Here is a tentative schedule for our mini-classes. Although most are held on the third Thursday of each month at 7 p.m., some are not. An email is sent by our Relief Society secretary to those who have email. If you want to be notified personally on upcoming classes, please send me an email stating this, and you will be added to the list. My email is lin0303@netscape.net
March miniclass is being held at the Church on 3200 South on March 26 (Thursday). Starting time will be either 6:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. The class may run 90 minutes instead of the usual hour long meeting. A speaker from Andersen Seed in Logan will be addressing us on how to grow vegetables and fruits so that we can become more self-reliant.
As before, husbands are always invited to any of these meetings as well as any others wanting to attend that are not within our stake boundaries.
The date and time will be firmed up on Feb. 24. If you do not see an email or have this date announced in your Relief Society meeting, please email me.
April mini-class will be on powdered milk.
You will be tasting two different kinds of powdered milk mix and recipes made with powdered milk. There will be a demonstration on how to make yogurt (two kinds of yogurt: the kind with the fruit on the bottom that has to be mixed, and the Swiss-style that has the fruit mixed in and has the consistency of jello. Although you may not like yogurt, it is important to learn the process of making it as some of the cheeses that will be demonstrated begin as yogurt. I make a delicious cheesecake recipe from a cheese made from yogurt. Remember that this cheesecake is nonfat because it is made from powdered milk. I am exploring other uses of powdered milk (remember that I am a work in progress, too) so our repertoire will increase. More later on.
Other topics that will be covered in mini-classes this year, but are not scheduled yet include: making wheat gluten and bulgur wheat; first aid; pasta making; campfire building/dutch oven cooking; bean cookery; fire safety in the home; personal safety; soap making; and canning, if there is enough interest. This is all subject to change based on need and interest.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday, February 22, 2009
February 19, 2009 Mini-class on Wheat
Over 50 people from various wards in our Nibley Stake attended this hour-long miniclass. Many husbands attended, too. Although I am the Emergency Preparedness Specialist in Relief Society and have studied and had to live a self-reliant life, I don't know everything. One of the greatest benefits for us all in attending our meetings of any kind is that we learn from each other. I met wonderful sisters and brothers that night who shared their thoughts and experiences and contributed greatly to the meeting.
The following information was shared at the meeting:
February 19, 2009 Mini-class on Wheat
1. There are three main types of wheat that homemakers use: red or white hard wheat, which contains a higher amount of protein and gluten. This makes it the best choice when making bread-type items: dough for bread or rolls. The gluten in the wheat is what holds the cell walls together in the yeast-rising and baking processes. This wheat contains less starch than soft wheat. Another type of wheat is red or white soft wheat. This wheat has lower protein content, not as much gluten and a higher concentration of starch which makes it an excellent choice when making cakes and cookies. Why do I store soft pastry wheat? The answer is simple: I like to bake cookies, cakes and pastries. I have stored flour in the past. It develops an off-taste after a couple of years. I have stored soft wheat for years and have not had that problem. The soft wheat stores for up to 30 years. The third type of wheat typically used by homemakers is called durum wheat. This is used to make pasta and may also be called semolina wheat. We will have a mini-class on pasta making later in the season, and I have used hard wheat flour and white flour to make my own pasta.
2. Nutritional value of wheat: hard wheat contains 11-15% protein (soft wheat 9-12%), calcium, vitamin E, and iron and is high in fiber. When sprouted it also contains vitamins A, B and C. When wheat is mixed with other sources of protein: milk, beans, rice, eggs, etc., the percent of protein increases as wheat is an incomplete protein. When mixed with other proteins, it forms a complete protein with all of the essential amino acids. White flour is whole wheat flour which has had the bran (fiber) and wheat germ (vitamin E) milled out of it. I believe that other nutrients are also lost in the bleaching and processing of this flour, which is why whole wheat flour is so highly prized.
3. Long-term storage of wheat. We don’t want our wheat to be damp or moldy or full of bugs (weevils). In order to control the quality of our wheat, it must be kept cool and dry and have a moisture content between 10-12%. When the wheat is kept cool and dry and in rodent-proof containers, weevils cannot exist in this environment. In order to achieve this moisture content, wheat can be spread in a cookie sheet to a depth of no more than ¾ inch and placed in an oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes with the oven door propped open to allow the moisture to escape. There is controversy as to whether wheat will be able to sprout once it reaches this lower moisture content. Another way of storing wheat is to place it in number 10 cans (at the cannery) and place an oxygen packet in that can before sealing the can. Weevils cannot exist in an atmosphere where there is no oxygen. The third way of treating wheat for long-term storage is to coat the wheat berries (kernels) with diatomaceous earth (DE). Diatomaceous earth is a naturally occurring substance and comes in food grade and chemical grade. The food grade is the one you would need to purchase. Diatomaceous earth particles are such that they are extremely dry and have microscopic jagged edges. When a bug or weevil comes contact with DE, it nearly sucks the life-blood out of the insect so that it dies. In addition the jagged edges in the particles also cut the insect and make it impossible for it to live in that environment. See information in your hand-out. Freezing and dry ice only kill hatched larvae or adults and do not kill weevil eggs. Bay leaves have no effect on weevils. If you are going to store your wheat in number 10 cans with oxygen packets, you need no DE. If you are going to store your wheat in food-grade plastic buckets, you will need the DE as over time oxygen does reenter plastic buckets if you have used oxygen packets in there as a means of storage. See hand-out for additional storage information.
