You should plan to be dependent on stored food until your second crop comes in. Wheat is the least expensive and longest-lasting and most nutritious of the basic foods and should be the backbone of your stored foods. Figure on a pound per person per day, thus about 700 pounds per adult-size person over the two-year storage plan. This is about a loaf of bread per day, which will nicely supplement the other stored foods in your larder.
You want “thrice-cleaned, Turkey-red Hard Winter Wheat”, with moisture content at less than 10%. Store it in food-grade plastic buckets; treat it with dry ice as explained elsewhere in SurvivalBlog.
The simplest and most familiar way to eat wheat is by making bread. What follows is not a “survival” version of how to make bread, but unless you get your family used to eating whole wheat bread—and with this recipe, they will!—the wheat which ought to be the backbone of your food storage will not be much appreciated.
In a survival situation, you can prepare the bread dough described below, then eliminate the baking process in steps 5-7 by going right to the “Navajo bread” explanation at the end. And you won’t need bread pans either. Also, check abebooks.com for copies of Dian Thomas “Roughing It Easy” for ideas on survival cooking.
Homemade whole-wheat bread is often hard and chewy—sometimes better as a doorstop than as something to eat! Store-bought whole-wheat bread has a much better texture because commercial bakers use a secret ingredient. You can use the same ingredient and make bread that that will be far superior to store-bought and that your family will rave about. And you can make it from scratch to cooling rack in about 60 minutes! Trust me on this. Take note of the time for each step below and you will see what I mean.
Over the last several years, I have baked numberless loaves (100+) using this recipe. I often give one loaf of every 4-loaf batch away because I like the reactions I get. Early in my bread-baking career, one recipient told me she ate half a loaf at one sitting! I was pleased, but not surprised. My kids have done the same. Also try the variations you’ll read later in this paper; you’ll find people standing at your side waiting impatiently for the next bite.
Basic Whole-Wheat Bread (makes 4 loaves)
Of course it’s best to use freshly ground whole wheat, but you can start out your adventure in bread-making with whole wheat flour bought at the store. Yeast from Costco comes in good-size “bricks”—see the “Rawles Gets You Ready” preparedness course for details.
4 1?2 cups very warm water
1 cup honey
1?4 cup yeast
1?2 cup oil (Canola is best)
6 cups whole wheat flour (more flour will be added later; see below)
Slightly mounded 3/4 cup of gluten flour (the “secret ingredient”: available in the baking/nutrition/organic section of larger groceries or from a nutrition store). Warning: you want gluten flour, not “high protein” flour
1 1?2 teaspoons salt
4 to 5 1?2 cups whole wheat flour (store-bought whole wheat flour may take less because it will be more “packed”—fresh made flour is more “fluffy”
4 greased or oiled bread pans. I use my fingers to spread the grease, or a paper towel to spread the oil, into every corner. Do this well to unsure the loaves will release from the pans. I’ve also used “Pam” with good results.
1. Combine the water, honey and yeast; let this mixture “work” at least 5 minutes. I have a kneading machine, so I use its bowl for this. No kneading machine? Use a large mixing bowl.
2. Then add the oil, the 6 cups of whole wheat flour, the gluten flour and the salt. Beat in your kneading machine (or electric mixer, or by sturdy wooden spoon) for 7 minutes. This will result in a pancake-like batter.
3. Continue to beat, adding 4 1?2 cups of the 5 1?2 cups of flour; checking for stickiness and adding only enough to cause the dough to clear the bowl—meaning the dough will pick up dough off the sides of the bowl (the batch will feel slightly sticky when touched).
4. Either knead with your machine or turn out onto an oiled board or counter (a tablespoon of oil spread around with your hand. Machine-knead or hand-knead for at least 10 minutes. I rub my hands with oil to keep the dough from sticking too much. For hand kneading, you can also add a little flour (just a little—you don’t want tough bread!–if needed to prevent too much stickiness. At the end of ten minutes, the batch should be elastic—you’ll know what that means after your first bread-making experience. It will feel “alive”.
At this point, you can continue with steps 5-7 or go right to the “Navajo bread” section below.
5. Mold* into four loaves and put in the four pans. Let rise in the oven with the oven temperature at 100o (just warm), for 15 to 20 minutes (but no longer or else you’ll get air pockets in the bread).
6. Turn the oven up to 350o and bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown. There’s no need to remove the pans and wait for the oven to reach 350—just turn the knob to 350. To test for doneness, turn out one loaf and tap on the bottom: a hollow sound tells you it’s done. To turn out a loaf, use oven mittens to hold the pan inverted and to catch the loaf. If the loaf bottom is still a bit “squishy”, return it to the pan and continue baking. Keep the oven door closed during this test or you’ll lose too much heat. Don’t over bake; the loaves will be browner than they look in the dark oven.
7. Turn out on wire racks to cool; rub a stick of margarine or butter over the tops to keep the crust from getting too hard.
* to mold: shape the batch into a round ball and cut into quarters with a long knife. Shape each of these into a ball. Then with the heel of your hands press on the sides of a ball to shape it into length to fit your bread pans. Press into the pan and then press it down so it fills the pan end-to-end and side-to-side. There’s no need to do this perfectly.
Stand back and feel proud; try to wait a little before you cut yourself the first slice. You deserve it! And you are going to love the toast this bread makes!
Navajo bread
Flatten a fist-size ball of dough pancake thin to 1/2 skillet size; fry on both sides in hot oil. Use this as a base for a tostada.
Or, flatten loaf-size ball of dough pancake thin and cut into small pieces the size of the palm of your hand and fry both sides in hot oil; serve with butter and honey. Yum!
P.S. Gluten flour can be stored for as long as ground flour if you use the same techniques for storage.