Storing corn and wheat for grinding

[Delmar_Morgan]

I'm wanting to store corn and wheat , would the cleam 5 gallon buckets at Wal-Mart be good to store these items for a long period of time. I'm also wanting to know what would be the cheapest route to buy wheat , I don't need to buy corn since I have grown it. Thanks DM

[WRTN]

As long as the plastic buckets are food grade. I would also suggest using a mylar bag as a liner inside the bucket to put the grain in. Once the grain is in the mylar liner in the bucket, you should add some oxygen absorbant packets and if you can get it a baseball size or similar volume of dry ice and let is sublimate to displace any oxygen in the mylar liner. Once the dry ice is mostly sublimated, snap on and seal the top.

As far as obtaining cheap wheat, you might try asking around at your local coop if they know of any local farmers who raise wheat crops. It is a seasonal crop so the spring and last summer are the times they usually have it. It is typically sold in 100 lb. bags.

[Shamrock1121]

1. Choose Food-Grade containers only, when using plastic. They will have an embossed goblet and fork on the bottom and lid of the container. Five-gallon paint buckets probably aren't food grade.

Just remember, the larger the container, the more it's going to weigh to move and lift. Is 5-gallons an easy size to use from and store?

Can you easily remove the lid and will it seal tightly (air-tight) again when removed time and time again?

2. If you find used containers from restaurants, avoid those that had fat or fatty foods in them. Fat bonds with plastic and you can end up with rancid-smelling grain no matter how well you cleaned the containers.

3. Food grade containers (with lids) in a large variety of sizes are available at restaurant supply stores.

4. Different strokes for different folks when it comes to storage - it usually comes down to a choice, not necessarily what's right or wrong. Just make sure you don't store grain that has a high moisture content or it will mold and the mold is potentially dangerous if consumed.

I use a FoodSaver vacuum sealer and put about 5# of grain in each bag. Then I "file" these in a flip-top plastic storage tote (has a flat top). I stack the plastic totes 3 high in my food storage area.

5. I also use the FoodSaver to vacuum seal grains/seeds/beans in canning jars - a good use for 1/2-gallon jars.

6. The cheapest wheat is found from a local source, or as close to home as possible. Even when wheat was cheap, the shipping killed you. Places to check:

-County Extension Office - they may know a source
-Health Food/Natural Food Co-Ops (these are often found in churches (Seventh Day Adventist, Mormons, Amish/Mennonite)
-Health Food Stores will often order you large quantities.
-Small mills - I have gotten grain through a local mill associated with "Farmer Direct Foods, Inc.".
-Most recently I've gotten Wheat Montana wheat at Wal-Mart.
-Wheat Montana - check for a dealer near you - http://www.wheatmontana.com/dealer.php

7. You need to be specific in the type of wheat you need. "Wheat" doesn't cut it!

-Do you want red or white varieties? I always suggest white wheat over red.
-Hard wheat is best used for bread.
-Soft wheat is best used in pastry, quick breads, cake and other baked goods where you don't want a lot of gluten development.
-Spring wheat generally has a larger endosperm than winter wheat, therefore you'll get a better extraction with less bran and more flour.
-Soft wheat and other soft grains don't store as long as hard wheat.
-Do you mind if it's chemically treated?

-Karen

[Bruenor]

Well, hopefully soon I'll be needing to store a lot of wheat as well. My wife and I may be going in with my brother, his wife, and my parents to buy a large amount of wheat. I'm thinking 850-1000 pounds! :o ;D

My plan is to keep about a month's worth of wheat here, and the rest at my parent's house. Luckily, my parents live in a 2400 square foot, two story, log house that we built (mostly) ourselves. They have the room to keep that wheat, and they are only 40 minutes away. We see them about twice a month anyway, so we won't have to make an extra trip.

To store it, I'm looking at 5 gallon buckets. Also, luckily, my wife's aunt is head baker at a Marsh Supermarket. Right now we have 8 5 gallon buckets waiting to have buttercream cleaned out of them, plus another six buckets of smaller sizes. All buckets food grade, with lids, and I can get an almost limitless supply of them.

My next step will be to get large mylar bags to store the wheat in. Bags go into the buckts, wheat go into the bags, toss in some oxygen absorbers, seal it and you're done. I saw a good video on youtube about sealing the mylar bags with a regular iron.

When I can convince everyone involved to actually pull the trigger, hopefully here in another week, I'll report back to let everyone know how the storage process is working out.

[WileyCoyote]

What I learned about storing wheat - Store it in trash cans with the HD bags; don't buy the thin stuff. Instead of an oxygen absorber, pop a CO2 cartridge and throw it in, and seal it quick. This kills all the little buggies and keeps it nice and fumigated til you open it again.

Make sure you buy big enough bags! That much wheat is WEIGHTY.

And make sure everyone involved buys a GRINDER too!!!

That's what I learned before the Mormons threw me out... ;D ;D ;D