4. Yeast – there are different types of yeast, but for our purposes we will discuss two of them that can be purchased in stores: regular yeast and fast-rising yeast. Regular yeast is the yeast we have all been using for years and can be bought by the packet or by the vacuum-packed package. It used to be sold as cakes of yeast. Rapid rise yeast came on the market in response to those who manufacture bread makers. There are cycles in them now where rapid rise yeast is used and the bread only rises once, and so you have bread that much faster as opposed to 3 and ½ hours with two risings and slower yeast. Rapid rise yeast contains ascorbic acid and sometimes sorbitan monostearate, while yeast is the only ingredient in regular yeast. Yeast does not keep indefinitely even when it remains in its vacuum packed container. If you want to keep it long term, store it in the freezer. I have found that frozen yeast keeps its viability for many years that way while yeast stored at room temperature unopened loses some of its ability to adequately raise bread after a few years.
5. Bread making. There are two important facts to remember in bread making: moisture is absorbed slowly in wheat due to the bran and less refining, AND, that the humidity in the air affects how quickly or slowly moisture it is absorbed into the flour and how much moisture is needed for that day. So, on a low humidity, high barometric day (sunny and clear), your bread will absorb moisture more quickly and may use the recommended amount in the recipe, while on cloudy, more humid, rainy, low barometric pressure days, your flour may absorb moisture more slowly, and your bread recipe may need more flour to absorb all of the moisture. It is always better to grind wheat and bake on a clear, sunny day than a cloudy one. Nevertheless, you can still do both on cloudy, rainy, or humid days. Just understand that wheat flour acts a little differently on these two types of days. Good bread is dependent on using hard wheat (bread flour), the correct amount of kneading to develop the gluten, and yeast that is active. To test your yeast put some warm water in a small bowl. The temperature of the water should be slightly above body temperature as too hot a temperature kills the yeast. Mix in a teaspoon of liquid honey or sugar and stir until it is incorporated into the water. Then sprinkle a teaspoon of yeast on top of the water. Within five minutes or so the yeast should have melted and begun bubbling. By ten minutes there should be a considerable amount of bubbling in this mixture. If there is only a quarter inch or so on top of the mixture, your yeast may have lost its ability to rise. If unsure, always follow this test instead of going through the bread making process only to find out that your bread is not rising.
Knead your bread dough between 5 to 10 minutes. Too little kneading does not break down the gluten sufficiently to allow for good cell wall production in the baking process. Too much kneading breaks down the gluten too much to the point where it cannot support good cell wall production. You will learn this through trial and error the way we all did. Also, you want your bread to contain the least amount of flour called for instead of the most. The least amount gives you a lighter, fluffier bread while the most gives you a heavier more dense bread. If the kneading process is too sticky for your hands, try adding a little more flour or let the dough rest. As the dough rests, it incorporates more of the moisture so that you don’t have to add as much flour. Another way to knead sticky bread is to rub some shortening on your kneading area. It prevents the dough from sticking to the counter and your hands while kneading. Remember to coat a bowl with shortening or lightly oil it before placing your bread dough in it to rise. Slow rising produces better cell wall production than rapid rising. Some sisters place the dough in a warmed oven or near some other source of warmth to speed up the rising time. While it does speed the bread rising process up, you will find that your bread is better if it rises more slowly. Grease and flour your bread pan before patting the dough into the pan. Let that dough double in size before placing it into the oven to bake. To test for doneness take the loaf out of the oven, while still in the pan, and tap on it with your fingers. It should sound hollow. You will learn the sound over time.
I have been experimenting with bread baking for four months now because I want a good loaf of bread that is soft inside, keeps well, is moist and is 100% whole wheat with no white flour. I have found that the adding gluten (about ¼ cup) per one loaf bread recipe gives me a moister loaf of bread (you must decrease the amount of flour in your recipe by 1/2 cup if adding gluten.) I have experimented with dough enhancer. I have not liked the results of my bread with using it to any degree, but remember that your expectations may be different than mine. You may enjoy the results, so try it in some recipes to see if you want to continue using it. After bread has cooled thoroughly, you may freeze it or use it. If you are going to use it right away, wrap it tightly in a plastic bag, and then wrap again in a different plastic bag. I have found that by using two plastic bags that my bread stays softer and moister for longer periods. I have also found that refrigerating fresh bread causes mine to go stale and become dry very quickly. You may want to experiment with this also.
