About a month ago Chad asked me where was the best place to buy wheat. There’s an Amish store not far from him and I suggested he go there. I bought wheat there when we lived near where Chad lives. He decided he had enough friends who were wheat farmers, he’d hit some of them up for some wheat. I haven’t heard if he got wheat or not.
When I was at the Mennonite store shortly after that discussion with Chad, I bought him a 10 pound bag of Wheat Montana’s Prairie Gold wheat berries.
My very favorite wheat is Wheat Montana. I love their flours and I can’t even remember when I first started using it but it was at least 14 years ago.
Their Bronze Chief is 15% protein and is milled from hard red spring wheat. I don’t find that in stores easily but I do have hard red wheat I can grind. Wheat Montana’s Prairie Gold flour has 13.5% protein and is made from hard red spring wheat. Their all purpose white flour is 12.25% protein and is made from “a blend of hard wheat”.
In Missouri, I can always (or I could when things were “normal”) find Wheat Montana flours at Walmart. In Texas, I could rarely find it.
According to Bon Appetit, “The main difference between bread flour and all-purpose flour is a matter of protein. Bread flour, which comes in white and whole wheat varieties, has a higher protein content than all-purpose, usually 11-13%”
Really, any Wheat Montana flour would make excellent bread but my favorite . . my over the top all time favorite is Prairie Gold.
I’ve been buying Prairie Gold wheat and flour in 50 pound bags from a Mennonite store hear here but whole grain wheat berries last for years and years, where already ground flour will last maybe a year if not kept in the freezer. I try to keep three or four 50 pound bags of Prairie Gold wheat berries and one 50 pound bag of Prairie Gold flour in reserve. But, I had been buying 10 pound bags of wheat berries and keeping two or three of those in reserve but with the food supply seeming to become more unreliable, I decided to get several 50 pound bags of Prairie Gold wheat berries. I have plenty of hard red wheat and plenty of soft white wheat but the one I use the most is the Prairie Gold.
I did a bit of checking online and the few places that did have Prairie Gold wheat in stock had it for $1.90+ per pound. I had paid .99/pound at the Mennonite store. I called them – they are so nice – and asked if they would get me several bags of Prairie Gold wheat. They buy the 50 pound bags and break them down, bag it up and sell it in 5 or 10 pound bags. I would have been happy to pay .99/pound for it but we went to get it today and since I was buying the whole bag, it was .79/pound. What a great deal!
I’ll have enough hard red, hard white and soft white flour to make whatever we need for a good, long while.
This is a nice post about milling your own flour for anyone who might be interested in doing it.
Karen Langseth says
I would sell you all the hard red spring 15% protein you could ever use for .79 a pound. That works out to about $47 per bushel which is how I market it.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I wish shipping wasn’t so outrageous. I’d jump on that and thank to get it from you.
Christina says
curious, what is your set up for grinding your own flour?
Twyla says
If Chad purchases wheat from his farmer friends, he should make sure that they did not have to spray it for bugs before harvest.
If I were much younger I would be trying this bread making. Thanks for all the info.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I told him that already. I think they spray the already harvested wheat with something too. I doubt he’ll find any wheat locally grown that hasn’t been sprayed for bugs before harvest though. My guess, is . . unless we buy organic flour and wheat, we’re getting bug spray too.
Tee says
I just bought the Prairie Gold wheat in a 5lb bag for $4.38 or $.87 a pound. They had the Bronze Chief whole wheat too at about the same price. I don’t remember the exact price. I am mixing up some sourdough with it tonight. I love the multigrain sourdough recipe from here: https://vanillaandbean.com/multigrain-sourdough-bread/ but I just made one this week, so I will go with a “white” loaf.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Thanks! I’ll check it out. I always love trying new recipes!