Self Sufficient - Ingredients

[heliman]

Seems like the weak link here is Flour...

Anyone grow their own grain, mill, make pizzas???

/Rossco

[Wiley]

Rossco,
As you know there is a significant difference in protein content between the wheat used in making flours that are considered good for pizza and those flours that are considered good for bread. I'm not an expert but I am am under the impression that the type of wheat that thrives in an region is dependent upon soil and more importantly climate.

The amount of work required for the result (bang for the buck) would IMHO place such a person in a league of their own. I mean a private vineyard I can relate to, a private wheat field simply doesn't hold the same panache. Growing one's own wheat would more likely fit one into the "survivalist" category. I would expect someone doing that would want the most protein for effort expended.

Bests,
Wiley

[heliman]

I thought pizza flour was pretty high (around 12% protein)...??

Why I was asking about the "full package" of growing through to grinding and ultimately using the flour because some members in another thread said they were grinding their own flour. I seem to recall someone even posted a pic of the machine they were using. The natural progression to that was to actually grow the grain too. This would probably only be on a hobby farm scale - just for the experience. To me that would be the ultimate in self sufficiency...

/Rossco

[Wiley]

Rossco,
I was wrong in what I stated about flours and have edited out my mistake.

I grind my own wheat berries and consider mself at the low end of the learning curve in understanding what is going on in a dough mixture. Grinding is not such a big deal, one buys the machine and has at it. Having your own machine allows one to experiment a bit more with different grains, blending etc.

As for growing my own wheat, what with the set-up equipment etc. I will leave that to the "Pros" who are trying to make a living at it. Especially as I can buy Wheat Montana wheat berries at Walmart for almost the same price Wheat Montana is asking online and save shipping.

Bests,
Wiley

[heliman]

No problem Wiley (I was confused there for a minute!!).

Have you got some more details on the milling process - really interesting to find out what is involved before it hits the supermarket shelf...

Rossco

[trockyh]

I just started grinding my own berries with a stone grinder. In fact just yesterday I was looking into growing my own wheat. Just a small patch to see how it goes.
The Kaiser roll recipe on FB calls for Diastatic malted barley powder. I was not able to find any local. Did some research and found that sprouting barley or wheat berries, activated the enzymes needed to convert the starch to sugar for the yeast to feed on.
You then dry the sprouted grains and then grind them.
I find it interesting and fun working to become self sufficient. We grow most of our veges, raise chickens for eggs and meat. Hope to have a cow for dairy and fertilizer, but have to wait till I can be home full time.
Fun thread,
Tom

[heliman]

Sounds amazing Tom ...

What do you use to grind the dry spouts?

/Rossco

[trockyh]

I picked up this stone grinder from a brewer. It ground the grains too fine so it wasn't good for his brewing. Works great for me.
It's called the Lady Bug Home Stone Grinder. It was made in So. Calif. but they must have gone out of business as I haven't been able to find them.

Tom