6. Years ago I saved my money and did my own research into grain grinders and bought a Retsel grain grinder made up in McCammon, Idaho. This company has been around for a very long time and makes functional grain grinders with no fancy cabinets. It is essentially a motor with a stone grinder attached. The reason I chose this kind of grinder is that I wanted my flour to be stone ground at a slow rate of speed. The faster it is stone ground, the greater heat it produces and the more nutrients are lost. Also, this grinder comes with metal grinding plates as well (ordered separately) so that I can grind grains and seeds that are oily. Don’t grind anything that contains a lot of oil in your stone grinder as it will glaze the stones, and they will not grind properly. If I have anything oily like corn or even rice, I will grind it using the metal plates instead of the stones. The stones are adjustable for every degree of fineness or coarseness. The other great feature of the Retsel grinder is that it comes with a handle that can be attached so that the wheat can be manually ground. The major difference between this grinder and any other manual grinder is the fact that the Retsel has gears in it like a bicycle so that the grinding process is more easily accomplished than the grinders that are sold without the gears. Try grinding wheat in a grinder without gears and you will expend a great deal of energy just to get enough flour to produce pancakes or bread. Manual grinding with the Retsel is so much easier and faster. The Retzel grinder is expensive, but remember you are only buying this once. The company offers a good warranty and repairs, if necessary.
The other kind of grinder that has come out on the market has steel teeth in it. It tends to grind that wheat faster and has a container that catches the flour as it is ground. The adjustment of fineness and coarseness is available and useable, but to a lesser degree than the Retsel grinder. It is also very loud. Another drawback to mine (Nutrimill) is that it seems to have been designed to grind hard red wheat more easily than white wheat. The grains of red wheat are shorter and thinner than white wheat. The white wheat tends to clog the inlet area where the wheat filters down through a channel to be ground. I sometimes have to stop the grinding process to open up this channel because of this or else I have to accept a coarser grind of wheat in order to get the grinding process to proceed without my being so vigilant of the whole process. The coarser ground wheat is still quite acceptable for bread making.
7. Wheat sprouts – It is always good to know if your wheat will sprout because, who knows, maybe someday we may want or have to grow our own plot of wheat. In the winter when you cannot easily grow lettuce for salad or sandwiches, the sprouts are a nice alternative for lettuce for salads or sandwiches. You can also dry the sprouts, grind them and add them to bread recipes or whatever else you are making. When you sprout wheat, you are increasing the nutrient value of the wheat in many ways. You can also let your sprouts continue growing into grass (called wheat grass). This also intensifies the amount of nutrients available. You can liquefy the wheat grass in a blender and add a small amount of it to whatever you are drinking for added vitamin value. See the hand-out for tips on growing sprouts. They need to be kept in a dark place and just moist in order to begin growing. The whole process should take 3 to 4 days. Sprouts are used when they are ¼ to ½ inch long. They are white in color. If you want them to turn green, expose them to sunlight for a day or so.
Additional hand-out given that night:
Wheat Facts and Storage
Wheat is the cornerstone of any emergency storage supply. Approximately 300 lbs (of wheat or a combination of grains) will supply an adult for one year (plus 60 lbs. of dried beans). Children under 8 years old would need half those amounts. Wheat has been separated into several commercial classes based on color, hardness of the kernel, and growing season. The hard wheat classes are produced in areas that have dry-temperate climates. The kernels are usually small, red, and have a hard texture. The white wheat classes are usually produced in areas where winters are relatively mild and there is adequate moisture. White wheat kernels are more plump and larger than red wheat kernels and have a softer texture than hard wheat. Wheat kernels are also known as wheat “berries”. Gluten is a wheat protein that gives flours the ability to retain gases produced by bread yeast to permit dough leavening. The hard red wheat varieties are high in gluten and make the best bread flour. Gluten will degrade during storage and lose half its raising power after several years of storage. Gluten can be purchased and added to poor quality flour in order to produce better quality bread.
Quality and Purchase. Whole wheat berries can be purchased from a producer (farmer). These grains are almost always not cleaned and may have been bulk stored for many months. Grains may also be purchased from a processor. In this case they may have been cleaned and packaged. Do not purchase “seed” wheat for storage, since these products may have toxic chemical treatments. Lastly, grains may be purchased cleaned and packaged from a retailer. Please call your local county Cooperative Extension Office for local outlets to purchase grains for storage.
Variety Protein Best Use(s)
Hard red spring , Hard red winter & Hard white spring 11-15% bread flour (high gluten)
Soft red winter, Soft white winter & Soft white spring 9-12% pasta, cake, biscuit, cracker, and pastry flours (low gluten)
Packaging. Store wheat in moisture-proof, food-grade packaging, such as Mylar-type bags, polyethylene bags, plastic buckets, or #10 cans. Be aware that rodents can chew through plastic bags. Wheat stored in ~10 pound bags is easy to manipulate, facilitates rotation, allows easy inspection of the grain, and compartmentalizes the grain so contamination of one lot does not expose large quantities of stored grain to contamination. Several bags can be placed inside a 5-gallon plastic bucket. It is not necessary to store wheat in the absence of oxygen unless insects are present.
