What Spelt Is, Why You Should Use It, How to Use It, and Where to Buy It

August 1, 2012 By


As I’ve mentioned a few times recently, I’ve been on a spelt kick lately, using it to make my Grandma’s Biscuits, as well as pizza crust (recipe coming next week), among other things. I thought I’d take the time to explain a little more about spelt for those of you who are curious and might want to try it for yourselves.

The What

Spelt is one of wheat’s long-lost cousins (einkorn and emmer are some of the others), having been cultivated for thousands of years prior to the twentieth century, when wheat took over as the grain of choice. According to the World’s Healthiest Foods, spelt was one of the first grains to be used in making bread way back in the day.

Although I only have experience with the whole grain (and grinding it myself), apparently spelt flour, like wheat flour, is available in both whole and “white” (not whole) varieties. If you can, use the whole grain and grind it yourself with a grain mill or Vitamix for maximum nutrition.

The Why

Personally, the biggest reason I chose to use spelt is because I found that My Certain Little Someone could tolerate it, whereas he reacts strongly with hives and wheezing to wheat . But even if he did react to spelt, I would still consider using it in addition to my freshly ground whole wheat flour for the rest of the family because of its superior nutritional profile.

Why should you give spelt a try? Here’s what I’ve learned in reading about the benefits of spelt around the web:

  • Many people who are allergic to wheat can tolerate spelt (like My Certain Little Someone). Mind you, this means people who are allergic to the proteins in wheat, not people with celiac disease who cannot properly digest the gluten. Spelt does contain gluten, so it’s not generally recommended as a wheat substitute for those avoiding gluten. Also, people who are sensitive to wheat (but not necessarily allergic) find that spelt is a great substitute. Warning: Rebecca Wood suggests that if you have sensitivities to wheat, you might eventually develop sensitivities to spelt as well if your digestive system is compromised in anyway.
  • Its taste is very similar to wheat, except perhaps better. Of all the wheat-free flours I’ve experimented with (and I think I’ve pretty much experimented with all of them), spelt is my favorite in terms of flavor. Honestly, I can’t tell much of a difference between spelt and wheat, except that it has perhaps more of a “nutty” flavor, for lack of a better word.
  • Despite its slightly different structure, spelt behaves very much like wheat in baking. Because it does have gluten, it’s very good for baking bread, which requires gluten for the best rise and texture.
  • While spelt’s thick hull makes it difficult to harvest and process as quickly as wheat, it also makes spelt more resistant to pests and diseases. That means spelt is easier to grow organically, or at the very least, with fewer pesticides and other chemicals.
  • Spelt contains considerably more protein and fiber than its cousin wheat, which makes it a much healthier carbohydrate.
  • Wheat is gaining notoriety as being difficult to digest. Spelt has no such problem. In fact, spelt is digested more readily by the body, and its nutrients are therefore more effectively used by the body.

Whether for reasons of health (as in the case of allergies and sensitivities) or nutrition, spelt is an excellent grain to incorporate into your diet.

The How

Really, there is no special way to use spelt; you can use it just like you use wheat flour. You can replace wheat with spelt 1:1, or you can replace part of the wheat in your recipe with spelt. Do remember, though, that if you are using storebought spelt flour, it comes in a whole grain or white variety. So make sure you’re comparing apples to apples, and use whole grain spelt in recipes that call for whole wheat flour, and white spelt in recipes that call for unbleached all-purpose flour. Otherwise, you might have to make some adjustments to accommodate the differences brought on by using a whole grain flour.

Some people do suggest that you might need to reduce the liquid in a whole wheat flour recipe by about 25% when using spelt flour. So start out with 75% of the suggested liquid amount, and add additional liquid until you have the desired consistency.

Also, spelt does not need to be mixed or kneaded as long as wheat does, particularly when it comes to making bread. The gluten in spelt is not quite as robust as the gluten in wheat, so it can’t handle too much force. Charlotte Bradley has more information on baking with spelt here.

The Where

Spelt is getting easier and easier to find, but it is still often relegated to the aisles of health food stores. But the major flour brands do carry spelt: King Arthur Flour, Bob’s Red Mill, and Arrowhead Mills.

Purchasing directly from the manufacturer’s website can be pricey, though (as can buying it at a health food store), so here are a few alternatives:

In addition, I recommend scoping out the bulk foods section of your favorite health food store or supermarket to see if they have comparable prices on the spelt berries. When you compare the cost of shipping, it might be cheaper to just purchase it there.

So have I convinced you to give spelt a try? Or are you already a big fan?

This post contains affiliate links.

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The Best Short-Term AND Long-Term Storage for Fresh Herbs

July 26, 2012 By

Honestly, the best way to keep herbs fresh for the longest period of time is to keep their roots firmly planted in the soil, where they will be nourished and happy for several months at least.

But if you, like me, cannot keep a dill plant alive to save your life, then you might benefit from these tips. (Oh, don’t worry; I will persevere in my yearly attempt to kill grow dill, but so far, I haven’t managed to keep it growing for longer than a couple weeks. Yeah, that was probably the record.) And, thankfully, these tips will also apply to a large number of other herbs, if you are also very good at killing those (Or if you just don’t have room for potted herbs. Or if it’s the winter and herbs would die anyway.)

