What kind of wheat do you order from them for dark bread? Judy loves darker bread so I'll order rye as well... what, in your mind would be a good grab for all purposes?
When I started using dehydrated foods, 20 years ago, on a large scale, a Mormon friend moved and gave me her stock, so I had wheat for years and did not pay attention to the type, but thinking back, i suspect it was the red.
Found this and it kinda answers your questions.
http://www.histakes-spelt.com/wheat.php
Buying Whole Wheat Grain: We are farmers and grow hard white wheat so you can enjoy wholesome wheat straight from the farm. If you need advice and are wondering what kind of wheat to choose to make your bread and other pastries, I’ll tell you my preferences. If I had to choose only one type of wheat to store and eat regularly, I would choose hard white wheat. (For those who can tolerate the gluten.) It makes a lighter texture, lighter colored, sweeter bread that other wheats make. Mostly, it is just really good. (How do you like that description?) Breads made with hard red wheat produce a fuller, heartier, almost-heavier flavor, and the bread will have a slightly darker color. However, both make good bread - it is just a matter of taste which you prefer. Actually, my favorite bread uses a combination of hard white wheat, hard red wheat, and spelt.
Hard White Wheat (spring and winter varieties) are most often used for breads as well as specialty noodles. Our hard white wheat protein levels are at about 13 (which is standard) and will make a light, sweet, wonderful whole wheat bread. (Especially if you make your own fresh flour from your own grain mill, like the NutriMill.)
Remember,: don’t confuse “whole grain white wheat” with store-bought “white flour”! Whole “white” wheat is slightly lighter in color than “red” wheat, both have good nutritional value and are very close in actual color. Store-bought “white flour” has had all the nutrients removed from it adding no nutritional value to the products you use it in. Whole grain white and store white are not even close to the same thing!
Free Spelt recipes:
http://www.histakes-spelt.com/wheat.php
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/tips/bread-machine-ingredients.html
Flour
Flour is the basis of good bread, but many of the bread machine manuals give the reader poor information concerning flour. Be sure to use a good quality flour, one that is untreated with either bleach (powdered bleach belongs in your laundry, not your bread), or potassium bromate, a suspected carcinogen. Despite the fact that some machine recipe books call for bromated flour, it isn’t necessary to the success of your bread, and also poses a health risk.
Be sure to use a flour made from hard wheat, which means it’s high in protein, and therefore high in gluten. The gluten combines with water to form the elastic strands that trap carbon dioxide given off by yeast, allowing bread to rise. A flour high in gluten will produce a nicely risen loaf, while a low-gluten flour (such as pastry flour, cake flour or self-rising flour) will not. Most bread machine manuals and cookbooks call for bread flour rather than all-purpose flour. King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour, because it’s higher in gluten than national brands of all-purpose flour, works perfectly in the bread machine.
King Arthur also makes an extra-strong bread flour, King Arthur Unbleached Special Bread Flour, which is especially good in sweet breads and breads containing whole grains, which may have difficulty rising sufficiently. Be aware, however, that the higher the protein level of the flour you use, the more liquid it will absorb; be sure to check your dough during the kneading cycle, and add more liquid if necessary. The proper consistency for your dough is a smooth, soft ball.
If you read the protein content on a bag of whole-wheat flour, it’s actually higher than all-purpose flour. So why doesn’t whole wheat bread rise sky high? Because the bran cuts the gluten strands as they form, rendering them useless, unable to trap the carbon dioxide being generated by the yeast. This is one of the reasons 100% whole-grain breads tend to be dense, rather than light.
So we’ve established that you want to use a good-quality, high-protein flour in your bread machine. But what about whole wheat bread? And pumpernickel? And New York rye? You can make wonderful whole-grain breads in most bread machines. But, keep in mind the fact that grains other than wheat — rye, barley, buckwheat, amaranth, corn, rice, the whole array of grains and flours available to today’s baker — contain little or no gluten.
To make a successful bread machine loaf using these grains, you should “cut” them with some high-protein all-purpose or bread flour, to provide the gluten necessary for rising. You can also try adding some pure gluten to the mixture. Look for vital wheat gluten (not gluten flour) and for each cup of whole-grain flour used, put 1 tablespoon of gluten in the bottom of the measuring cup before filling with the flour.
When making whole-grain breads, we like to tell people to start with a mixture that is 1 cup whole grain flour, 2 cups all-purpose flour, then work from there. Gradually increase the whole grain and decrease the all-purpose, at the same time increasing the yeast a bit and perhaps adding gluten, till you get the combination of taste and texture you enjoy. (This is the part where some creative experimentation is involved.)
Here’s an interesting point concerning whole-grain bread. Many people feel they have to eat only whole-grain bread to get any health benefits at all. This is simply untrue. All-purpose flour is certainly not “nutritionally empty”, as many believe, but in fact is better nutritionally in some areas than whole wheat flour. The endosperm from which all-purpose flour is ground is, after all, the food source for a new wheat seedling (the germ); the bran is merely its protective coat.
Whole wheat flour contains more fiber, but by the same token, that fiber helps to “flush” a lot of whole wheat’s nutrients through your body before they have a chance to be absorbed. All-purpose and whole wheat flours are comparable in many areas. It’s really a toss-up as to which one you should choose, and it’s based on your personal needs and the rest of your diet. Clearly, whole wheat flour’s the winner in the fiber category; but much of that fiber is insoluble, meaning it provides bulk and roughage in your diet, but that’s about it.
Whole wheat is also noticeably higher in potassium and phosphorus, and a bit higher in protein (though some of this is tied up in the fiber, and is therefore not nutritionally available). All-purpose flour is lower in fat and sodium. They’re about equal in iron and carbohydrates.
Which should you choose? Well, if you’re getting sufficient fiber, phosphorus and potassium in other parts of your diet — we’ll assume everyone’s getting sufficient protein, one of the easiest nutritional elements to ingest enough of — and if you don’t like the taste of whole wheat, by all means use all-purpose flour. Ditto if you’re trying to watch your fat and/or sodium intake extremely carefully. But if you really should eat more fiber every day, then use whole wheat flour.
If you like traditional whole wheat flour, then you’re home free. But, if you feel that you ought to bake with whole wheat flour, and your family just doesn’t like the taste, try our King Arthur 100% White Whole Wheat Flour. Because it’s missing an indigestible, bitter element in the bran — phenolic acid, related to tannins — it’s got the light taste of all-purpose flour and all the nutrition of whole wheat, a perfect marriage of flavor and health. So, next time you read or hear someone spurning “white” flour because of its nutritional shortfalls, take it with a grain of salt.
Some machines feature a whole-grain cycle. What does this mean? Generally, this cycle will knead the dough a bit longer, and give it a significantly longer rising time. If your machine doesn’t have a whole-grain cycle, choose the cycle with the longest second rise or try the basic bread cycle.
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