Storage Conditions. Storage at 40-60°F is optimal for most home stored grains but is usually impractical in most homes except during winter months. Freezing or sub-zero temperatures do not damage stored grains. Storage at temperatures above 60°F causes a more rapid decline in seed viability (ability to germinate) but only a slightly faster loss in food value. A moisture level over 12% encourages mold growth and chemical degradation of all grains (barley, corn, millets, oats, rice, rye, sorghum, triticale, and wheat). Moisture above 12% may allow grains to start to respire causing chemical degradation. Moisture above 15% will allow molds to grow. When the moisture reaches 20% some bacteria can start to grow. The result is spoiled grain unfit for use. Store containers off the floor-- especially off concrete floors. Concrete can wick moisture to stored containers very easily. Inspect grain often for insect activity. Treat for insects (see below) or discard affected lots.
MethodInsect ControlRecommendation
Insecticides NOT RECOMMENDED, may be toxic if not correctly used
Heating NOT RECOMMENDED, too difficult to control the correct amount of heat to apply and may inhibit sprouting.
Bay leaves or salt NOT RECOMMENDED, these have absolutely no effect on insects or insect eggs.
Freezing Freeze 1-15 lb bags of wheat for 2-3 days. Allow to warm for 24 hours. Freezing kills live pests, but not insect eggs. Multiple freezing and warming cycles may be needed to kill all insects and hatching eggs.
Vacuum Sealing Seal wheat in vacuum bags using follow vacuum sealer instructions. Regular polyethylene bags are not suitable to maintain a vacuum.
Dry Ice (CO2) Place 3-4” of grain in the bottom of a 5-gallon plastic bucket. Use gloves when handling dry ice. Add 2-3 oz. crushed dry ice. Fill the container to the full height. Place the lid on top slightly askew. After 30 minutes, seal the lid air-tight. Dry ice will control most adult and larval insects present, but usually will not destroy eggs or pupae. If properly applied, a single treatment with dry ice is sufficient for long-term storage. Annual dry ice treatments are not necessary unless an infestation is recognized in the stored grain. Treating grain with dry ice does not reduce its ability to sprout or its food value.
Oxygen absorbers: Seal wheat in Mylar-type bags or #10 cans along with appropriate number of oxygen absorber packets to create an oxygen-free atmosphere. This will kill adult insects and prevent larval insects from surviving.
No treatment Choose insect-free sources for wheat. Store them in clean and dry containers impermeable to insects.
Polyethylene bags and 5-gallon plastic buckets will not maintain an oxygen-free environment after dry-ice or oxygen absorber treatment. Over time oxygen will re-enter the container and this may allow larvae to grow to adults and cause an infestation during storage.
Heating– The heating method will kill all infestations, however, if done incorrectly, it will damage the wheat. Pour wheat up to half an inch deep in a shallow baking pan and place in a preheated 150-degree oven for only 15-20 minutes. Oven door may be left open to allow moisture and heat to escape.
Organic– Diatomaceous earth is an organic method to rid wheat of "critters" yet it is not harmful to man or animals. It is also inexpensive and easy to use.
For each 5-gallon container, put in one and a quarter cups of diatomaceous earth and roll the container until all the wheat grains are dusted. To use wheat after treatment, rinse and blot dry the grain– but remember that it is not necessary, as it is an organic material and harmless to humans. Ed. Note: This article was adapted from The Beehive News, Las Vegas, NV. Originally written by Karen Hale. Many of these suggestions can also be applied to other forms of grain. Grains and legumes should form the base of any food storage program. Rotate– (prepare and eat ) regularly for best storage results.
Nutrition and Allergies. A typical serving of whole wheat is 16 grams. It is recommended that adults get at least three servings (48g) per day. Wheat grain is high in protein, fiber, calcium and iron. Spouting wheat can obtain small amounts of vitamins A, B, C, and E not present in whole grain wheat. Other health claims for sprouted wheat remain unsubstantiated and lack science-based credibility.
6Wheat Nutrition
16 g serving Hard Red Hard White Soft White Soft Red
Calories 57 53 53 53
Cal. From fat 3 1.5 3 2
Fat 0.35 0.15 0.35 0.25
Tot. Carbohydrates 11 11 11 12
Dietary Fiber 1.7 2.0 2.0 2.0
Protein 2.3 2.0 2.3 1.7
Why is it so great?Wheat is packed with vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, processing used to produce and refine white flour removes most of the valuable nutrients. Wheat kernels have three main divisions; the bran, the endosperm, and the inner embryo or wheat germ. The bran layer constitutes 14% of the wheat kernel and is removed when producing white flour. The bran is packed with vitamins A, C, and E, calcium, iron, and iodine. The bran also happens to be the best source of dietary fiber which aids in digestion and helps ward off disease. The wheat germ layer is an excellent source of vitamin E, as well as other vitamins and protein. Many important nutrients are removed when layers are separated during processing. For this reason, it makes sense to put whole wheat back into your diet. Pound for pound, wheat is one of the least expensive foods available. And, since grain products will expand in your stomach--satisfying you even if you eat less--using wheat products can help you stretch your budget by eliminating the need for store-bought, overpriced, and over-processed goods.