I offer you my two favorite solutions for fresh herb storage (aside from the so-fresh-its-still-alive variety) that I have just hit upon this summer (all hail the mighty Pinterest!).

Short-Term Refrigerator Storage

OK, so this tip has been around a while, and I may have even tried it once or twice back in the day, but then I guess I forgot about it. The past few times I have purchased a bunch of fresh herbs, I tried the method where you stick it in a jar of water and either leave it on the counter at room temperature or put it in the fridge.

Maybe I did something wrong, but that didn’t work for me. Leaving it on the counter was a total disaster: the bunch of cilantro I was trying to keep fresh wilted the first day, and completely withered away the second day. Sadness. Good thing I only wasted $0.69!

I’ve tried the half-full glass of water in the fridge on multiple occasions, but you know what always happens? I bet you do know, because I bet the same thing happens to you (especially if you have those wired shelves, like me, instead of flat plastic or glass shelving) - inevitably, the glass tips over and spills the water everywhere. Annoying.

Plus, I find that even if I do manage to keep the jar or glass upright, the herbs don’t stay fresh for much longer than a few days. How am I supposed to use up a huge bunch of cilantro in that amount of time? Well, I guess I probably could if I put my mind to it. But I usually don’t.

Enter my now-favorite tip that I have (re)discovered:

Wrap a damp paper towel around the fresh herbs and place in a zippered plastic bag.

Press out all the air and seal it shut. Refrigerate.

It’s like magic! The dill in that picture is a week old and is still fresh and yummy. I used some for dinner tonight, and have enough for a few more dinners. A couple of the fronds at the end froze just a bit in the fridge, but for the most part, it’s still in fabulous condition. I am now going to store all my fresh herbs in this manner! From hereon and henceforth.

But… I probably won’t actually get around to using all that dill in the next week. So, I need a long-term storage solution.

Long-Term Freezer Storage

I’m no stranger to freezing herbs; I have done it on many occasion. I’ve tried just sticking the herbs straight up into little freezer baggies. I’ve tried freezing them in a little water in ice cube trays. I’ve tried pureeing them and freezing them in ice cube trays. All of those methods will work to one extent or another.

But now… I’ve taken the ice cube tray to a whole new level and added oil! Many thanks to The Gardener’s Eden for this fabulous idea! So far, this is my very favorite way to freeze herbs for later use. It won’t work for every use, but you can try freezing them in water or broth instead if you prefer. In any case, this is a delicious and super simple way to freeze herbs.

How do you store your fresh herbs?

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Canning - It’s Not What You Think!

July 24, 2012 By

Does the whole idea of canning scare you? Or do you feel like it’s just time-consuming? Or perhaps you think you just don’t have the skills necessary to can successfully.

A few years ago, that’s exactly how I felt: scared, apprehensive, and unsure about the whole concept of preserving at home by canning. But I took a deep breath, jumped in and started… and found, to my surprise, that canning was not at all what I thought it was!

If you’re still hesitant to experiment with canning, read my guest post today at Keeper of the Home that will reassure you about the ease and safety (not to mention the expense) of canning.

And be sure to come back on Thursday, because I’m going to have a nice little giveaway featuring one of the products I mention in that post!

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Preserving with my Vitamix

July 19, 2012 By

I knew when I was saving up for my Vitamix that it would help me save time and money by enabling me to quickly make certain foods that I didn’t used to make, like sunflower seed butter or coconut milk. What I didn’t anticipate was how it would save me time and money by enabling me to more quickly accomplish tasks I was already doing, like shredding and puree-ing fruits and vegetables in order to preserve them.

At my most recent OAMS trip, I happened across a whole bunch of seconds produce at a local produce stand, especially some tomatoes and zucchini that were in excellent condition. We had just come off a very busy week of VBS and I didn’t have a great deal of time or energy, but I did want to take care of the veggies before they went completely bad. I did a quick little Google search to see if my Vitamix could be put to use for me, and sure enough! It could!

For most fruits and vegetables, I like to chop or puree them before freezing because then they are more usable when I need them. I do occasionally freeze jalapeno peppers and the like in their entirety, because they defrost very quickly. But for the most part, I like to be able to pull the veggies out of the freezer in a usable state. Out of the freezer, into the pot. Simple and quick! Plus, a lot of veggies change texture in the freezer and are not as easy to chop up when they are defrosted as they are when they are fresh.

Unfortunately, this prep work does take a bit of time, so I have been known to put off the task until it was too late. Those seconds tomatoes purchased at the produce stand for half price or less suddenly don’t seem like such a good deal when they’re leaking tomato juice all over the counter 3 days later because I didn’t feel like taking the time to prep them for the freezer.

Vitamix to the rescue!

Puree

The Vitamix is a blender, so naturally, it blends fruits and veggies into purees quite nicely. Any old blender will do the trick with most fruits and vegetables (especially cooked ones), but I will say that I burned out quite a few cheaper blenders by expecting a little bit too much of them in this department.

I was actually kinda floored by how quickly the Vitamix decimated (in a good way of course) my tomatoes. I cleaned them, peeled them (with the aid of some hot water), chopped them in quarters and squeezed out the seeds, then dumped the whole pile into the Vitamix. Turned it on, and I had several cups of tomato puree in (literally) seconds. I poured it into a bag and put it into the freezer to make into a fresh tomato sauce or some other yummy dish at some point in the future. It probably took me about 10 or 15 minutes to get from whole tomatoes to a freezer bag full of tomato puree.

