December 22, 2019 - 1:15pm
Where to buy small amounts of grain for home milling
Hi
I opened my Christmas present early - Komo Classic!
Now for the whole grains. Where can I get small amounts (1lb - 2lbs) of good quality wheat berries and other grains I can mill. We are a small family so I don't want to store in bulk. Also I figured it would be good to try small amounts in the beginning to figure out what we like the taste of. I prefer variety to volume.. Any advice? Online or locally in CA bay area would be great.
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You can buy direct from Bob's Red Mill in 2lb bags or on Amazon from Pelouse Brand in 5lb bags.
Welcome to the world of home-milling! It is a fun and healthy hobby.
Many full-service grocery stores will carry the full line, or at least most of, the Bob's Red Mill products, which include whole berry grains. Here in the Midwest, Kroger and Market District/Giant Eagle carry whole berries from BRM, including red wheat, Kamut, and millet.
Kroger, Market District, and Fresh Thyme also carry whole wheat berries in their bulk aisle.
You will use about 3/4 pound, or even a pound of flour per loaf, so if you bake on a regular basis, you'll likely want to eventually buy 10, 20, or 25 pounds of berries at a time.
If your family balks at bread from 100% home-milled whole-grain flour, start at 50/50 mix of whole-grain/white flour, and slowly increase the percentage of whole-grain.
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If Petaluma is close to you, this company sells whole berry grains from their retail location, but I don't know how small of a quantity they sell. https://kgbakerysupply.com/ They sell the whole line of www.centralmilling.com flours and whole-berry grains, which includes several varieties of wheat (red winter, red spring, white), rye, durum, einkorn, emmer, spelt, and buckwheat. Most of those grains come in both an organic and a non-organic form.
Rainbow grocery in SF has Central Mills whole wheat berries available flour bulk purchase. When you find the type you like, you can order from Central Mills directly, online. They offer some of the best varieties of organic flours. Enjoy home milling.
Most “natural “ groceries carry at least some bulk grains. As mentioned in another reply, KGBS (aka Central Milling) in Petaluma ha a good variety, online mostly in large quantities, but many in 5# bags that aren’t available on their web site.
El Cerrito Natural Grocery, Good Earth in San Anselmo and Mill Valley, Rainbow Grocery in S.F. All have a good variety. Whole Foods, not so much.
Tom
North counties? City? East Bay? South Bay? Peninsula? There are Whole Foods and independents everywhere that sell at minimum hard red wheatberries in bulk. Some have rye and spelt and soft and hard white and even einkorn. Never seen bulk Kamut or durum. Should be easy to find enough to keep your Komo busy. Just say where you’re looking.
Tom
Local health food stores often carry this as well. When I lived in that area I bought from my local one. Many used them for such supplies, so they turned a lot of grain. Thus it was always fresh.
Call around to outlets suggested above. You can probably find 2 or 3 local sources.
I’m sure you will love your Komo Classic. I sure love mine.
Happy milling and baking
OLdWoodenSpoon
For online buying I recommend breadtopia. The smallest amount they sell of most grains is 5 lb, but 1-2 lb doesn't go very far, and whole, unground grains will keep for years.
I dont mean to hijack this thread but what kinda wheat grain makes the best tasting bread. I understand that it is a very subjective question but any advice sure helps. Thanks
Each has its own flavor. White whole wheat tastes very much like white flour. Red Wheat has a grassy taste, similar to what you find in some store bought whole wheat. I haven't used Kamut very much , but to me is is like white whole wheat in flavor, but a little sweeter.
Thank you for your reply. I like white bread too much so whole whit wheat it is. :)
username9: (This mostly assumes you're interested in milling grains at home. You didn't say so, but given the topic, and you said "grains" not "flour"....)
My favorite bread book on whole grain bread is Peter Reinhart's "Whole Grain Breads." It's not specifically about home-milled grains, but it is good for both store-bought and home-milled "mostly-whole-wheat" and "100% whole wheat."
There are books on baking specifically home-milled grains, but I don't have any of those.
There are slight tweaks needed between store-bought whole wheat flour, and home-milled whole wheat flour, usually more or less hydration, and less oil, and extra soak time if your home-milled flour is not milled as fine as store-bought flour.
I baked with store-bought whole wheat for years before milling at home, so I had some knowledge of what the dough and bread was supposed to look like.
At the grocery store, I bought
So that's where I started and learned things, and figured out what tastes I was looking for.
Then about three years ago, I got into home milling, and I've been fiddling and experimenting ever since.
My favorite taste so far is a combo of mostly Hard White Spring Wheat, and about 1/4th Hard Red (winter or spring) wheat. I usually use up to 10% store-bought AP flour or Bread Flour to help improve the crumb.
If I'm baking for friends who do not like 100% whole grains, then I'll include 25% store-bought AP or Bread flour.
Other small-proportion grains, 10% to 15%, that add flavor that I like are whole rye and whole spelt.
But the thing with non-wheat grains or wheat-like grains that are not normally for bread making, (Kamut, durum, spelt, rye) is that if you make them the majority of the dough, you get poorer/denser crumb. Don't get me wrong, They can be good, and many people make them, but when used as the majority grain in a dough, they don't come out as floofy-poofy as regular red or white wheat that usually goes into breads. That's why most (not all) recipes mix them with AP or bread flour, or whole-grain red or whole-grain white wheat.
The combinations are endless.
If you have not already bought a home grain mill, I would suggest learning/experimenting with store-bought whole wheat (both red and white), at first. Then, when you get experience, start adding and experimenting with Bob's Red Mill flours (also in most large grocery stores) of whole (dark) rye, whole spelt, and whole Kamut. That is, start including 10% to 20% of those "specialty flours" into recipes that you already learned, and see how you like the taste.
When first learning to bake whole grain bread, starting out the learning process with home-milled grain, adds another dimension of complexity that might over-whelm the novice baker. But that's just my opinion. Your access to local bakers who know whole-grain baking, or know home-milled grain baking, and who can help and teach you in person can make a difference.
Bon chance, and bon appétit.
First of all thank you so much for your detailed response. I have been baking with store bought flour and haven't had sufficient time to experiment. But I want to devote more time to baking and was toying with getting myself a mill.
Your reply makes a lot of sense and I agree with all of it. Thanks again for such a detailed response.