Best wheat for beginners?

[redmaples]

In one of our grainlady threads where wheat is discussed there was mention of one sort of wheat being a bit better to use for bread making, etc.
At the market yesterday there was the choice hard red & hard white. I was thinking it was the white that was recommended over the red. I sure hope so as I bought my first wheat. Luckily, it is in small bulk (5 #). I'm going to try sprouting a little for the chickens too!

I really lucked out also in finding that my neighbor has a champion juicer with a grinding attachment. We are going to try it today...if it works I'm going to try the flour in my oatmeal dinner roll recipe. Very exciting to take the next step in stockpiling.
I also bought my first small bulk yeast ever.
I have been very much influenced/ educated by the GrainLady!

[DJ1972]

I have also been told that for beginners the hard white wheat is best..it makes a lighter loaf. The hard red wheat has a more "whole wheat" robust flavor...if that makes sense, lol. For biscuits and pastries I was told to use the soft white wheat. Good luck!

[Grainlady]

For bread you want a hard spring or hard winter wheat - HARD being the operative word. This type of wheat is high in gluten for bread making. Spring wheat is planted in the spring in the northern areas of the U.S. and in Canada and is harvested late summer. Winter wheat is planted in then southern mid- and southern states in the fall and winters-over and is harvested in late June/early July.

For pastry, quick breads, biscuits, cakes, etc., foods where you don't want a lot of gluten development, choose soft spring or soft winter wheat.

I use a 3:1 mixture of soft white wheat and oats or spelt to make a very low-gluten flour suitable for delicate cakes like chiffon or angel food

All these varieties of wheat come in a red and a white variety. Red and white wheat varieties are the same as far as the plant traits and nutrition, with the exception of the color of the bran. Red wheat is more acidic tasting and darker in color, while white wheat is mild, almost sweet-tasting. White wheat is a better choice, in my opinion, especially for people who don't like the acidic taste of whole wheat.

There are three genes that make up the color of the bran. The original hard red winter wheat "Turkey Red" had three of these genes and the grain is very dark and very acidic tasting. Most of today's varieties of red wheat only have one or two of these genes. White wheat has none of these genes, so the bran is much lighter and mild-flavored. Think of white wheat as the albino version of wheat.

Then there is durum wheat. This wheat variety has a higher protein content than hard wheat, but instead of being used for bread, it's used for pasta and noodles.

There is a group of gluten-forming prolamins in wheat. We usually just call it "gluten", but it's really made up of two types - glutenins and gliadins. In durum wheat the dominate proteins are gliadins and is best used for elastic type dough used for extruding into noodles and pasta.

The dominant proteins in red/white hard/soft wheat are glutenins, which make that high-rising loaf of bread.

I have all these varieties of wheat in storage. I prefer hard white wheat for yeast breads, soft white wheat for baked goods other than yeast breads. I use durum wheat for making noodles or pasta. Durum flour for noodles, and a coarse-grind (similar to semolina) for pasta. Semolina is durum wheat with the bran and germ removed and coarsely ground.

I like hard red wheat for certain kinds of breads, or used in combination with white wheat, and for making into bulgur and farina (Cream of Wheat-type cereal for cooking).

Don't forget....
-triticale (durum wheat/rye hybrid)
-spelt
-kamut
-rye
-barley
-oats

Lots of grain choices when you get "into" it. Not to mention all the seeds and beans you can also mill into flour.

Class dismissed.....(LOL).