Tomatoes aren’t the only things that can be quickly pureed in the Vitamix, of course. These fruits and veggies (and more) can be pureed in the Vitamix in a matter of seconds by setting the speed somewhere between 5 and 10 (depending on the fruit or vegetable and the desired thickness or smoothness):

  • Bananas - I like to pour the puree into ice cube trays and freeze it to use for recipes that call for mashed banana. No time for banana bread today, but you have a couple browning bananas? This is a quick way to save those bananas before they go completely bad.
  • Cooked Pumpkins, Winter Squash and Sweet Potato - You might need to add a little water (or broth, depending on if you want it for a sweet or savory use) to the blender for a really smooth puree. The puree can be used in all kinds of baked goods (Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies are a big favorite!), or even soups and casseroles.
  • Apples - You can puree either cooked or raw apples in the Vitamix, although I personally prefer cooked. Raw applesauce will definitely need some lemon juice, and should be eaten or frozen right away. It goes brown very quickly! When I do make raw applesauce, I like to add some other fruit with it, like berries. The resulting texture and color is more pleasing.
  • Peaches - Like apples, they brown easily, so I personally don’t freeze them, pureed or otherwise. I do, however, like to make some yummy peach sorbet, and the Vitamix makes quick work of the puree.

Dry Chopping

The Vitamix can be used as a food processor for a variety of fruits and vegetables by utilizing either the Dry Chopping or Wet Chopping method. The Wet Chopping method requires you to cover the produce with water, then process them for one or two seconds at the highest speed. The Dry Chopping method is simply a matter of turning the blender on at a low speed (somewhere between 1 and 5, depending on the food in question), then dropping large chunks of the vegetable or fruit into the opening in the lid, allowing the blade to slice through it.

“Dry Chopping” is, I guess, something of a misnomer, because it’s more like shredding or mincing. If you want pieces that are diced or larger, you’ll probably want to use another tool or just do it by hand. But I’ve found the Dry Chopping method to be perfect for the following:

  • Celery - I always buy the organic celery at Trader Joe’s, which comes in a package of two. I never use up both of them before they start to yellow and turn, and I always tell myself that I need to freeze them up before that happens. But of course, I never do, because chopping up celery takes a really long time! I managed to rescue a good portion of my celery this time around, simply by dry chopping it in the Vitamix. You don’t even need to cut the celery in chunks before chopping it; just drop the entire stalks in one or two at a time and watch it chop away! I do recommend chopping only one or two stalks at a time, then cleaning out the container before continuing, just to make sure you get any strands off the blade before you have a tightly knotted mess on your hands! I freeze the resulting chopped celery to use in broth, soups, and casseroles.
  • Onions - This will help eliminate the tears! All you have to do is peel the onion, cut off the ends, and chop it into large chunks, then let the Vitamix do the mincing for you. Easy peasy.
  • Zucchini - Seeing as we are smack dab in the middle of the crazy zucchini season, this one comes in super handy! Shredded zucchini freezes beautifully and is perfect for making baked goods or tossing into pasta salads, onto pizza, or into casseroles.
  • Carrots - I don’t always run my carrots through the Vitamix, because I usually prefer to eat them in larger pieces. But the shredded carrots also work well in a variety of dishes, like this simple pasta salad that we had for dinner tonight.

I was going to make a video for you as I chopped away at my veggies, but my kitchen wasn’t clean I ran out of time. Instead, I’ll share with you the ones I found:

The second video shows you how to chop onions using the Wet Chopping method. Either Wet or Dry Chopping works for onions.

I’m sure there are many more veggies that can be chopped in such a manner, but these are the ones that come to mind.

As for the “preserving” part, all I did with my freshly pureed and chopped produce was pack it away in freezer bags and freezer-safe containers and pop it in the freezer. Done!

This post contains affiliate links, but is not sponsored in any way by Vitamix or any other brand. I just get a little enthusiastic about my Vitamix.

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Apple Pectin: How to Make It, How to Use It, and Why I Don’t

July 16, 2012 By

Fall Sunday 2010

For the past few years, I have enjoyed making my own jam. I love that it’s healthier than storebought jam because I use fresh local fruit and very little sugar (sometimes I even use honey!). I also love that it’s very easy to make and doesn’t take a great deal of time.

Last year, feeling comfortable with the whole jam-making process, I decided to step it up a notch and try my hand at homemade pectin.

What Homemade Pectin Is

Pectin, as I’m sure you know, is what holds the jam together. Pectin is what causes the jam to “set” and become more solid than liquid. Pectin comes from fruit, and apples are particularly rich in pectin.

Most people are familiar with store-bought pectin that comes in powder form and is sold in little boxes. Sometimes people do without any specific source of pectin at all and just boil the living daylights out of their fruit to release the pectin inside it. And sometimes people make their own pectin by boiling the living daylights out of apples.

How to Make Homemade Pectin

The process of making your own pectin is actually quite straightforward: simply cover a large amount of apple “leavings” (peels and cores) with water and then boil for several hours. Strain through a lined mesh sieve and store the remaining liquid in the freezer or in processed jars. If you would like more specific instructions, please see Fig Jam and Lime Cordial’s excellent tutorial on homemade pectin here.

