SORRY, that's "Wheat and Grain Storage" on the title there...
I thought a thread about storing grains/flour (I'll concentrate on wheat) might be useful for those who haven't done any of this. I've seen a few comments here over the months asking why anyone would want to store wheat. One comment I remember is "why store wheat if you may not have a dependable source of heat for cooking, yeast/start for making bread rise, or a way to make flour from the wheat.
I'll start with a response to that comment: Personally, I am really into all sorts of grains, but a more general answer to that question would be that wheat and other grains have been stored throughout time because they are very easy to store compared to most other foods and they supply a lot of "bang for the buck" when it comes to nutrition. Also, wheat is not only for bread. Bread is great, but there are many other foods you can make from wheat. Lastly, if you don't have yeast to make bread, baking soda (or baking powder) works great and doesn't lose it's ability to make bread rise if stored properly--try some Irish Soda Bread. I just made some and make it quite often--quick, easy, and pretty decent.
On to the storage aspect: first, you could simply store flour if you like. I do that as well as store grain. If it is the typical white flour from the big makers, it will last a long time. I've had some last quite a number of years (assuming it doesn't get bugs or too much humidity). You do need to be careful, though. If you want to store it for an extended time, you'll need to stick with the white flour. The mills make that white flour specifically because it stores longer than other types. If you get what the mills call "whole wheat flour," your storage time drops considerably. AND, as an aside, the "whole wheat flour" from the store is generally NOT really whole wheat flour. If it were (there are some small mills who actually mill it) you would have to use it up quickly (more on this below). What you get with "whole wheat flour" from the grocery store is basically white flour with just a smidgen of bran added back in (or left in as the case may be).
A word about different kinds of wheat flours is probably in order about now. A simplified version of what a wheat berry consists of is the husk, the bran, the endosperm, and the germ. Of course, the husk is always removed (or at least almost always). Commercial white flour is almost always just the milled endosperm, which is the majority of the wheat berry. The milled endosperm will keep a long time and different varieties of wheat are used for different types of flour (general purpose flour, cake flour, etc). As I said, "whole wheat flour" is where a bit of bran is left in the flour, which gives it that brownish color. It's supposed to be better for you, right? Well, real whole wheat flour would even be better than better for you. That would include the milled germ. Problem with that from a commercial standpoint is that milled germ contains a lot more oil than the rest of the wheat berry. This in turn causes it to go rancid much more quickly. Therein lies the main reason that white flour came into being--storage suitability. And I'll bet you thought it was just to make the flour prettier or cheaper to mill, right???
Okay, so this brings up why you might want to store your "flour" as whole grains (wheat berries). Stored properly, that wheat will last 30 years, and that is WITH the wheat germ intact, along with the bran. Of course, you probably don't want to buy it with the husks still attached unless you're into threshing it. The idea is to store the wheat and grind/mill only as much as you need of the REAL whole wheat flour as needed (again, it won't store for very long in this form). If you've ever tasted bread from ground whole wheat, you know there is a huge difference in taste--even if the wheat berries are bought commercially and stored for years.
As for milling it, there are many choices of small mills, both stone and steel, both powered and hand-operated. There are a few good ones out there, but there are quite a few pieces of junk as well. The problem with cheap mills is that they will only grind your "flour" to the consistency of corn meal and that the damn things fall apart in no time. Also, in my opinion, an electric mill is not a good choice for survival plans. Get a good hand mill or both an electric and a had mill. Some mills will convert. If you want my favorites (I researched the mills extensively and tried a few before buying one), you can DM me. I don't want to come across as an advertisement here.
As for the types of wheat that are used for different foodstuffs, there is hard, soft, and durum. Hard is generally for all-purpose and breads, soft for cake flour, and durum for pasta. Of course, there are other types of grains and corns that can be milled to flour.
I'm really into wheat, oats, spelt, and a couple of others. You have a huge catalog of grains or "considered" grains to chose from: hard red wheat, soft red wheat, hard white wheat, soft white wheat, oats, spelt, rices, barley, millet, tef, sorghum, rye, QK-77/Kamut (see note below for interesting story), amaranth, quinoa, corns, etc. Some store better than others. Some are very small "grains" (millet, quinoa, amaranth). Many are great eating just cooked--you don't have to grind them into flour. The only grain I haven't messed around with much is rye--storing rye can be... ummm... problematic. It's probably not that serious a concern, but I'm not into the off chance of dabbling in hallucinogenics.
Nuthin like a sur-viv-alist after 'es got the Saint Anthony's Fire inside of 'eem. And y'all thunk 'eh was nutty before hand...
Anyway, there you have a little rundown of why many preppers store wheat/grain. It's nearly the perfect food for storage--as many seed foods are. If you don't believe me, set a pile of spinach leaves or fruit next to a pile of whole wheat berries on your cupboard for a couple months and report back.
Anyway, most of you guys probably already knew most of this, but if not, I hope it was interesting enough to spark your further research into wheat/grains. It's almost a hobby for me. Also, if you know this stuff and see any inaccuracies, please correct me. If you would like some good reading on the topic, there are a couple of great books about grain identification in general and how to grow, mill, and prepare it for eating. DM me if you want the names of the books.
interesting note: QK-77 (aka Kamut) is said to be bred from a handful of wheat berries that were discovered in an Egyptian tomb. They supposedly were planted and actually grew. Some years latter, a company started growing it commercially and selling it as Kamut (a variation on the Egyptian word for wheat). If true, that's the ultimate proof for the storability of wheat. I haven't seen whole Kamut wheat berries, but I've been told they are quite large compared to our typical wheat.
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