If you are concerned that your food storage may be lacking in protein, a good supply of wheat and beans will form a complete protein. Just a half cup of uncooked wheat contains 8 to 10 grams of protein. So, not only will wheat give you the protein needed for muscle growth and repair, but you will have a low-fat complex carbohydrate to give your body the energy it needs to make it through the day.
Shelf life. Develop a program to utilize stored wheat on a regular basis. As stored wheat is used, replace it with containers of new wheat. Identify each container for variety and storage date. A good rule of thumb is to rotate wheat so that no stored product is older than 5 years. However, older stored wheat did make acceptable bread. A B.Y.U. study indicated that, regardless of headspace oxygen level, wheat packaged in No. 10 cans throughout 32 years of storage at ambient or cooler temperatures made bread acceptable to a majority of consumers.
References. 1Brennand and Hendricks. 1988. “Food Storage in the Home.” USU Extension Circular 257, Logan, Utah. 16 p.; 2Cuperus, G. (coordinator). 1989. Wheat Pest Management, a Guide to Profitable and Environmentally Sound Production. Extension Service/United States Department of Agriculture, The Wheat Industry Resource Committee, and The National Association of Wheat Growers Foundation. 59 p.;3Green, D. J. Rose, L. V. Ogden, and O. A. Pike. 2005. Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science, Brigham Young University, S221 ESC, Provo, UT 84602. Poster: IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana. ;4Hilfliger, E. (editor). 1980. Wheat-documenta: CIBA-GEIGY, Technical Monograph. CIBA¬GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 95 p.;5Martin, J. H., W. H. Leonard, and D. L. Stamp. 1976. Principles of Field Crop Production, 3rd edition. Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc., New York. 1118 p.;6USDA Nutrition Database. Obtained via Esha Genesis Software.;http://www.wheatfoods.org for recipes using wheat; USU Publications: Home Storage of Wheat
The following information was shared at the meeting:
February 19, 2009 Mini-class on Wheat
1. There are three main types of wheat that homemakers use: red or white hard wheat, which contains a higher amount of protein and gluten. This makes it the best choice when making bread-type items: dough for bread or rolls. The gluten in the wheat is what holds the cell walls together in the yeast-rising and baking processes. This wheat contains less starch than soft wheat. Another type of wheat is red or white soft wheat. This wheat has lower protein content, not as much gluten and a higher concentration of starch which makes it an excellent choice when making cakes and cookies. Why do I store soft pastry wheat? The answer is simple: I like to bake cookies, cakes and pastries. I have stored flour in the past. It develops an off-taste after a couple of years. I have stored soft wheat for years and have not had that problem. The soft wheat stores for up to 30 years. The third type of wheat typically used by homemakers is called durum wheat. This is used to make pasta and may also be called semolina wheat. We will have a mini-class on pasta making later in the season, and I have used hard wheat flour and white flour to make my own pasta.
2. Nutritional value of wheat: hard wheat contains 11-15% protein (soft wheat 9-12%), calcium, vitamin E, and iron and is high in fiber. When sprouted it also contains vitamins A, B and C. When wheat is mixed with other sources of protein: milk, beans, rice, eggs, etc., the percent of protein increases as wheat is an incomplete protein. When mixed with other proteins, it forms a complete protein with all of the essential amino acids. White flour is whole wheat flour which has had the bran (fiber) and wheat germ (vitamin E) milled out of it. I believe that other nutrients are also lost in the bleaching and processing of this flour, which is why whole wheat flour is so highly prized.
3. Long-term storage of wheat. We don’t want our wheat to be damp or moldy or full of bugs (weevils). In order to control the quality of our wheat, it must be kept cool and dry and have a moisture content between 10-12%. When the wheat is kept cool and dry and in rodent-proof containers, weevils cannot exist in this environment. In order to achieve this moisture content, wheat can be spread in a cookie sheet to a depth of no more than ¾ inch and placed in an oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes with the oven door propped open to allow the moisture to escape. There is controversy as to whether wheat will be able to sprout once it reaches this lower moisture content. Another way of storing wheat is to place it in number 10 cans (at the cannery) and place an oxygen packet in that can before sealing the can. Weevils cannot exist in an atmosphere where there is no oxygen. The third way of treating wheat for long-term storage is to coat the wheat berries (kernels) with diatomaceous earth (DE). Diatomaceous earth is a naturally occurring substance and comes in food grade and chemical grade. The food grade is the one you would need to purchase. Diatomaceous earth particles are such that they are extremely dry and have microscopic jagged edges. When a bug or weevil comes contact with DE, it nearly sucks the life-blood out of the insect so that it dies. In addition the jagged edges in the particles also cut the insect and make it impossible for it to live in that environment. See information in your hand-out. Freezing and dry ice only kill hatched larvae or adults and do not kill weevil eggs. Bay leaves have no effect on weevils. If you are going to store your wheat in number 10 cans with oxygen packets, you need no DE. If you are going to store your wheat in food-grade plastic buckets, you will need the DE as over time oxygen does reenter plastic buckets if you have used oxygen packets in there as a means of storage. See hand-out for additional storage information.