How to Use Homemade Pectin

Using homemade pectin is not nearly as straightforward a matter as making it. That’s because the amount of pectin found in fruit varies greatly, and homemade apple pectin does not come with a chart to tell you how much you should use.

Another element of jam-making adds even more trickery to the issue, and that is sugar. You have to have the proper ratio of sugar to pectin if you ever want your jam to set.

Furthermore, you’re going to need a little bit of lemon juice, which is also essential to the gelling process.

And, of course, how much you use of each of these ingredients depends entirely on how much fruit you have and what kind it is.

Complicated much, yes?! Once again, I will refer you to Fig Jam and Lime Cordial and their Jam Making Primer. But to sum up, when making jam with your own homemade pectin, you need to combine the appropriate amounts of fruit, pectin and lemon juice into a pot and bring it to a full rolling boil. Once the fruit has softened, add the appropriate amount of sugar and bring it back to a boil. Boil the living daylights out of it until it sets. If it doesn’t set, add more sugar or pectin and boil it some more.

Why I Don’t Use Homemade Apple Pectin

Homemade apple pectin seemed like such a frugal and healthy idea - an all natural, chemical free alternative to store-bought pectin that I could make from apple scraps I would normally throw away. Brilliant, right?! Once I read about it, I was determined to give it a go. After excitedly bottling up and freezing several jars of homemade apple pectin during the peak of apple season last fall, I was anxious to try my hand at jam made completely 100% from scratch with the onset of berry season this year.

Imagine my dismay when my experiment was a complete and total flop. Oh, my jam “set” just fine. After I had almost completely boiled it away, that is. And added way more sugar than I usually do. And slaved over a hot stove for much longer than I usually do. And got spattered by hot bubbling jam more than ever before.

I decided that I would never bother with homemade apple pectin again. Why? Oh, let me just count the reasons why:

  1. Making the pectin was easy, but it was kind of time-consuming. And it took up valuable real estate in my freezer.
  2. I had to boil the jam for. ev. er. Usually, jam takes me about an hour, start to finish. With the apple pectin, it was easily twice that long.
  3. I started with four cups of mashed fruit, the typical amount used in an average batch of jam made with store-bought pectin. Typically, that amount will yield 3-4 pint jars of jam. How many pints did I get from my batch made with homemade pectin? One. Just one.
  4. The pectin I usually use requires only 1/4-1/2 cup of sugar (I usually use unrefined sugar) or honey. I can’t remember exactly how much sugar I used with the apple pectin, but it ended up being considerably more.
  5. I had to boil the fruit down for so long that I highly doubt any nutritional value is left.
  6. Also because of the lengthy boiling time, the resulting jam tastes cooked rather than fresh.
  7. Getting the jam to set when using apple pectin is much more tricky than when using store-bought pectins, because you have to get the ratio of pectin, sugar and acid just right or it won’t work. And you have to test it to see if it’s set, which is, in my opinon, a waste of good jam!

To sum up:

It’s not QUICK - it takes forever!

It’s not EASY - it involves a lot of work and a more knowledge of jam-making than I possess.

It’s not CHEAP - the pectin might be practically free, but if my yield is less than a quarter of what I would get otherwise, it is not at all worth it.

It’s not HEALTHY - all the nutrients are boiled away, so you’re mostly left with concentrated sugar held together by fruit juices and some pulp.

What I Use Instead

My one experience with apple pectin was enough to convince me to return to my favorite old standby, Pomona’s Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin is incredibly easy to use, is all natural, and requires only 1/4-1/2 cup sugar for most recipes. It also works with all kinds of sugar alternatives, including stevia and honey. I have never had a batch of jam fail in all the time I’ve been using Pomona’s Pectin, and it sets up very quickly - within a minute! No constant boiling, stirring, and testing for a proper set.

I wish Pomona were paying me to say this, but she’s not. The honest truth is: I LOVE THIS STUFF!

What kind of pectin do you like to use?

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The Best BBQ Sauce!

June 27, 2012 By

Next week is the Fourth of July, can you believe it? I can’t. I just realized I really need to plan a special July 4th menu, but then I realized that would involve knowing what we are doing for Fourth of July. Huh. Better get crackin’ on that.

Here’s a recipe that might help with your Fourth of July plans (if you have them): the best barbecue sauce recipe! It’s my favorite recipe, the one I make all the time. I love it because it’s from my favorite vintage cookbook, and I love it because it’s flexible and easily adaptable to the ingredients I have on hand and my whims at the moment.

You’ll find my favorite bbq sauce recipe over at Homemaker’s Challenge.

And if you’re looking for more July 4th inspiration, well, here ya go:

Red White and Blue Fruit Salad

Simple Sweet Watermelon Salad (With mint! Yum!)

French Potato Salad. Ish.

Red White and Blue Jello (and not from a box!)

Oven Smores - in case you don't fire up the grill

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How Not to Waste Your Fresh Local Produce

June 14, 2012 By

FoodWasteFriday
One of my biggest pet peeves is throwing away food. I could kick myself every time I dump food down the drain or in the trash: it’s just a complete and total waste! And I hate waste. Which is why I am so thrilled to link up to The Frugal Girl on her weekly feature where she posts a picture of all the food she had to throw away for the week, and invites other bloggers to do the same. The idea is to feel some accountability - who wants to admit they threw away all that money to the whole world? - to help you avoid throwing away food in the future.

