November 21, 2014 - 12:49pm
sourcing grains in UK
My Christmas present (I hope!) will be a KoMo mill <grin>
So - any suggestions please on where to source grains in the UK?
I'd love to find a supplier of durum wheat (though I doubt it), but any good quality wheat and also the specialty ones such as Einkorn, Kamut, Spelt etc
Any ideas much appreciated
thanks
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There are various suppliers but be sure to shop around for the best prices.
A key advantage of having a grain mill and using grains is that they will last indefinitely if stored an airless airtight manner. This is easily achieved by buying a cheap and cheerful vacuum sealer and some rolls of vacuum bags to go with it. Then you can bag up in say 500g or 1kg quantities that when emptied will fit in a nice mason jar. All of which leads to the obvious money saving tactic of buying your grains in 25kg sacks. Any smaller size and the price ramps up swiftly. So I buy wheat, spelt and rye in 25kg sacks, vacuum bag them and store the bags in large plastic boxes/tubs in the garage where they won't get too hot or too cold.
Here are some of the UK suppliers:
www.dovesfarm.co.uk
Doves farm is very well known for its flours. It can be tricky finding actual grain products on their website. If you enter "25kg" in the search box you can wade through the 2-3 pages it returns and see the grains there. Currently they are showing:
Wheat grains 25kg - £18.70
Rye grain 25kg - £17.90
There is usually spelt and other grains so not sure where they have gone. Could just be a seasonal thing.
http://www.imbhamsfarmgranary.com
Imbhams farm is a good quality organic outfit and they were the sole suppliers of the fabulous Schnitzer Grain Mills in the UK (Schnitzers are now called Skippy I believe) which are very much like the Komo. If you haven't made a final decision on your mill yet then do consider the Schnitzers. The Vario model in particular is great because it also has a built in Flaker so you can produce your own rolled/flaked oats to make muesli or porridge. The farm operates the website www.grains2mill.co.uk as well. They have a range of grains for sale and some specifically for sprouting.
http://www.naturallygoodfood.co.uk
This site has a wide range of grains some of which are suitable for sprouting. However in some cases they are just supplying Dovesfarm grains so look carefully. You will also see the key differences in prices here for 5kg bags and 25kg sacks.
http://www.buywholefoodsonline.co.uk
A few types of grains available here but do compare prices
http://www.survivalwholefoods.co.uk
Plenty of grains and other goodies here as you would expect for a survival oriented site.
I hope you find something in here. I will say that when I first started I was hesitant about buying sacks of grains as the quantities just seemed huge, but it's just so cost effective and it is great to know that I have loads of grains that will store indefinitely in case some national crisis occurs that affects say transport and leaves the shops dry etc. I went through a 25kg sack of wheat in 6 months or so I think. Spelt in about a year and rye much longer. Probably because I mix these with strong white bread flour that I buy separately (for example from the well known Shipton Mill).
GL
Thank you so much for so much detail - really appreciated!!
I'll go start looking
For info (if anyone else reading) there is a site called hopandgrape.co.uk which has loads of different malted grains (for beer brewing) that might be fun to play with...
I hope you are keeping well.
http://www.realfoods.co.uk/shop/grocery/grains-and-pulses/grains#&&luNDwJgvaNK0m3hSjvtYeatgPMjtQbAcvuMm3hbDNCjfJpgMEzdbMjML+bbxAl7tPfBcN34mPSZHRXtlWXy...
have wheat and sprouted wheat, Kamut and Rye.
Best Wishes
The wheat is competitive at £18 for a 25kg sack but the rye (at £28) has something like a 56% markup on Dovesfarm rye grain (£17.90). It pays to shop around !
Yes good point!
Also - the slight disappointment I have is that most places (so far, online) just say "wheat" - no indication of what it is, or the protein, etc? I guess it is too specialist, but I'd've really liked to choose varieties etc...
Still hunting durum wheat grains....
S
Thanks for the recommendation!
My good news - Fosters Mill at Swaffham Priory (?) is close-ish to me - and they will sell big bags, not on their e-commerce site but available, which is good...
Now just got to wait for Christmas <grin>
Hi Everyone,
As you may have seen I am planning to buy a mill, mostly likely a Mockmill 100 or 200.
I found a few grains suppliers, but super expensives and not a lot of choices of grains.
Any members can let me know some online shop. The Doves Farm shop for example seems to sell only flour, and no grains.
Thanks for your help
Arno
Arno
I think at the moment you'll find it really hard to get - most of the mills are working flat out on trying to provide flour to the microbakeries and home bakers - the whole of the UK appears to have decided to get into baking bread!! I'd be inclined to buy only limited amounts of basics, just to play with the mill, and wait until later.
PS to update the thread, I did find a supplier of durum wheat grains in the UK - in Cornwall - Padstow Farm Shop - though this was some time ago. I bought a 10kg bag from them - very nice
Morning Salih,
Thank you so much for your response. I totally agree with you. But there is a misunderstanding, I have not bought a mill yet... and I have to finish my flour stock.
I know it is very hard to find some flour and grains ATM but at least I have time to start searching for the best, advices on grains to use etc. Hence my query.
i hope that make sense. I will start the whole process when this madness is finished...
Hi All,
Happy New Year!
I was very pleased to find this forum. I have a Komo mill and have happily been milling for the past 7 years. I usually buy all my grains for buywholefoodsonline.co.uk but the one grain I have not found is Durum.
If anyone has found this recently in the UK I would very much appreciate the suppliers name please. I am trying to get a grain that I can use for both pasta but also for semolina milling.
Many thanks
T
Jovial Foods is a great company based in Italy. I know they sell to the U.S. I assume they also ship to the U.K., but I don't know? That's where you can get everything Einkorn.