Emmer wheat and flour are back! Rich tan color, right up there with Einkorn for high protein, but rather low falling number so very weak gluten. Has 28 chromosomes compared to 42 for all modern wheat. The weak gluten means that it will make a more dense loaf of bread if used by itself but you can blend it with other bread flours. White Sonora shown on the right in the second picture is the closest we have to all purpose or pastry flour. White Sonora has lower protein than Emmer but a higher falling number so it is a better bread flour.
We have two new certified organic wheat varieties available. Glenn is a modern hard red "long-time favorite with bakers for its excellent milling/baking qualities, and high protein and test weight", and in fact ours did test at 15.4% protein (highest of any we have), and gluten index of 89.07. For reference, KSU Wheat Lab has provided us with a typical gluten index of 92.7 for commercial bread flour, and our Spelt and Red Fife tested at 67.2 and 68.8. Field Blend was planted as Einkorn but ended up with a lot of volunteer wheat in the mix. An accidental mix that was created right in the field, however a recent farm tour group rated the flavor of bread from the Field Blend as much better than that of the Glenn. Starting to see a pattern over the past few years - older wheat varieties tend to have better flavor - at least in bread. Field Blend tested at 14.1% protein with gluten index of 74.16. For those with some gluten sensitivity and looking for flavor, Field Blend (o...
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