So in the picture above, you see what I threw away this week:

  1. pork bones and other remnants
  2. chicken broth
  3. summer squash

I should have put the pork bones in the freezer to save them until I had a chance to make broth, but no. I left them in the fridge like a dum-dum, and there they sat for 2 weeks or more, waiting in vain for me to broth-ify them. *sigh*

Then there was the broth (made with chicken bones that I did put in the freezer once upon a time) that got shoved to the back of the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, which spells certain death in the perishable food world. I have no idea how old it is, so I say better safe than sorry.

And finally, the saddest tale of all, the beautiful little summer squashes that I bought at the farmers market 2 weeks ago. I just forgot about them, can you believe it? By the time I realized they were too far gone, I couldn’t really face it, so I left them in the fridge a few more days. Ahem. So the next week, when I bought squash at the farmers’ market, I took it home and shredded it and put it in the freezer. No more rotting squash for me!

The good thing is that I am learning! Over the past month since the farmers’ market opened up, I’ve realized a few important habits I needed to develop in order to make the most of the fresh local produce I bring home every week.

Here’s what to do with the random fruits and veggies you pick up at the farmers’ market or in your CSA box before they end up in the compost pin or the trash disposal.

  • Make a plan. If you just wing it - which is what I like to do - it ain’t gonna happen. You’re going to end up with spoiled produce every time. Incorporate your fresh fruits and veggies into your menu plan instead of just assuming you will eat them at some point.
  • First eat the produce that deteriorates more quickly. Berries and green beans are right up there on this list! When you make your menu plan, incorporate these short-lived fruits and veggies into the earlier days so they at least have a fighting chance.
  • Freeze what you won’t eat before it goes bad. Almost any fruit or vegetable can be frozen, and it’s super easy, too. Most veggies benefit from some blanching or parboiling before freezing, but most fruits can be frozen as is.
  • Store the produce properly. When stored properly, many fruits and vegetables will last longer than you might think. I stumbled across a fabulous blog post that shows you how to store almost any kind of produce.
  • Invest in special produce storage containers. I really love the Tupperware Fridge Smart System, but others swear by the Debbie Meyer Green Bags. My Fridge Smart containers really do a fabulous job of extending the life of my produce.
How do you use up your fresh produce before it goes bad?

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5 Days Series: Tried and Tested Whole Wheat Recipes

June 7, 2012 By

Join my friends and I as we spend 5 days together, exploring a variety of topics all related to mothering and homemaking!

Welcome back to 5 Days with Whole Wheat Flour! If you’ve missed any of the posts in the series, here they are:

  • different types of wheat available,
  • why you should choose whole wheat
  • benefits of grinding your own wheat
  • tips for baking with whole wheat flour

I’m going to close out the series by leaving you with a list of tried-and-true recipes that utilize whole wheat flour. Some of them consist entirely of 100% whole wheat, some only partial. Some are from my blog, many are from blogs I read and love. But they all have one thing in common: they are tested recipes that work. Most of them I have made myself on more than one occasion; the others come from trusted sources that have found them to be reliable. Keep this list handy, because you will need it!

At the end of the post, I’ve included a link-up so you can add your own favorite whole wheat recipes! Add as many as you like, just make sure they’re recipes you can recommend to anyone. And share with your friends - the more recipes we have, the more comprehensive the resource.

Breads

Mashed Potato Crescent Rolls - This is a family favorite recipe that I adapted for the bread machine.

Honey Whole Wheat English Muffins - This one also utilizes the bread machine.

Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (one of my variations) - I make the master recipe differently almost every time. This is a very successful version.

Flatbread Sandwich Thins - A creative twist on the artisan bread in 5 minutes a day recipe.

Anyone Can Make it Homemade Bread - Make it with half whole wheat flour for a delicious and healthy homemade bread!

Whole Wheat Sourdough Starter - As soon as I get my nerve up, I’m going to attempt this.

Quick Breads

Ugly Savory Pumpkin Muffins - You’ve had pumpkin muffins before, I’m sure. But have you had savory pumpkin muffins?

Better than Red Lobster Garlic Cheese Biscuits - I admit I love those biscuits at Red Lobster. These take care of the craving and are a lot healthier!

Pumpkin Bread - I’m ready for pumpkin season now; are you?

Whole Wheat Sourdough Biscuits - Recipes like these make me want to give sourdough another go.

Very-Little-Bother Bread - My friend Steph’s favorite bread recipe

Great Harvest Honey Whole Wheat Bread Copycat - This one is on my list to try. I love Great Harvest!

Breakfast

Individual Oven Pancakes - I had to play around with it a little bit to get this just right when using whole wheat flour.

Grandma’s Biscuits with an Autumn Twist - The twist? Pumpkin!

Pumpkin Donut Holes - These are awesome. We gobble them up around here.

Healthier Blueberry Muffins - Every cook needs a blueberry muffin recipe in their repertoire.

Whole Wheat Waffles - Yes, even waffles can be healthy! Er.

