Hope this gives some insight into how easy it is to get started. Happy milling!
cindy
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WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WHEAT MONTANA GRAINS:
• They come in either 45# pails (complete with oxygen absorbers to keep the air out, hence keeping the bugs out, too), and/or 50 # bags and/or 25# bags.
• My friend, Amy, says, "A family eating about 5 loaves of bread a week can conservatively estimate using 25# of wheat in a month’s time."
• Whenever possible, I recommend the pails for long term storing of grain and it’s best to keep it as cool and dry as possible. Hot attics or humid garages are not recommended and they say it’s best to keep bags or pails off the floor to allow air to circulate under them by placing boards or wooden pallets under them. I’ve never done that but I keep my grain in pails in a hall closet that is temperature controlled.
• If you store grain in a plastic bag, do not use garbage bags because they are sometimes treated with insecticides. Use only "food grade" storage containers.
• Please, please order extra pails you may need at the time of your order. Sometimes I have extra but often I run out so do not count on me having them for you because I just can’t promise that and the shipping to order more is outlandish. If I have to bring in an order of pails only, your price would be more than double.
• Remember when ordering, some items -like brown rice, oats and already ground whole wheat flour -are a bit perishable. Some store them in the freezer to extend their shelf life.
• The more broken down or ground up the grain, the shorter the storage time. Cracked or rolled & flaked grains or ground flour will go rancid quicker whereas I’ve been told the whole grain can have an indefinite storage life. You can protect your cracked grains by storing in the freezer.
• Honey will get thicker with age but can be melted back down to it’s liquid state simply by warming. Wheat Montana’s honey is raw, light colored, with a very sweet, delicate taste. Many like it’s light color and delicate taste! Personally, I like the honey from Montana, AND our South Carolina honey! South Carolina’s darker, more robust honey brings back sweet memories of sitting at my granddaddy’s dining room table, chewing a bit of honeycomb that he’d just robbed from his own hives! Ah, sweet memories! ;o)
• Wheat Montana’s grain is the cleanest I’ve ever seen with very few stray weed seeds, and so on. Their grain is triple cleaned and actually goes through a six or seven step cleaning process with a de-stoner (to remove rocks that would jam your mill), a magnet that checks for BB’s, and a gravity table with air blowing to remove the dust.
• Wheat Montana’s grains are not certified organic, but rather are certified "chemical free" by an independent laboratory. They use only the minimum of chemicals for disease, growth and against weeds. To be certain their grains are free from not only their treatments, but any run-offs that could come from other farmer’s lands, they test for over 120 different chemicals to certify they are chemical free. All products are also GMO free, too!
• I use a variety of grains -spelt or Prairie Gold for bread, kamut for pizza dough, soft white wheat for pastry items, oat groat flour for muffins, and rolled oats in place of Old Fashioned oatmeal -just to name a few. However, if you are just getting started, here are my
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TOP TWO GRAINS RECOMMENDED:
* PRAIRIE GOLD WHITE WHEAT, in a pail:
This is great for a light, whole grain yeast bread. Some folks use it for everything. If you are dealing with allergies, you might have success with spelt but it is more expensive. I use Prairie Gold for only my yeast bread. The rest of my quick bread, cookie and muffin baking is done with Soft White Wheat because it’s more like a fine pastry flour, a bit whiter in color, and can be more easily "hidden" in baked goods. If you have a picky family, Prairie Gold and Soft White Wheat are great to have on hand.
* SOFT WHITE WHEAT, in a pail:
We use Soft White Wheat in anything baked that requires baking soda, or baking powder, such as pancakes, muffins, cookies, brownies, banana nut bread, and pie crusts. Basically I use it in everything, except yeast bread! The reason? It does not have enough gluten to sufficiently rise a loaf of yeast bread. What is gluten? It’s the part of the flour that becomes sticky when mixed with water. If you have a high level of gluten, as in Prairie Gold, then as the yeast ferments and puts off bubbles, the gluten will "trap" the bubbles, much like the balloon traps the hot air to make a hot air balloon rise.
With Soft White Wheat having so little gluten, the yeast bubbles tend to rise to the surface, and they break through and pop - not lifting the dough high at all hence you get a heavy, thick loaf that’s not pleasant at all. Some folks say they use a little in their cinnamon rolls to get more of a "grocery" store texture with a bit less fluff, but you’d only be able to use a small percentage soft white to get them to rise adequately. This flour is easy to sneak into baked goods without my children noticing. I’ve even used a bit in cakes! Especially chocolate cake, or carrot cake, where they wouldn’t notice the slight color difference!
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If you live out of state, I will be glad to mail grain to you. You must pay shipping costs but I keep them as low as possible. But I can usually mail only the pails or bags that are 25 pounds or smaller.
If you have questions, or wish to order products, contact:
Cindy Kroske
(803) 345-2335
(803) 920-8363 cell
www.GrainLady.com
www.GNLDfavorites.com
Maximize NUTRIENTS, Minimize Toxins & Be Healthier!!
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