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Letter Re: Whole Grains Versus Milled Grains for Storage
Jim:
With regards to food storage, I've heard a great deal about people buying
buckets of wheat to put away. What would be the feasibility of just cutting
out the middle-man and stocking up on baking flour, cornmeal, etc.?
If this were possible it would allow one to forego the price of a grinder and
put those funds toward even more foodstuffs. I imagine it would keep pretty
well if packed with a good vacuum-sealer and socked away in food grade buckets.
What am I missing? - L.C.
JWR Replies: As described in my "Rawles
Gets You Ready" preparedness course, once ground, wheat, corn, and
other grains begin to lose their nutritive value almost immediately,
and their shelf
life
is shortened
drastically.
Once the outer kernel (bran) of a grain is penetrated and the inner germ
is exposed, the inevitable degradation begins. Here are
some rough storage life figures to consider:
Whole corn: 8 to 12 years. Cracked or ground corn: 18 to 36 months
Whole wheat: 20+ years. Flour: 24 to 36 months
If you were to bake all of your own bread each day, and religiously rotate
your supplies of
flour and corn meal every 18 months, then I suppose that you could get by without
owning a grain mill. But if you want to store more than an 18 month
supply of grains, or have extra on hand for barter and charity
then
the only viable alternative is to buy whole grains and a grain mill.
