A Few of My Favorite Things

Now that I have a camera at my disposal, I've taken some photos of some of my favorites.

My lovely Zojirushi bread machine, a really handy "beaker" measuring cup, and a "French bread" cutting board, perfect for taking a strudel to a party. The dough knife is another extremely useful tool, and I don't care that my dad laughs to think I bought a rectangle of metal with one edge curled over. We use it for all sorts of things.

Dough/bench knife, Bread machine (Zo), and Beaker on a narrow cutting board 

Removed from the list: "Six Thousand Years of Bread", the book I tried reading; it turns out to be oddly religious, more historical than culinary, and honestly not as captivating as I had hoped. I did not finish reading it.  My little shelves hold two pan scales, measuring cups, flax seed, sesame seed, amaranth seed, powdered milk, vanilla in a dropper bottle, a jar of acetic acid, a salt cellar like Alton Brown's, and some Fiesta pieces.

Two-pan scales and other frequently used items.

Kitchenaid mixer with grain mill attachment

A great cutting board and bread knife, with the remains of my latest loaf of bread (they even ate the crusts)

Prelude to Pretzel Class: Wheat Life Cycle, Other Grains, and Gluten

Before I go to my kids' preschool to bake pretzels with them next week, the teacher is weaving "baking" into the daily work, by reading them related stories, and having them use the grinder/flaker. I provide a variety of grains to be squashed into flakes, crushed into flour, handled, and maybe sprouted. I'm not sure why some grains are referred to as "berries", e.g. wheat berries, rye berries, etc. Oats are called "groats". Go figure.

This photo shows the preschoolers the life cycle of wheat, helping them discover that grain is grass seeds. Sprouting some certainly beats a photo, if you've got the time; just put a few on a wet paper towel, inside a zip-lock. They will absorb water, and sprout in just a couple of days. I started three varieties going at home yesterday, to show my daughter and to get some pictures. They are already plump from the water. I hope to keep them going until they look like green blades of grass; one day maybe I'll grow some that I can harvest... Hopefully the teacher will sprout some too.

Images from here, here, and here.

It's probably waaay overboard, but I gave the class 13 kinds of grain to crush. Most of them can sprout, too.

It's normal to have a grain collection, right? Once I wondered why we make bread with so few, given how many varieties there are. With tasting comes understanding. Much as I wanted to love them all, alas, it was not to be. Also, many of them are too low in gluten to make a loaf; they can only be additions to a good dough.

Here's info I've collected on grain varieties. I'm probably missing some. Unless someone tells me that teff or sorghum really do something fantastic for bread (do they?) I probably won't try any more. Anyone have opinions to share?

My greatest discovery: Kamut®; great story behind it, and it tastes great, good for you, hypo-allergenic, and more nutritious than red wheat.
My greatest dissapointment: Quinoa; great story, great nutrition, native to America, I really wanted to like it, but, yuck; big time yuck; tried it again, still yuck.

Grain	Gluten	My Comments
Wheat	high	"Hard" wheats are high in gluten. People who don't like whole wheat often like the taste of white wheats.
rice	none	Haven't tried in yeast bread.
corn	none	A bread called "Anadama" calls for corn meal.
millet	none	It's very mild; it might give some texture to a loaf.
sorghum	none	I have never tried it.
rye	high	Not my favorite, so I haven't used it much.
triticale	high	I don't care for this grain.
oats	none	I like adding a handful or two, either rolled or steel-cut, to my bread.
barley	moderate	Apparently you can make bread from barley alone, but I have not ever tried. It's nice in soup.
teff	none	I have never tried it.
wild rice	none	Haven't tried in yeast bread. Just doesn't strike me as a great idea.
spelt	high**	I think this one tastes ok, but not as good as wheat.
Kamut®	high**	My favorite whole grain, even more than wheat.
buckwheat*	none	I have never tried it.
amaranth*	none	I like throwing these into yeast bread whole, for texture in the bread.
quinoa*	none	Reading about Quinoa makes me want to like it, but I just don't; tastes bad.
kañiwa*	none?	I have never tried it.
cockscomb*	none?	I have never tried it.

*a non-grass grain, or "pseudocereal".
**The gluten is different from wheat gluten, and may be ok for people who cannot eat wheat gluten; or so I understand.

Prelude to Pretzel Class: The Grain Flaker/Crusher

I'm doing my pretzel class once again next week for my youngest daughter's preschool class.

The teachers asked me to send the grain crusher (Marcato Marga Flaker) this week, so all the kids can have a go at it. We put it through its paces at home first. Here's my daughter showing how it's done.

One setting makes flakes out of oats, another setting crushes it into flour. Some grains will flake, others just crack. I have found that wheat cracks, and that spelt and oats will flake.
Kids find it fun to turn the crank, then feel the flakes or flour that falls into the tray. She wanted to try crushing all thirteen varieties of grain that I had.

To make it look more like the flour that most kids are accustomed to, use a fine mesh sifter. This will separate the bran from the flour. Doesn't she look serious?

I dumped the bran onto the paper towel next to the flour that we sifted out. The flaker makes a more coarse flour than you get at the grocery, but it is definitely flour. Feeling it is a must. The next thing I did was add some water to the flour and show her how it turns into a dough. That was good for giggles and playing with. She said it smelled good, and ate some of it.