It's easy to get rice & beans at Costco. They don't carry grain. I'm planning to find a dealer and buy some bulk grain as part of my Y2K preparations.

Here is my question: What kind do I want? Soft white wheat? Hard red winter? Dark northern spring? Spelt? Oats? Rye?

What's best, considering ease of storage, nutritional value, cookability, taste?

-- Alan Rushby (arushby@my-dejanews.com), April 22, 1999

Answers

I don't have your answer, only tidbits I've picked up. The soft white is used for bakery-type items (lighter fluffier stuff). I don't know if it stores as well as hard grain. Oats you'd need to get 'rolled' or buy a tool to do that -- they aren't like oatmeal, they have to be rolled to get that way. All grains are sproutable.

PJ in TX

-- PJ Gaenir (fire@firedocs.com), April 22, 1999.

Was going to get more rice at Costco, but I also would like to know where I can get larger quantities of rolled oats. I think oats are an important grain to get.

-- Jeremiah Jetson (laterthan@uthink.y2k), April 22, 1999.

I recommend the hard red winter wheat. Keeps a long time, grinds well and tastes good.

-- Steve F (smf@aol.com), April 22, 1999.

I recommend the hard red winter wheat. Keeps a long time, grinds well and tastes good.Y+

-- Steve F (smfdoc@aol.com), April 22, 1999.

Jeremiah, I have purchased 1200lbs of rolled oats at my local restaurant supplier. They had to order it for me, as I ordered such a large qty. It took about a week to arrive, and cost $17.00 per 50lb bag.

-- Mike (Boxman9186@aol.com), April 22, 1999.

I ordered oat groats from www.pleasanthillgrain.com and a grain roller mill from Lehman's (last Oct. - it arrived 3 days ago). The oat groats are oats without the husks. They are whole so they will keep longer. The Pleasant Hill folks seem very nice & competent, ship quickly & even throw in FREE diatomaceous earth for long term storage. They also have hard red wheat, corn & soy beans. Excellent prices. Grain stored in nitrogen won't sprout.

-- mostly lurking (mostly lurking@podunk.texas), April 22, 1999.

I bought hard red wheat and hard white wheat. I like a mixture for bread, and it makes the best bread in the world--nothing at all like that puffed air we buy at the store. I bought a few soy beans, but plan to buy more, and more rice and beans. Check your local Mennonite or Amish store if you have one. They are cheap and buy good quality stuff.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), April 22, 1999.

duram wheat is supposed to be good for pasta. I bought an italian hand pasta machine in order to have some variety from bread in "delivering" grains and veggies to my family's table.

-- marsh (armstrng@sisqtel.net), April 22, 1999.

Hard red is what the Mormons have at their cannery. I note that E-Bay auctions on the net has wheat for sale. Made another trip to Sams today (I split my business between Sams and Cosco). Picked up two more Corona Grain mills to give as gifts. Priced at $17.65 and 27 remain out of 196 3 weeks ago. Dinty Moore Beef Stew 4/24oz for $6.97....White Emerald Long Grain White Rice 50 lbs for $12.68.....Diamond Pinto Beans Pre Washed 50 lbs for $13.98. This is from the Sams in Central Phoenix, Az. I made the trip after reading over at Gary North that most companies in Phoenix don't expect any y2k problems. In 253 days I will give the CEO's of these companies a nice dish of beans & rice.

-- Red Wheat (phxbanks@webtv.net), April 22, 1999.

phxbanks.etc

Please post all the details on the corona mills, so that those of us in other regions can go in with the info to our Sams to get them ordered. (Specifically, manufacturer, address, etc. Perhaps the data off of the SKU tag might help us also).

cr

-- chuck, a Night Driver (rienzoo@en.com), April 22, 1999.

Look for Wheat Montana in your favorite search engine. They have an INCREDIBLE list of grains/beans,etc that are reasonably priced. They will fax you a list with prices(delivered prices) for a large sized order. Also, they gave me the name of a person about 100 miles away that orders in bulk - her prices were only a couple of dollars over the faxed price so I saved a lot on shipping. They really have a GREAT listing. On soybeans and corn, I ordered from Gary at Pleasant Hill Grain - also got a Country living mill from them...very nice people and accomodating in every way. I think they are in the archives under "food".

-- jeanne (jeanne@hurry.now), April 22, 1999.

That's http://www.pleasanthillgrain. com/. Gary Hansen is a real farmer, family guy, kind of the archetype of what Farm Aid is trying to save.

PJ in TX

-- PJ Gaenir (fire@firedocs.com), April 23, 1999.

I bought my mill at Sam's in Abilene Texas. When I purchased mine two days ago, they had a few dozen left. The UPC is not printed on the box, but on a white sticker placed at the botton of the box. The UPC number is 94046 00100. Instructions on the box are in Spanish and English. The name & address of the manufacturer is: Landers, P.O. Box 842, Medellin, Columbia. E-Mail address on the box is: info@landers.com.co. The box is yellow, shows a picture of the mill, and says Corona Traditional Corn Mill.

Now I have to find some grain!

-- Looking for grain, now... (Abilene@Texas.com), April 23, 1999.

It's a good idea to store several kinds of grains. Lots of people are allergic to wheat and corn. If that's all they store.... I love oats, myself. We buy 25 lb. bags of oat groats from our natural foods co-op. Groats are whole hulled oats. They have been heated briefly, I am told, to help them store, because otherwise they do not keep long at all once the hulls are removed. We grind oats fresh daily for breakfast cereal and for a quick oat cake that is wonderfull with butter and honey. Like a pancake, but we let it get a little drier. Mmmmm. - Much better to grind grains just before you use them, as they have more nutrients and still have LIFE FORCE.

-- Shivani Arjuna (odnsmall@aol.com), April 23, 1999.

COOL!! Thanks for the info. Now, hie thyself to a health food store and get a pound of wheat and see if it'll do wheat. And report back before noon sunday! ;-] (can't do a tongue in cheek emoticon, shucks) though I would expect it should. Corn is fairly hard and fairly oily, so if it'll do corn it OUGHT to do wheat, but You are the one with the box in your hand.

Chuck

-- chuck, a Night Driver (rienzoo@en.com), April 23, 1999.