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Two Letters Re: Grain Storage and Preparation

Sir;
We have what may be stupid question, however, we do not know how to grind wheat. We would like to ask how to prepare wheat for cooking and use.We have searched your great site but I did not find the answer on this. We would like to take advantage of this inexpensive food. Thanks so much . Your work is appreciated. - EG

Mr Rawles,
My family and I are doing our best to prepare for the tough times ahead. Something's brewing, I'm sure we all can feel it. One thing we'd love to keep a store of is cracked corn. The versatility, caloric and nutritional value, etc., makes dry corn a great prospect for our stores. We get it in 50 pound sacks from our local feed store for only about $6.50, where 50 pounds of wheat now costs us $50 ($15 of which is shipping). Please advise me how best to keep cracked corn. I know it won't keep long in the paper sacks. I've looked into five gallon buckets with seals in the lids, and we have a vacuum sealer. I would also like to know how dry corn holds up with climate change. Here we experience temperatures between about 5 degrees F and 120 degrees F throughout the year. Can corn be sealed and stored outside with these temperatures? For how long at best? We're striving for five plus years if at all possible, most likely not having electricity. As time is short, please try to get back to me as soon as possible or link me to where you may have already answered these questions. Thank you very much in advance for any help at all which you're able to offer. God bless you! - Mitch

JWR Replies: For someone planning ahead for "grid down" circumstances, I recommend getting a hand crank-powered grain mill. To make flour that is fine enough for bread baking, you need to run wheat through a mill twice. The best mills use stone burrs. Some of the less expansive mills use metal burrs. But these are just fine for making corn meal. The meal burr mills such as the "Corona" are less expensive but more labor intensive. With these you might have to grind wheat three times to make fine flour. Here at the ranch we use a Country Living grain mill. They are very efficient, and their crank wheels have a V-belt notch, which makes motorizing or pedal-power converting them quite easy. OBTW, I heard that this model will have a 15% price increase from the manufacturer on February 1, 2008, so if you want one, get your order in soon.

Metal burr grinders are available from Nitro-Pak, Lehman's, and several other vendors. Stone burr grinders are available from Ready Made Resources, Lehman's, and many other vendors.

OBTW, in addition to buying yourself a mill for grinding flour, don't overlook the easiest preparation method of all: soaked wheat berries. By simply soaking whole wheat for 24 to 36 hours, it plumps and softens. When then heated, wheat berries make a nutritious breakfast cereal.

Corn stores best in whole kernels. Once it is cracked, the inner germ is exposed. This decreases its storage life and nutritive value by 80%. Running whole corn through a grain mill at a coarse setting to make cracked corn is quick and easy. A finer setting will yield corn meal.

Unless you have large scale grain bins, one of the most efficient means of storing wheat and corn for small-scale animal feed or human consumption is to buy new galvanized trash cans with tight-fitting lids. If they will be on a damp floor, put the cans up on 2x4 blocks to prevent rust. When galvanized trash barrels go on sale, buy a bunch. Another good storage method is 5 or 6 gallon food grade plastic buckets with gasketed lids. These stack well, but be advised that they are not as vermin-proof as galvanized steel bins or barrels. Determined rats have been known to gnaw their way through plastic food buckets. So if you choose this method, be sure to set traps, and check the buckets once every few weeks for signs of damage. As previously mentioned in SurvivalBlog, do not use utility-type plastic paint buckets. Even if bought brand new these can taint food, because they are often molded using non-food-grade (toxic) mold release agents.

Grain storage is a crucial aspect of family preparedness. Grain will soon no longer be cheap or plentiful, so stock up! Readers JP and Commander Zero suggested this Financial Post (Canada) article: Forget oil, the new global crisis is food And meanwhile, we read: Japan to Increase Emergency Stockpiles of Grains, Wheat has jumped to $10 per bushel, but I anticipate that it will go much higher in the next year. Stock up, in quantity. Buy plenty for your family and your livestock. A total of 200 pounds of wheat and 50 pounds of corn per family member are good figures for planning purposes for a family without livestock. I also recommend buying plenty of extra for barter and charity. You'll soon be glad that you did

Speaking of charity, if you store extra wheat and/or corn for charity, remember that your charity recipients will need a way to process that grain. So be sure to be on the lookout for a few inexpensive used grain mills. You can often find used Corona brand mills (or similar) on eBay or on Craig's List

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