Posted: 3/29/2009 6:21:55 PM EDT
| There is probably a good reason, but I can't find it anywhere. Why do people (including me) store all different types of wheat? Isn't it just easier to store already processed flour? I mean with the wheat, you need a grinder, which I haven't found yet, and you don't get the vitamin enrichment that some processed flour has. I'm thinking of starting to stock up on it. A few days in the freezer should kill anything dormant in there, then into the buckets. If ever needed, the flour would be easier and quicker to utilize. Right? I appreciate any input. |
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Wheat lasts longer than flour properly stored (talking real long term). White flour lasts a good time, but wheat flour doesn't.
I store White & Red Wheat and unbleached Bread & All Purpose Flour. I freeze the flour until I'm ready to put it in buckets but it isn't necessary if you use O2 absorbers and mylar - no O2, no bugs. I also store enough yeast (freezer), sugar, salt and oil to make a years worth of bread. |
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Couple of reasons. One whole wheat flour is on average higher in nutrents than enriched flour. Then more of the nutrents are preserved in whole wheat as it is stored. Then finally it will store longer.
Plus whole wheat can be sprouted or cracked. I suspect that with O2 adsorbers, there advantages of storing wheat vs flour are less then when the stuff was pack in air or co2. |
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click here and read this
flour has vitamins added because they're lost during bleaching/processing. wheat has a much longer storage life and various uses, like sprouting and boiling, not just grinding for baking... ETA - I must type slow tonight. 
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The posts above have covered it pretty well, but to add a little more detail. The LDS church says that properly stored wheat will last 30+ years while properly stored flour will last 10+ years. I have a ton of wheat stored and it is nice to know that I won't have to mess with it for a long time if I don't want to.
Another benefit of wheat is that it is more compact. You can store a lot more calories in a set space in wheat than in flour. |
| As others have mentioned, wheat stores longer. Another benefit you may not have considered is that you can sprout wheat and increase its vitamin content (although at the expense of some calories and protein). Some folks like sprouts. I've tried them and I think they taste like crap. Beats getting scurvy, though. Finally, if all else fails, I suppose you can plant some wheat and grow it. That trick won't work with flour. |
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Quoted:
The posts above have covered it pretty well, but to add a little more detail. The LDS church says that properly stored wheat will last 30+ years while properly stored flour will last 10+ years. I have a ton of wheat stored and it is nice to know that I won't have to mess with it for a long time if I don't want to. Another benefit of wheat is that it is more compact. You can store a lot more calories in a set space in wheat than in flour. I was under the impression that flour could only be stored for a year or 2 at the most..10years?? Everyone else covered the top 2!! |
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Seeds are natures perfect storage container.
Seeds that have been eaten, and been through an animals gut, will grow a living plant even years later. They can take incredible abuse and still maintain the life that's within them. Seeds hold vitamins for years. Once the seed is ground, the vitamins go away fast. Old flour will have little vitamins. Old seeds (like unground wheat and corn) can have lots of vitamins. And flavor too. Store seeds. |
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I've often wondered this myslef. Personally, I think rice is the way to go as its MUCH easier to cook and eat and the nutritional aspects are comparable. Rice might be a bit better on the carb side, and wheat better on the protein side. I just buy big bags of King Arthur flour. It is ridiculously cheap...why bother grinding and sifting? Mylar + O2 should last for a LONG time. Most of my preps are rice though; I can just boil it which purifies the water as well and eat, or throw it in a fry pan with some oil, a couple eggs, and some green onion and you have an easy, delicious, complete meal, esp. if you supplement with some deer or tree rat. I buy the wheat for variety if the SHTF last a long time, but for ease of prep rice is the way to go. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
The posts above have covered it pretty well, but to add a little more detail. The LDS church says that properly stored wheat will last 30+ years while properly stored flour will last 10+ years. I have a ton of wheat stored and it is nice to know that I won't have to mess with it for a long time if I don't want to. Another benefit of wheat is that it is more compact. You can store a lot more calories in a set space in wheat than in flour. I was under the impression that flour could only be stored for a year or 2 at the most..10years?? Everyone else covered the top 2!! In even mediocre conditions, properly sealed flour should store for 4 years. Apparently in ideal conditions it can store up to 10 years, but I imagine that it's nutritional value will be decreased at that point. |