4. Yeast – there are different types of yeast, but for our purposes we will discuss two of them that can be purchased in stores: regular yeast and fast-rising yeast. Regular yeast is the yeast we have all been using for years and can be bought by the packet or by the vacuum-packed package. It used to be sold as cakes of yeast. Rapid rise yeast came on the market in response to those who manufacture bread makers. There are cycles in them now where rapid rise yeast is used and the bread only rises once, and so you have bread that much faster as opposed to 3 and ½ hours with two risings and slower yeast. Rapid rise yeast contains ascorbic acid and sometimes sorbitan monostearate, while yeast is the only ingredient in regular yeast. Yeast does not keep indefinitely even when it remains in its vacuum packed container. If you want to keep it long term, store it in the freezer. I have found that frozen yeast keeps its viability for many years that way while yeast stored at room temperature unopened loses some of its ability to adequately raise bread after a few years.
5. Bread making. There are two important facts to remember in bread making: moisture is absorbed slowly in wheat due to the bran and less refining, AND, that the humidity in the air affects how quickly or slowly moisture it is absorbed into the flour and how much moisture is needed for that day. So, on a low humidity, high barometric day (sunny and clear), your bread will absorb moisture more quickly and may use the recommended amount in the recipe, while on cloudy, more humid, rainy, low barometric pressure days, your flour may absorb moisture more slowly, and your bread recipe may need more flour to absorb all of the moisture. It is always better to grind wheat and bake on a clear, sunny day than a cloudy one. Nevertheless, you can still do both on cloudy, rainy, or humid days. Just understand that wheat flour acts a little differently on these two types of days. Good bread is dependent on using hard wheat (bread flour), the correct amount of kneading to develop the gluten, and yeast that is active. To test your yeast put some warm water in a small bowl. The temperature of the water should be slightly above body temperature as too hot a temperature kills the yeast. Mix in a teaspoon of liquid honey or sugar and stir until it is incorporated into the water. Then sprinkle a teaspoon of yeast on top of the water. Within five minutes or so the yeast should have melted and begun bubbling. By ten minutes there should be a considerable amount of bubbling in this mixture. If there is only a quarter inch or so on top of the mixture, your yeast may have lost its ability to rise. If unsure, always follow this test instead of going through the bread making process only to find out that your bread is not rising.
Knead your bread dough between 5 to 10 minutes. Too little kneading does not break down the gluten sufficiently to allow for good cell wall production in the baking process. Too much kneading breaks down the gluten too much to the point where it cannot support good cell wall production. You will learn this through trial and error the way we all did. Also, you want your bread to contain the least amount of flour called for instead of the most. The least amount gives you a lighter, fluffier bread while the most gives you a heavier more dense bread. If the kneading process is too sticky for your hands, try adding a little more flour or let the dough rest. As the dough rests, it incorporates more of the moisture so that you don’t have to add as much flour. Another way to knead sticky bread is to rub some shortening on your kneading area. It prevents the dough from sticking to the counter and your hands while kneading. Remember to coat a bowl with shortening or lightly oil it before placing your bread dough in it to rise. Slow rising produces better cell wall production than rapid rising. Some sisters place the dough in a warmed oven or near some other source of warmth to speed up the rising time. While it does speed the bread rising process up, you will find that your bread is better if it rises more slowly. Grease and flour your bread pan before patting the dough into the pan. Let that dough double in size before placing it into the oven to bake. To test for doneness take the loaf out of the oven, while still in the pan, and tap on it with your fingers. It should sound hollow. You will learn the sound over time.
I have been experimenting with bread baking for four months now because I want a good loaf of bread that is soft inside, keeps well, is moist and is 100% whole wheat with no white flour. I have found that the adding gluten (about ¼ cup) per one loaf bread recipe gives me a moister loaf of bread (you must decrease the amount of flour in your recipe by 1/2 cup if adding gluten.) I have experimented with dough enhancer. I have not liked the results of my bread with using it to any degree, but remember that your expectations may be different than mine. You may enjoy the results, so try it in some recipes to see if you want to continue using it. After bread has cooled thoroughly, you may freeze it or use it. If you are going to use it right away, wrap it tightly in a plastic bag, and then wrap again in a different plastic bag. I have found that by using two plastic bags that my bread stays softer and moister for longer periods. I have also found that refrigerating fresh bread causes mine to go stale and become dry very quickly. You may want to experiment with this also.
6. Years ago I saved my money and did my own research into grain grinders and bought a Retsel grain grinder made up in McCammon, Idaho. This company has been around for a very long time and makes functional grain grinders with no fancy cabinets. It is essentially a motor with a stone grinder attached. The reason I chose this kind of grinder is that I wanted my flour to be stone ground at a slow rate of speed. The faster it is stone ground, the greater heat it produces and the more nutrients are lost. Also, this grinder comes with metal grinding plates as well (ordered separately) so that I can grind grains and seeds that are oily. Don’t grind anything that contains a lot of oil in your stone grinder as it will glaze the stones, and they will not grind properly. If I have anything oily like corn or even rice, I will grind it using the metal plates instead of the stones. The stones are adjustable for every degree of fineness or coarseness. The other great feature of the Retsel grinder is that it comes with a handle that can be attached so that the wheat can be manually ground. The major difference between this grinder and any other manual grinder is the fact that the Retsel has gears in it like a bicycle so that the grinding process is more easily accomplished than the grinders that are sold without the gears. Try grinding wheat in a grinder without gears and you will expend a great deal of energy just to get enough flour to produce pancakes or bread. Manual grinding with the Retsel is so much easier and faster. The Retzel grinder is expensive, but remember you are only buying this once. The company offers a good warranty and repairs, if necessary.