Dessert

1-2-3 Fruit Crisp - Fruit crisp is the perfect vehicle for whole grains!

Sugar and Spice Cupcakes - Based on the wacky cake recipe, these are flavored with spices like ginger, cloves, and cardamom. This is awesomeness.

Gingersnaps - Whole wheat flour in the yummiest little package ever!

Oatmeal Jumbles - Cookies, actually.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blondies - You haven’t really lived until you’ve eaten a few of these.

Ginger Peach Shortcakes - You’re going to want to keep this one handy. Peach season is coming soon!

Strawberry Summer Cake - Make it before strawberry season is over!

Main Dish

Cream of Chicken Soup - Yes, you can use whole wheat flour as a thickener!

Creamy Chicken and Rice Soup - I’ve made this one, and it’s delicious.

Savory Oven Pancake - The Dutch Pancake gone savory.

Slow Cooker Chicken & Whole Wheat Garlic Dumplings - I shouldn’t type such things when I’m hungry.

Perfectly Frugal Pizza Crust - Everybody needs a good pizza crust recipe.

The Entire Series
Day 1: What’s With All The Different Kinds of Wheat?
Day 2: Why Whole Wheat?
Day 3: Getting the Most Out of Your Wheat (Grind it Fresh)
Day 4: How to Bake with Whole Wheat Flour
Day 5: Tried and Tested Whole Wheat Recipes

What’s your favorite whole wheat recipe?


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How to Bake with Whole Wheat Flour

June 7, 2012 By

Join my friends and I as we spend 5 days together, exploring a variety of topics all related to mothering and homemaking!

Welcome back to 5 Days with Whole Wheat Flour! So far we’ve discussed the different types of wheat available, why you should choose whole wheat , and the benefits of grinding your own wheat. Today, it’s all about the point where the rubber meets the road: actually baking with whole wheat.

Now that you are fully armed with information about wheat, it’s time to learn how to use it. Baking with whole wheat is kind of tricky, not only because of the taste, but because of the texture as well. Not to mention that it behaves somewhat differently from white flour in baked goods, so you have to use it in a slightly different way.

 

Grind

I know I already said this yesterday, but if you missed out on that post, I will repeat it just for you: grind your own wheat berries for the freshest, best tasting flour ever! Whole wheat flour gets a bad rep in part because it is often already rancid when you buy it from the store. Part of that bitter taste comes from the tannins in the bran, but part of it is also the rancid quality. Freshly ground flour tastes nutty and sometimes sweet, not bitter.

Sift

As we discussed in the post “Why Whole Wheat?”, there are some concerns about the digestibility of whole wheat, particularly the bran. Some people resolve the issue by soaking or sprouting their flour, but I feel that sifting the flour is sufficient. Since (at least) the days of Rome, flour has traditionally been sifted to remove the larger pieces of bran left behind in the milling process. If you grind your wheat in the Vitamix, there’s not likely to be a lot of bran to sift out, but both store-bought and home-ground whole grain flours still benefit from a good sifting before baking. Sifting aerates the flour, which helps result in a lighter product in the end.

Weigh

The American system of measurement in baking - cups - is horridly inaccurate when it comes to measuring dry goods. One cup of flour can weigh 4 oz., or it can weigh 5.5 oz. Clearly, this makes a difference in whatever it is you’re baking, so it makes the most sense to weigh your flour when baking rather than using unreliable cup measurements. You can convert recipe measurements to weight, but it’s easier to start with a weight-based recipe in the first place. The easiest place to find such recipes is on British sites, like AllRecipes.co.uk. You can also find a huge list of measurement conversions at Convert-to.com.

If you don’t have a kitchen scale, I can highly recommend the one I use: The EatSmart Kitchen Scale. It’s small and lightweight, so it doesn’t take up a lot of space (a precious commodity in my kitchen!). Plus, it’s really easy to use and has proven to be very accurate.

Here’s a video of me sifting and weighing whole wheat flour to make bread. (I know, another vlog! Two days in a row! What is the world coming to?)

LinkedTube

Orange Juice

King Arthur Flour - the expert on the subject - recommends replacing up to a 1/4 cup of the liquid called for in a recipe with orange juice. The orange juice is supposed to offset the bitter taste that whole wheat flour can sometimes project, but it doesn’t make the bread (or whatever you’re baking) taste like orange juice. We don’t normally have orange juice sitting around, but when oranges are in season, I do make use of this tip. Maybe this winter, I will freeze some extra orange juice so I can have it all year long! Some people recommend adding a pinch (just a little pinch!) of citric acid to the dough for presumably the same reason.

Moist & Flavorful

The stronger flavor of whole wheat flour works very well in recipes that have a complementary strong flavor. I personally think that whole wheat flour adds a lot to recipes that have a lot of spices, like gingerbreads and gingersnaps. Pumpkin breads and cakes also work well with whole wheat flour, in my opinion. The molasses and ginger in recipes like this really go together well with the hearty whole wheat flavor. Carrot cake is another one that I believe is a good candidate for whole wheat flour. Also, these recipes generally have more moisture to them, another reason whole wheat flour works well in them. Whole wheat flour loves moisture! So if you’re just starting to bake with whole wheat, I suggest you start with a recipe like one of these.

