Wal Mart Has Spring Wheat

[mirkwood]

The Wal Mart at 13600 South Bangerter has 25 lb. bags of spring wheat for $14.78. I picked up 200 lbs without hassle. I would guess they have about a pallet's worth. This is a pretty good price.

[mirkwood]

I just got an email saying that Honeyville has 50 lb. bags for $19.99.

[Cowboy]

When wheat was going up I remember that I was under the impression that when the harvest started that it would come back down. It looks like it has and it is not even fall yet. Good time to buy. Thanks mirk!

[goldilocks]

Spring wheat is not hard wheat is it and if not it will not be as stable nor last as long. I also heard that the good winter wheats have been mixed some with the poorer crops to help them sell better . One more thing I heard was spring wheat will not bake up as good as the hard winter wheat.
any one know if this is true?

[skeller]

I saw red wheat at WalMart in American Fork today $11 for 25#

Not bad!

[Charsee]

The Bountiful Costco had rice at $26 for 50 pounds and white wheat in containers for $24.00 for 45 pounds. Haven't seen either at any Costco for a long time. I'm not saying to buy any because I think the prices will come down eventually...(unless there is a real famine or amazingly high fertilizer, seed and transportation costs...hmmm).

[mirkwood]

The bags list the spring wheat as hard. I've had people who do a lot of bread tell me that spring wheat makes the best bread.

[prairiemom]

Soft wheat stores 12-15 yrs, not as long as the 20-30 yrs for hard, but hardly a short storage life.

I got this information from The Bread Builders:

There are two colors of wheat: White and red (actually there is a new golden variety that I just tried, it has a very mellow flavor and is almost as light as white wheat) Red produces a darker flour with a stronger flavor than white. It also produces more gluten (the stretchy proteins that make bread fluffy and light) than white.

There are two types of of each color: hard and soft. Hard wheat has more protein that stretches into longer strands, so it is perfect for bread. Soft has less protein making it perfect for baked goods where you don't want a spongy or stretchy dough, like cakes, cookies and pies.

Each wheat has two growing seasons: Winter and Spring. 75% of wheat is winter wheat. Winter wheat tends to have more more minerals but less protein than it's spring counterpart.

So when you buy wheat you ask for it by hard/soft, white/red and winter/spring. What variety you get depends on what you are using it for.

For baking you will want a soft white, winter or spring.

For breads you will want a hard red or white, preferably spring (though winter is more available and won't make a huge difference in your bread.) If your family objects to the distinctive flavor of whole wheat, you might want to start with hard white spring wheat. If you are new to bread-making, a hard red spring wheat will make it easier for you to make lighter, fluffier bread (because it's higher in protein.)