The other kind of grinder that has come out on the market has steel teeth in it. It tends to grind that wheat faster and has a container that catches the flour as it is ground. The adjustment of fineness and coarseness is available and useable, but to a lesser degree than the Retsel grinder. It is also very loud. Another drawback to mine (Nutrimill) is that it seems to have been designed to grind hard red wheat more easily than white wheat. The grains of red wheat are shorter and thinner than white wheat. The white wheat tends to clog the inlet area where the wheat filters down through a channel to be ground. I sometimes have to stop the grinding process to open up this channel because of this or else I have to accept a coarser grind of wheat in order to get the grinding process to proceed without my being so vigilant of the whole process. The coarser ground wheat is still quite acceptable for bread making.
7. Wheat sprouts – It is always good to know if your wheat will sprout because, who knows, maybe someday we may want or have to grow our own plot of wheat. In the winter when you cannot easily grow lettuce for salad or sandwiches, the sprouts are a nice alternative for lettuce for salads or sandwiches. You can also dry the sprouts, grind them and add them to bread recipes or whatever else you are making. When you sprout wheat, you are increasing the nutrient value of the wheat in many ways. You can also let your sprouts continue growing into grass (called wheat grass). This also intensifies the amount of nutrients available. You can liquefy the wheat grass in a blender and add a small amount of it to whatever you are drinking for added vitamin value. See the hand-out for tips on growing sprouts. They need to be kept in a dark place and just moist in order to begin growing. The whole process should take 3 to 4 days. Sprouts are used when they are ¼ to ½ inch long. They are white in color. If you want them to turn green, expose them to sunlight for a day or so.
Additional hand-out given that night:
Wheat Facts and Storage
Wheat is the cornerstone of any emergency storage supply. Approximately 300 lbs (of wheat or a combination of grains) will supply an adult for one year (plus 60 lbs. of dried beans). Children under 8 years old would need half those amounts. Wheat has been separated into several commercial classes based on color, hardness of the kernel, and growing season. The hard wheat classes are produced in areas that have dry-temperate climates. The kernels are usually small, red, and have a hard texture. The white wheat classes are usually produced in areas where winters are relatively mild and there is adequate moisture. White wheat kernels are more plump and larger than red wheat kernels and have a softer texture than hard wheat. Wheat kernels are also known as wheat “berries”. Gluten is a wheat protein that gives flours the ability to retain gases produced by bread yeast to permit dough leavening. The hard red wheat varieties are high in gluten and make the best bread flour. Gluten will degrade during storage and lose half its raising power after several years of storage. Gluten can be purchased and added to poor quality flour in order to produce better quality bread.
Quality and Purchase. Whole wheat berries can be purchased from a producer (farmer). These grains are almost always not cleaned and may have been bulk stored for many months. Grains may also be purchased from a processor. In this case they may have been cleaned and packaged. Do not purchase “seed” wheat for storage, since these products may have toxic chemical treatments. Lastly, grains may be purchased cleaned and packaged from a retailer. Please call your local county Cooperative Extension Office for local outlets to purchase grains for storage.
Variety Protein Best Use(s)
Hard red spring , Hard red winter & Hard white spring 11-15% bread flour (high gluten)
Soft red winter, Soft white winter & Soft white spring 9-12% pasta, cake, biscuit, cracker, and pastry flours (low gluten)
Packaging. Store wheat in moisture-proof, food-grade packaging, such as Mylar-type bags, polyethylene bags, plastic buckets, or #10 cans. Be aware that rodents can chew through plastic bags. Wheat stored in ~10 pound bags is easy to manipulate, facilitates rotation, allows easy inspection of the grain, and compartmentalizes the grain so contamination of one lot does not expose large quantities of stored grain to contamination. Several bags can be placed inside a 5-gallon plastic bucket. It is not necessary to store wheat in the absence of oxygen unless insects are present.
Storage Conditions. Storage at 40-60°F is optimal for most home stored grains but is usually impractical in most homes except during winter months. Freezing or sub-zero temperatures do not damage stored grains. Storage at temperatures above 60°F causes a more rapid decline in seed viability (ability to germinate) but only a slightly faster loss in food value. A moisture level over 12% encourages mold growth and chemical degradation of all grains (barley, corn, millets, oats, rice, rye, sorghum, triticale, and wheat). Moisture above 12% may allow grains to start to respire causing chemical degradation. Moisture above 15% will allow molds to grow. When the moisture reaches 20% some bacteria can start to grow. The result is spoiled grain unfit for use. Store containers off the floor-- especially off concrete floors. Concrete can wick moisture to stored containers very easily. Inspect grain often for insect activity. Treat for insects (see below) or discard affected lots.
