Why use flour if you have a blender?

[Greese007]

I love bread, and have an on/off relation with baking it. After reading Michael Pollan's "Cooked", I was determined to start anew with whole, unprocessed grains. I found a source of organic wheat, and looked at flour mills.

Then I remembered making dosas (Indian crepes) from whole grains of rice and lentils, blended with water to make a smooth paste that is left to ferment, on its own, until cooked in a pan. Why not do this with wheat berries?

This just makes so much sense. Forget about burning up your flour in a hot mill, or letting it oxidize after milling. Throw the whole wheat berries in a powerful blender with enough water, and you have the start of a dough. Let it autolyze, then add your starter, salt, and enough regular flour to make a loaf at your target hydration ratio... I'm thinking 65% for starters. Throw it in the fridge for a few days, if you like it more sour. This is about as fresh and organic as it gets.

I'm still in the process of optimizing the ratios of grain, water, time, and etc. I'm glad to share my results, but I wonder if somebody else has already figured all this out? Surely, they have.

 

[Becky]

Sounds intriguing! I've never heard of anyone adopting this approach before, and I'd be very interested to hear how you get on.

 

[justme4910]

welcome to the forum and I can't wait to see what your talking about ,since I have no idea

 

[Greese007]

welcome to the forum and I can't wait to see what your talking about ,since I have no idea [/

My idea was to make a whole-wheat bread, complete with all the nutritious elements that are stored in the seed. Most of which are eliminated in the process of making white flours.

But I also love the taste of sourdough white breads, with crisp crust and a chewy, tight crumb. I also want to use only organic ingredients, to avoid any possibility of exposure to glyphosate, which is present in most commercially farmed wheat in the US... I have several "gluten-intolerant" family members, and my research has made me suspicious that it is glyphosate rather than gluten that is sometimes the problem.

But who needs the hassle of grinding and storing your own flour from organic wheat berries, which are available online? The berries, unlike the flour, last forever. So just grind the berries in a blender, in a water slurry, when you are ready to make bread. No flour could be fresher.

Cutting to the chase, here is what I have learned:
1) It takes a lot of water to grind the slurry. About 2oz water for every 1 oz grain (i'm currently using organic soft white spring wheat). For 3-5 minutes in my Vitamix blender. At lower ratios, the viscosity becomes high, causing the blender to bog down, and the slurry to overheat.

2) The above ratio amounts to 200% hydration, WAY too high for bread dough. So regular flour needs to be added, until the ratio gets closer to 65%- 85%.

3) I have tried to use only a sourdough starter to raise these doughs, but the rising has been inadequate, producing bricks rather than bread. So commercial yeast will be needed.

4) Recent experiments, including additional yeast and gluten, have shown progress toward the objective, but I'm yet nowhere close to writing a definitive recipe for bread from wheat berries.

I'll post updates if interest is there.

 

[Trellum]

Really interesting, specially if you grow your own crops. I would definitely try it if I had access to my very own wheat berries. Sadly we live in a highly processed world I'd avoid breads in general for being so highly processed, but I just can't. Your idea sounds wonderful though.

 

[Greese007]

Really interesting, specially if you grow your own crops. I would definitely try it if I had access to my very own wheat berries. Sadly we live in a highly processed world I'd avoid breads in general for being so highly processed, but I just can't. Your idea sounds wonderful though.

There are any number of places that will sell you organic, whole grain wheat berries, in quantities ranging from 3 lbs and upward. Just Google "organic wheat berries". Here is one source: http://tinyurl.com/zudf5nr

I grew up on a Montana wheat farm, producing thousands of bushels of wheat every year. And I have seen farming practices become increasingly reliant on chemical treatments for insects and weeds. Even the use of Roundup spray on crops in the last few days before harvest, to ensure rapid ripening of the laggard plants. The weedkiller remains present on the wheat grain when processed into flour. This is legal only in the U.S.

The recent increase in gluten intolerance coincides with the increased use of Roundup spray on wheat crops. I don't think that is a coincidence. Europe, which does not permit this chemical treatment, does not show this increase. I have 3 family members diagnosed with gluten intolerance, and I suspect that gluten is not the actual problem.

So I encourage you to find your own sources for chemical free food, because they are out there. You don't have to grind your own flour- that's just my thing- organic flour is available from King Arthur and others. You can probably also find pre- baked organic bread at your local grocery or farmers market. Me, I'm just doing this because I like to build stuff.

 

[justme4910]

it sounds interesting 007

 

[floursugareggsandbutter]

X 2 everything 007 posted.
I farmed cotton and corn for just over 20 years and while the corn (for feed...way to tough for a human's teeth) can be harvested without defoliating, the cotton always gets a healthy dose of Roundup in order for the bales to be as free of trash as possible (which equals more $$).
Most of the chemicals leech out during the production process but there is still enuf in there to encourage the use of organic materials for a newborn (at the very least) layette.

BOT...I would be very interested to "hear" how the wheatberry idea plays out.