Wheat

[Cascadian]

So I have been looking at wheat for LTS. There are about 4 different kinds. Hard-soft, red-white? I was looking on Amazon they have 4. Provident pantry only has 2. I read a few articles and am still confused. I think we want soft white. My wife does all the baking which is partly why I don't know what we need. She bakes bread, biscuits cakes etc. She does some sour dough bread but I think that is a lot less frequent. What do you all recommend?

 

[Sourdough]

Do you have a good grinder and backup grinder..??

 

[UrbanHunter]

Lots of people rely on the Hard Red wheat, but I personally found the taste a little bitter. So, we switched to the Hard White wheat and we like the taste of our bread. The hard white is sometimes harder to find or more expensive. Everything is a personal choice, I would suggest you get a little of each, grind it, make some bread with it, and then decide what is right for you..

I saw this website has both hard red and hard white berries for $7.50 for 5 pounds, plus shipping. Hard White Spring Wheat Berries

It might be worth trying to find what your wife likes... After all the first job is to please the boss.

All the best..

 

[Amish Heart]

White or pastry white for what she bakes. I keep a fair amount of red because it's 1/3 the price, and can be mixed with the white...1 part red to 2 parts white, for bread.

 

[LadyLocust]

I actually like the hard red but have both red and white. The red has a little "nuttier" flavor (my opinion). The white is a little sweeter. I agree with Urban - try some of each. I like the red for pie crusts or breading things. The white is probably better for pastries.

 

[Caribou]

I went with soft white because that was what the Mormons were selling and I figured they would know.

 

[Cascadian]

Trying some before we buy any quantity is a good suggestion. Thanks for the replies.

 

[freelove]

Soft wheat is low in gluten and is used for pastry, biscuits, cakes, etc.
Hard wheat has a higher gluten content and is used for bread.

 

[Weedygarden]

I went with soft white because that was what the Mormons were selling and I figured they would know.

They sell both red and white. I've gotten both from them.

 

[Buffalo]

We store mostly hard red that we get from Azure Standard, in a situation where we are getting into our stores, basic bread is going to be a staple at our house, although I will need to either keep the juice flowing for our Nutri Mill or rig a bicycle up to the country living hand mill.

I just checked Azure and was surprised that the price of wheat has jumped, but not as much as I expected it to. The last batch of bags we bought were right around $30/50lbs, now they are $42/50lbs.