Mill sprouted wheat immediately, or wait until needed?
I've recently started sprouting wheat and drying it in my dehydrator (with excellent results for flavor!) I have a grain mill to make the sprouted wheat flour, and I bake bread with 100% whole wheat.
Thus far I am storing the sprouted & dried berries until I'm ready to make bread, then mill as just much as I need for that bake. Is it better to do this, or to mill all the sprouted berries into flour immediately and store them for future use (within a few weeks)? Does it matter?
When I'm NOT using sprouted grains, of course I mill my flour on the spot in order to have the freshest possible whole wheat flour with little oxidation/bitterness. What I don't know is whether sprouting and drying the wheat berries changes this calculus. Would I be just as well off milling all the sprouted berries at once? That would be slightly more convenient.
Eric
Eric, I sprout, then dehydrate, then grind in bulk. So some gets used right away, some goes into the freezer for storage. I haven't noticed any big difference in outcome either way.
Thanks, Barry. Freezer is a good idea.
I wonder if freshly-made sprouted wheat flour needs to be aged if not used immediately, in the same way as freshly milled non-sprouted berries (I think Reinhart and others recommend 2-3 weeks). Or if the sprouting process makes that unnecessary. Either way I rather doubt a home baker would notice a major difference. - Eric