

Sometimes when I am there, someone will ask which stake and ward I belong to. When I tell them I am not a member, they ask why I am there. I tell them I believe in food storage. I have been asked if I am preparing for the end of the world. I tell them I was raised by grandparents who survived the Great Depression and was raised with food storage. (True to some degree, not a lie, but different kinds of foods like a full freezer and canned goods and chickens) I tell them I grind wheat to make my own bread (true).

I think this is where I have gotten the bulk of my food storage. Can you beat the prices?


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

I wish there was one closer to me I would surely make use of it.
I buy hard red winter wheat for cracking and for good flour for bread and I want to start buying hard white and soft white. I would love to get some Durim wheat for semolina for good hand made pasta.

But with corn I am putting back as much pickling lime as I can as for making nixtamal corn.. processing it like the Inca and Mexicans unlocks many of the nutrients and enzymes that make it easier and better for your body to digest it. 
not that it is a problem now but a steady diet of only corn or cornmeal can lead to certain malnourishment.(after SHTF) (I wanna say rickets*). but combining either beans/rice with the corn makes a complete protein/balance.
There is a site I like that explains it better than I can for sure.
http://www.cookingissues.com/2011/03/09/mesoamerican-miracle-megapost-tortillas-and-nixtamalization/
he even has step by step instructions.
I've made it and if I do it again I will put my freshly nixtalmaled corn into the dehydrator and dry it into (posole) and then run it thru my grinder. when it was wet it just didn't wanna go. I may have to put a good corn grinder in my stash. But if I dry it, it should go thru my hand grinder easier.

ETA* it was Pellagra that I was thinking of from eating too much flint/hard/field corn.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Pickling lime for posole and nixtamal corn*



Emerald said:


> I wish there was one closer to me I would surely make use of it.
> I buy hard red winter wheat for cracking and for good flour for bread and I want to start buying hard white and soft white. I would love to get some Durim wheat for semolina for good hand made pasta.
> 
> But with corn I am putting back as much pickling lime as I can as for making nixtamal corn.. processing it like the Inca and Mexicans unlocks many of the nutrients and enzymes that make it easier and better for your body to digest it.
> ...


Emerald, I have some pickling lime, but have yet to make the nixtamal corn. I have wanted to do so, but not yet. We are fans of posole and find it best with some spicy Hatch chiles which are found by the side of road in many places in the southwest. We have made it with dried posole and canned posole.

Grinding: I have a hand corn grinder but I am wondering if a meat grinder might be better for the wet corn? This is another process I haven't tried.


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## weedygarden (Apr 27, 2011)

*Thanks for the article!*

The article showed the exact corn grinder that I have, the Corona from Columbia. I would have tried to grind corn with it and probably would have given it away. But now, I will use it to grind nixtamel corn as they have suggested, when I make it!

I had really always thought the corn grinder would be used for our gluten free grinding, but I am thinking we will have to come up with a new plan for that.


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## netandtim (Oct 8, 2008)

There's a couple of places that sell bulk wheat packed for long term storage AND they have flat rate shipping.

Emergency Essentials www.beprepared.com
Honeyville Grains www.honeyvillegrain.com

We were getting bulk wheat from a local bakery that would add our order to theirs, but the bought in such bulk that they would only order every 3-4 months. But, they sold it to us at just over cost. After we moved to our rural spot, no more bakeries! Might check with a local bakery?


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

netandtim said:


> There's a couple of places that sell bulk wheat packed for long term storage AND they have flat rate shipping.
> 
> Emergency Essentials www.beprepared.com
> Honeyville Grains www.honeyvillegrain.com
> ...


I haven't thought to check with a bakery. I have to say tho the small one here that I buy buckets from would probably not be big enuf to crack wheat or make fresh whole wheat flour.
I may just buy some more wheat from walmart. $13 for 25lbs and they have hard red/hard white and every so often there is soft white.
I want to try my hand at fresh cream of wheat(aka farina) with the hard white.
and on the grain mill he showed.. I have a grinder that is almost like that.. but if you grind the corn wet in it you almost can not use it for dry flour again. I may have to buy a different one to go with it.
I've used my food processor and my meat grinder and it grinds too thick for tortillas. So mostly I've made tamales. yum..
But I have bought the white already processed posole and ground it fine in the grain mill and it made wonderful white corn tortillas.. So if I just dry that yellow corn like they do the white for posole( I think it is an older type of big kernal white corn too.. not yellow at least what I buy is)it should go thru the mill fine.. probably a double pass tho. I never get my flours like I like them on the first pass..
Oh and I found out the hard way that if you don't dry your ground masa or use it all up quickly it seems to mold in pretty colors in one day! and that was in my fridge. so I do not dilly dally when I make it and use it up.


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## Tjaway6 (Mar 1, 2012)

I got my corn from the fleet farm store as animal feed. It was $12 for 50 lb and very clean. Our Walmart has wheat too. I feel very fortunate. Emerald, thanks for the tips about grinding the corn and moldy masa. Good to know. That's the great thing about the internet. There is so much good information out there. Just waiting for you to find it.


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## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

Tjaway6 said:


> I got my corn from the fleet farm store as animal feed. It was $12 for 50 lb and very clean. Our Walmart has wheat too. I feel very fortunate. Emerald, thanks for the tips about grinding the corn and moldy masa. Good to know. That's the great thing about the internet. There is so much good information out there. Just waiting for you to find it.


You're welcome Tjaway6. The main reason I know all this stuff about food is cuz I like to eat and like to know where the heck it comes from and how it is made from scratch and why people did it certain ways.. while I don't always make things from the very beginning but I do try it once. My great gran used to make sauerbraten which is pickled raw beef(she might have used other meats but I'm sure she mainly used beef) and cooked it with homemade sauerkraut. She did it when I was young because she loved that kind of food.. but when she was younger they made it that way as a form of food preservation.
My family all know that I have allergies and that I am a foodie and so no one, I mean not one of them has questioned me about prepping.. I'm not even sure that they have put two and two together. but they all know that it is easier for me to buy things in bulk and make stuff from scratch to avoid some of the poisons that they put in our foods routinely.
At least here I can pass some of it on. Don't get me going about MSG..
Oh and I have found that fresh corn tortilla hot off the comal are so yummy just on their own or with a filling.. no deep fat frying needed. But being freshly made and without any preservatives they tend to get icky in a couple of days on me too. Growing up in Apple land here in MI I saw many times the whole families of migrant workers having dinner and knew that they made their tortillas every day(not so much now a days, not as many whole families coming back year after year), I just thought it was because them ate them all every day. not that they did not store well.. besides.. they taste better fresh..


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