Replacing White Flour

When starting with a white-flour-based recipe, you can replace up to 1/3 of the white flour with whole wheat flour and not have to make any adjustments.

More Liquid

Keep in mind that whole wheat flour absorbs more liquid than white flour, so if you’re adapting a white-flour-based recipe, you’ll want to add more liquid. Add just a tablespoon at a time until you get the consistency you desire.

Consider a Different Flour

If your only exposure to whole wheat flour is the kind you buy at the grocery store, consider trying a different type of flour. In particular, I would recommend either white whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour (the latter is not particularly good for bread, though, if that’s what you want to bake). Whole wheat pastry flour can be difficult to find, but white whole wheat flour is readily available at most grocery stores. Both of these flours will have a lighter taste and texture than the whole wheat flour you are more accustomed to.

Baking Bread with Whole Wheat Flour

Everybody loves a slice of fresh homemade bread, but making a 100% whole wheat loaf of bread that rises beautifully and tastes hearty but delicious can be a seemingly impossible task. I admit I’m not there yet, but I’ve learned a few things along the way that have helped me in my journey to bake a better loaf of bread.

Vital Gluten

Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day, my own personal favorite guide to bread baking, recommends adding 1/4 cup of vital gluten to a 4-lb batch of dough (7-8 cups flour) to aid in the rise and elasticity of the dough. Gluten is the element of wheat flour that helps create the rise and elasticity of the dough, so that the final product is light but not crumbly. This is why most bakers prefer to use a high protein type of wheat (like hard red spring wheat) to bake bread, because high protein is high gluten. Unfortunately, when using whole wheat, the bran cuts into the strands created by the gluten, reducing the elasticity and hindering the rise. Sifting helps with this, but so does adding gluten.

Personally, I haven’t followed this advice because it’s just one more thing to put on my grocery list. My grocery budget is pretty tight, and doesn’t really have room for extra stuff. I also admit to being more than a little fearful of ingesting too much gluten, considering the rise of wheat allergies, sensitivities, and celiac disease. I am not 100% convinced that it is in fact the healthiest way to make bread. I am also not 100% against using it, should I ever decide to spend money on it. You will have to make that call for yourself. If you want to check it out, Amazon.com carries Hodgson Mill’s Vital Gluten.

Ginger

I like to add a few dashes of powdered ginger to my bread dough, because it is also a conditioner. It makes the yeast happy, which helps give the dough a happy rise.

Eggs, Sugar, Milk & Butter

These ingredients are all considered “dough conditioners” and will help produce a lighter loaf of bread when baking with whole wheat flour. Most sandwich bread recipes contain one or more of these ingredients because they will all help create a more delicious and higher-rising loaf of bread, the kind most of us are familiar with when it comes to sandwiches.

What are your favorite tips for baking with whole wheat flour?

The Entire Series
Day 1: What’s With All The Different Kinds of Wheat?
Day 2: Why Whole Wheat?
Day 3: Getting the Most Out of Your Wheat (Grind it Fresh)
Day 4: How to Bake with Whole Wheat Flour
Day 5: Tried and Tested Whole Wheat Recipes

Sharing at Works for Me Wednesday, This Chick Cooks

 

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5 Days with Whole Wheat Flour: Getting the Most Out of Your Wheat

June 6, 2012 By

Join my friends and I as we spend 5 days together, exploring a variety of topics all related to mothering and homemaking!

Welcome back to 5 Days with Whole Wheat Flour! So far we’ve discussed the different types of wheat available, and why you should choose whole wheat (for the most part) over white flour. Today, we’re going to discuss the benefits of grinding your own wheat.

Say what? Yes, grinding your own wheat. No, not by hand. (Heavens, that would take forever!) Not even with a stone.

These days, you can purchase appliances that will speedily grind your wheat (and any other grain or seed) for you so that you can have the freshest possible flour in a minute or less.

Why? Why would you want to invest in such a tool? I know that I don’t part with my (husband’s) hard-earned money easily, and I suspect you don’t either. Allow me to convince you of the necessity of such a tool, and encourage you to save up for one if you don’t have ready money for it.

The reason why whole wheat should be freshly ground if at all possible is the same reason why we avoid certain oils: rancidity. Polyunsaturated fats easily turn rancid simply by exposure to heat, light, or air, making them very unstable. Oils made from these fats are full of free radicals, which become the source of a large number of diseases in the body.

The oil in wheat comes from the germ. Here’s the picture from yesterday so you can see what it looks like:

Storebought whole wheat flour might not contain all the oils and the germ in its entirety, but even so, it does go rancid much more quickly than white flour. This is a good thing. Living food will go bad much more quickly than dead or dying food. The trick is to consume it before it turns rancid so that you can get the benefit of all its nutrients without the risk of free radicals.

In the case of certain oils (most vegetable oils), this is nigh unto impossible, which is why many experts recommend avoiding such oils. (The Good Fat Cookbook by Fran McCullough explains this in great detail.) But thankfully, with whole wheat, there is a way to easily acquire fresh whole wheat flour without worrying about rancidity and free radicals.

The answer is to grind it yourself. When you grind your own whole wheat, you can be sure it is as fresh as possible. The bran (the outer covering of the wheatberry) protects the inside contents of the grain so that it can stay fresh for years. It’s only when the bran is crushed (or milled) that the germ is exposed to light and air and begins to rancidize.

