# Hot Wheat and Corn Cereals



## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Today, I made a batch of whole wheat "Cream of Wheat" and "Cracked Wheat Cereal", came out just like I remember it as a kid. Last week, I ground a batch of corn for Cornbread and cooked the larger pieces of corn that were sifted out of the meal as a breakfast cereal, similar to grits, the next morning. 

Wheat and other grains can provide a cheap, easy and nutritious meals that are a heck of alot better for you and cheaper than the processed, sugar packed, store bought counterparts. We ate these "Hot Cereals" when I was a kid and loved them and now I am going to start serving them to my grown daughters and grandson on a regular basis.

To make the wheat cereal, wash and boil the whole wheat grains until they are completely cooked, soft and chewey when eaten. Dehydrate or otherwise dry the wheat until completely dry and hard, then course grind the dried wheat in a grain mill. Sift the cracked grain and the smaller finer sifting is the Cream of Wheat, the larger pieces can be cooked as a cracked wheat cereal.

For the corn "grits" type cereal, grind the corn to the consistancy of an extra course meal then sift, the finer meal is the cornmeal for cornbread and the larger pieces can be rinsed to remove excess cornstarch and husk pieces then boiled like grits and eaten. If the cracked corn pieces are not rinsed to remove the excess starch, the resulting "stuff" will be like grits suspended in cornstarch paste. I dont like it that way so I wash it first.

A bushel of wheat and a bushel of corn can feed a family for a long time and is pretty cheap too.


----------



## emilysometimes (Oct 6, 2011)

I hadn't thought of grinding cracked wheat for a finer cereal. Thank you for the great tip!


----------



## Frugal_Farmers (Dec 13, 2010)

Good stuff Thanks for sharing.

I take whole wheat berries and boil them for 5 minutes. then simmer them for another 10 minutes. I drain off the water, add brown sugar and a splash of milk. Good eating right there.


----------



## Riverdale (Oct 31, 2009)

Do you use red or white wheat? Hard or soft? My kids have oatmeal nearly every morning and I would like to get them a little variety


----------



## kappydell (Nov 27, 2011)

Riverdale said:


> Do you use red or white wheat? Hard or soft? My kids have oatmeal nearly every morning and I would like to get them a little variety


Any kind of wheat, they cook the same, but have slightly different tastes. 
I find the white whole wheat I get from WalMart has a 'lighter' taste, but is still nice and chewy; the 'regular' whole wheat is slightly bitter to me, but still tastes OK. I use it more for dishes with a flavorsome sauce, they blend better. Hard or soft has to do with gluten content, not eating as a 'dish grain'. You might like to try cooked rice with milk and cinnamon-sugar for breakfast, I have met many who liked it very much, tho I found it a little sugary and bland. (I never have liked sugary stuff for breakfast, though.) I have also recently tried hull-less barley and it is much better than the pearled - has a much nicer texture (not as slimy) as the regular which I save for soup now, not eating from a dish.


----------



## gypsysue (Mar 27, 2010)

Thank you very much for this information! In the past I've ground wheat at a 'coarse' setting and boiled it, trying to simulate whole grain cream-of-wheat cereal. It was always grainy and icky. I never knew I should cook it first, dry it, then grind it! I'm so happy to know that, since cream-of-wheat is one of my favorite breakfasts!

Also happy to know about using different types of wheat. I used hard red for that, but I do have both soft and hard white wheat. I'll try those. I use the red for 'yeast' things (bread, etc.) and the white for non-yeast baking.


----------



## Domeguy (Sep 9, 2011)

What you are making is 'bulgar' wheat which is a staple in many parts of the world and one of the oldest froms of prepared food. Cracked, cooked and dried wheat, 1,000's of years old. Google it. Very high in nutrition. I have access to it in bulk if anyone's interested, pm me.


----------

