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Cooking Grains
Topic Started: Jul 30 2011, 10:20 AM (274 Views)
Raven
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Cooking whole grains takes a little prep work but it is worth it in both active prepping and in over-all health.
Start now because a sudden change in diet will not be a fun event!

Rinse raw grain in cold water and drain well. This will help remove both surface grit and excess starch, as well as starting the swelling process. Bring the correct amount of cooking liquid to a boil. You can use water, soup stock, juice or milk. The more flavorful the liquid the more flavor the end result (I cook rice in chicken broth for this reason)

Add grain to boiling liquid and stir one time.

Allow the liquid to return to boiling, then turn heat down to the lowest setting possible. Cover and cook grains slowly until they are soft. This will take anywhere from 10 minutes to 1 hour.

If you'd like creamier product for porridge or pudding, do not heat the cooking liquid initially, but combine it first with the uncooked grain, then bring it to a boil. Cover and cook as above.

Salt slows the cooking so add it after the grain is tender before adding it.
Too much stirring makes the grain gummy so stir only as suggested. Cooked grain can be held in a covered pot off the heat for quite awhile.

GRAIN COOKING CHART
(each grain listed is in one cup quantities)


barley : 4 cups liquid boil 30-40 minutes yields 4 cups

buckwheat : 2 -5 cups liquid boil 20 minutes yields 3 cups

bulgur : 2 cups liquid boil 15 minutes yields 2.5 cups

cornmeal : 4-5 cups liquid boil 30-40 minutes yields 2.5 cups

millet : 4 cups liquid boil 25-30 minutes yields 4 cups

oatmeal : 2 cups liquid boil 10 minutes yields 4 cups

rice (brown) 2- 2.5 cups liquid boil 35-40 minutes yields 2.5 cups

rye: 4 cups liquid boil 1 hour yields 2.66 cups

triticale: 4 cups liquid boil 1 hour yields 2.5 cups

wheat: 3-4 cups liquid boil 1 hour yields 2.5 cups

wild rice: 4 cups liquid boil 40 minutes yields 3-3.5 cups

To enhance the flavor and shorten cooking time, toast grains in a dry, medium hot, iron skillet, stirring constantly, until they have a pleasant odor and take on a darker color. This process also enables the garin to be "racked" or coarsely ground in a blender.
The truth is not for all men, but only for those that seek it. Ayn Rand
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Mommacat
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Good post, Raven- thanks! I know many people think cooked grains are only for cereal. But, some cultures use the cooked grain as a "pilaf" sidedish. Wheat with onions and green peppers or muchrooms is great with baked chicken or pork chops.
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HandFarming
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Anyone here growing grains? I have a little patch of wheat and tried the hulless oats, barley and popcorn for cornmeal. I have a wetland I wanted to get wild rice started in but can't find seed. I would think growing grains would be a handy thing to do.
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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Grizzly
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We just took off our wheat. First time I ever had anything to do with it. We only put in 2 1/2 acres to give it a try and picked up some older small equipment to harvest it. We got about 50 bushels (half a wagon load) and 155 bales of straw. I did notice some waste of wheat so we didn't get all we could have. Since then I found out a different setting on the combine that should have helped. There really wasn't much to it but I'd hate to have to do it the old way by hand.
Our ancestors left Europe to get away from this crap...as seen on a bumpersticker fns
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Mommacat
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That seems like a pretty good yield for that small of an area. But, then I'm no farmer, so what do I know!? I think that its wonderful that you were able do that. Every little bit helps and the knowledge to do that may make a crucial difference at some point. :)
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Raven
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I bought some hull-less oats from Albert Lea seed house but we didn't plant it this year as I got it to late. I have it in storage for next year. I also want to try to roll it. I bought a roller several years ago from Lehman's hardware in OH and have yet to try it.
The truth is not for all men, but only for those that seek it. Ayn Rand
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HandFarming
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I'm impressed. I've been looking for a grain harvesting set up for a while. My experiment plot of wheat is 20' by 20' - if that big since I figured I'd be harvesting by hand and wanted to see what all it involved.
Are you interested in selling any? Message me if you are.
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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Grizzly
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Not sure yet about selling any as we just started unloading it today from the wagon to 55 gal. drums with rubber sealed lids. We had no other way to store it. We are getting a small grain bin as soon as we get a cement pad poured. If you only needed a few buckets full it shouldn't be a problem but we need to have enough on hand to plant and just to use in case of bad times. If you needed more we might be able to locate some but no promises.
Our ancestors left Europe to get away from this crap...as seen on a bumpersticker fns
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HandFarming
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I have been buying wheat berries from Good Foods in Rochester. I can stock up form there so as not to reduce your supply. I might want to get some growing tips from you though. I bought a book on small grains growing but maybe since I don't have the basics I might not get it. Either way, my little 20' area is doing good.
You can lead an ass to knowledge, but you can not make it think.
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Raven
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What kind of wheat did you plant? If the book you bought was written by a guy named Hodgson it is a good book. Most of what I found about growing it I got from the folks at Albert Lea Seed house...BTW their wheat is WAY less expensive than that at The Good Food Store. At the store it is probably cleaner but that, to me, isn't worth the extra expense.
The truth is not for all men, but only for those that seek it. Ayn Rand
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