If you’re still not convinced, consider the “rat study” mentioned by Katie of Kitchen Stewardship (who, as I mentioned yesterday, has extensively studied this topic of wheat, and has a lot of great information on her blog) in her post about the nutrition of freshly ground wheat. In the study, rats were fed a variety of types of wheat; some freshly ground, some 15-day old ground flour, and some store-bought white flour. Within 4 generations, the rats fed the old flour and the white flour had become completely infertile. Four generations of rats is the equivalent of 100 human years… Americans have been eating white flour for about 130 years, and what has become a widespread problem? Infertility. I think it is no coincidence!

So whether you sprout it or soak it or not, clearly the healthiest wheat is the freshest wheat. Many experts suggest that freshly ground whole wheat can be refrigerated or frozen and used within 2-4 months. I say better safe than sorry. Grinding wheat in the appropriate equipment takes less than a minute, so it’s easy enough to grind your wheat right before you need to use it. If you have extras, you can store it in the freezer to use a tablespoon at a time as a thickener or sourdough feeder. But generally speaking, it’s best to use the flour you grind right away.

I have no experience with grain mills, so I will direct you Kelli at Lady of the Barn, who is also participating in the 5 Day series, and presented the results of her extensive research on grain mills earlier this week. She will direct you to the best grain mills for your purpose.

What I do have experience with is my Vitamix! With a Vitamix dry blade, you can grind wheat berries in a minute! It’s so easy to use, and I love that it’s a multi-purpose appliance. Aside from my yogurt machine, my rule for the kitchen is that all of my appliances must be multi-taskers, and the Vitamix certainly is that. I use it at least once a day, and for all kinds of things: smoothies, coconut milk, rice milk, brown rice flour, milk shakes, ice cream, etc. etc. But I especially love to use it for grinding fresh flour.

And whaddyaknow, I actually made you a video about it! This is my first ever vlog, can you believe it? I’ve been blogging for how long, and this is my first vlog? Crazy! And for you non-video-watchers (because I confess, I am one), I’ve written out my flour grinding method below the video. Enjoy!

LinkedTube

My Flour-Grinding Vitamix Method

  1. Store the wheat berries in the freezer. Grinding in the Vitamix generates a lot of heat, which can damage some of the vitamins, and it also means you have to give the flour some time to cool down before using it. If you freeze your berries first, that will help with both issues. I can use flour ground from frozen berries right away.
  2. Only grind grains in the Dry Blade, which must be bought separately.
  3. Grind one cup at a time. The Vitamix manual says you can grind up to two cups at a time, but I find that it grinds better when I only do one cup at a time.
  4. Turn the variable speed to “ten”, then the switch to High. Grind for one minute (set a timer if you need to).
  5. Sift the flour through a mesh strainer before using.

That’s all there is to it! To clean it, you can fill the container half way with water and a drop of dish soap, and blend it on high for about 30 seconds, then rinse. When there’s just dry dust from grains, Isimply give it a good rinse and let it dry.

Purchasing a Vitamix with a dry blade costs about $600, plus shipping. Gulp. I know! El Cheapo here can’t even think about that cost without shuddering! But you have a few options:

  • Consider a reconditioned machine. They cost about a $100 less, and come with a 5-year warranty.
  • Purchase it at Costco. Periodically Costco will have a Vitamix show where a vendor will come to demonstrate the product, and it’s usually cheaper then.
  • Save up! That’s what I did. I saved my spare pennies until I could afford one.
  • Follow Granola Mom 4 God’s example and put it on your wish list. Ask everyone to contribute what they would spend on your birthday or Christmas present to your Vitamix fund instead.

And if you think a Vitamix is still not worth it, I strongly urge you to think again. I normally don’t pay anymore for anything than I have to, and I’m famous for buying the cheapest thing possible. But can I tell you how many blenders and food processors I burned through before I finally threw up my hands in defeat and declared I wouldn’t purchase another one until I purchased a Vitamix!? I wasted probably several hundred dollars anyway on machine that just didn’t last. The Vitamix (a new one) comes with a 7-year warranty and usually lasts much, much longer than that.

Well. I seriously did not intend for this post to be such a Vitamix commercial, but I just got excited and a little carried away! Ahem. At any rate, I can assure you, Vitamix did not sponsor me in any way for this post, but I am a Vitamix affiliate. So if you click on my Vitamix links and make a purchase (yay, you!), then I will earn a small commission. The good news for you is that you also earn $25 in free shipping just for clicking my link, a win-win in my opinion! Or you can take my advice and wait until Vitamix comes to Costco for a better price. I totally understand, because that’s exactly what I did. At any rate, I really think you need to go get yourself a Vitamix.

And grind some grain, baby!

The Entire Series
Day 1: What’s With All The Different Kinds of Wheat?
Day 2: Why Whole Wheat?
Day 3: Getting the Most Out of Your Wheat (Grind it Fresh)
Day 4: How to Bake with Whole Wheat Flour
Day 5: Tried and Tested Whole Wheat Recipes

Sharing at Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, and Works for Me Wednesday

BundleoftheWeek.com, 5 eBooks for $7.40!

11 Comments Filed Under: Basics, Bread, Home, Knowledge Tagged With:
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