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Wheat Berries vs Wheat flour

8K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  NMFarmer 
#1 ·
I am considering the options here, since I cannot grow wheat (just not enough land) purchasing wheat berries is an option, but I would need a grain mill to make it into flour correct? If I look at simple volume, wheat berries would take a lot more space per pound than wheat flour .....granted I cannot make all of the things with wheat flour as I could with wheat berries, but it seems like I could purchase an awful lot of wheat flour for what a good grain mill costs....

Anyone have any wisdom to share on this?
 
#2 ·
Ground grains (flour, meal, etc.) have a short shelf life. If you are wanting to have something that you can eat 10 years down the road, whole grains (or growing them yourself) are your only option. I don't have a grain mill (yet), but I do have several yummy recipes that use wheat berries, so I'm still able to incorporate them into my cooking. Take the plunge, it's not as scary as one might expect!
 
#4 ·
Maybe I am confused about wheat berries, I thought they still have the chaff on them? This would create a lot of air in the can....and flour would have less...but it really comes down to shelf life, any idea what the actual shelf life of wheat flour is?

Anyone know what the conversion rate is for 1lb of wheat berries to Xoz of flour? Obviously it depends on the grind but there must be some rule of thumb?
 
#6 ·
I would consider getting professionally canned flours and baking mixes like these from Emergency Essentials that are designed for longer term storage.
http://beprepared.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_87_A_Grains+&+Flours_E_
Ground flours tend to spoil (go rancid) or get infested with weevils without expert storage techniques.
AFAIK whole grains will outlast ground flour in every case when stored the same way.
For larger quantities I would store whole grains and purchase the grinder.
The super pails are hard to beat if your not well versed in LT food storage.
 
#8 ·
For my wife and I we keep both.

We keep a decent amount of flour that we constantly rotate. But for the "actual" food storage it's wheat berries hands down. We have them in 5 gallon buckets, LOTS of buckets. But as pointed out by NewBerrie the shelf life is so much longer on anything left in whole grain form. We have a pretty big grain mill we do use to make the flour so it's not something we need to use 1 day and don't know how. We also have a small field thresher (That was hard to find!!) that we can use on a small plot of wheat.

So I would say if it is for practical use PLUS food storage use both. But wheat berries is a must for long term!!
 
#10 ·
Flour doesn't store well, wheat does. It's a lot better nutritionally, to grind it only as you need it. Besides, flour is just flour. Wheat berries can also be hot cereal, bulgur, sprouts to give you fresh greens in your diet, etc., as well as flour.

It seems that a lot of people are hesitant to buy wheat berries because of the expense of a grinder, but when you compare the savings of wheat berries to flour, it starts to even out.
 
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