MethodInsect ControlRecommendation
Insecticides NOT RECOMMENDED, may be toxic if not correctly used
Heating NOT RECOMMENDED, too difficult to control the correct amount of heat to apply and may inhibit sprouting.
Bay leaves or salt NOT RECOMMENDED, these have absolutely no effect on insects or insect eggs.
Freezing Freeze 1-15 lb bags of wheat for 2-3 days. Allow to warm for 24 hours. Freezing kills live pests, but not insect eggs. Multiple freezing and warming cycles may be needed to kill all insects and hatching eggs.
Vacuum Sealing Seal wheat in vacuum bags using follow vacuum sealer instructions. Regular polyethylene bags are not suitable to maintain a vacuum.
Dry Ice (CO2) Place 3-4” of grain in the bottom of a 5-gallon plastic bucket. Use gloves when handling dry ice. Add 2-3 oz. crushed dry ice. Fill the container to the full height. Place the lid on top slightly askew. After 30 minutes, seal the lid air-tight. Dry ice will control most adult and larval insects present, but usually will not destroy eggs or pupae. If properly applied, a single treatment with dry ice is sufficient for long-term storage. Annual dry ice treatments are not necessary unless an infestation is recognized in the stored grain. Treating grain with dry ice does not reduce its ability to sprout or its food value.
Oxygen absorbers: Seal wheat in Mylar-type bags or #10 cans along with appropriate number of oxygen absorber packets to create an oxygen-free atmosphere. This will kill adult insects and prevent larval insects from surviving.
No treatment Choose insect-free sources for wheat. Store them in clean and dry containers impermeable to insects.
Polyethylene bags and 5-gallon plastic buckets will not maintain an oxygen-free environment after dry-ice or oxygen absorber treatment. Over time oxygen will re-enter the container and this may allow larvae to grow to adults and cause an infestation during storage.
Heating– The heating method will kill all infestations, however, if done incorrectly, it will damage the wheat. Pour wheat up to half an inch deep in a shallow baking pan and place in a preheated 150-degree oven for only 15-20 minutes. Oven door may be left open to allow moisture and heat to escape.
Organic– Diatomaceous earth is an organic method to rid wheat of "critters" yet it is not harmful to man or animals. It is also inexpensive and easy to use.
For each 5-gallon container, put in one and a quarter cups of diatomaceous earth and roll the container until all the wheat grains are dusted. To use wheat after treatment, rinse and blot dry the grain– but remember that it is not necessary, as it is an organic material and harmless to humans. Ed. Note: This article was adapted from The Beehive News, Las Vegas, NV. Originally written by Karen Hale. Many of these suggestions can also be applied to other forms of grain. Grains and legumes should form the base of any food storage program. Rotate– (prepare and eat ) regularly for best storage results.
Nutrition and Allergies. A typical serving of whole wheat is 16 grams. It is recommended that adults get at least three servings (48g) per day. Wheat grain is high in protein, fiber, calcium and iron. Spouting wheat can obtain small amounts of vitamins A, B, C, and E not present in whole grain wheat. Other health claims for sprouted wheat remain unsubstantiated and lack science-based credibility.
6Wheat Nutrition
16 g serving Hard Red Hard White Soft White Soft Red
Calories 57 53 53 53
Cal. From fat 3 1.5 3 2
Fat 0.35 0.15 0.35 0.25
Tot. Carbohydrates 11 11 11 12
Dietary Fiber 1.7 2.0 2.0 2.0
Protein 2.3 2.0 2.3 1.7
Why is it so great?Wheat is packed with vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, processing used to produce and refine white flour removes most of the valuable nutrients. Wheat kernels have three main divisions; the bran, the endosperm, and the inner embryo or wheat germ. The bran layer constitutes 14% of the wheat kernel and is removed when producing white flour. The bran is packed with vitamins A, C, and E, calcium, iron, and iodine. The bran also happens to be the best source of dietary fiber which aids in digestion and helps ward off disease. The wheat germ layer is an excellent source of vitamin E, as well as other vitamins and protein. Many important nutrients are removed when layers are separated during processing. For this reason, it makes sense to put whole wheat back into your diet. Pound for pound, wheat is one of the least expensive foods available. And, since grain products will expand in your stomach--satisfying you even if you eat less--using wheat products can help you stretch your budget by eliminating the need for store-bought, overpriced, and over-processed goods.
If you are concerned that your food storage may be lacking in protein, a good supply of wheat and beans will form a complete protein. Just a half cup of uncooked wheat contains 8 to 10 grams of protein. So, not only will wheat give you the protein needed for muscle growth and repair, but you will have a low-fat complex carbohydrate to give your body the energy it needs to make it through the day.
Shelf life. Develop a program to utilize stored wheat on a regular basis. As stored wheat is used, replace it with containers of new wheat. Identify each container for variety and storage date. A good rule of thumb is to rotate wheat so that no stored product is older than 5 years. However, older stored wheat did make acceptable bread. A B.Y.U. study indicated that, regardless of headspace oxygen level, wheat packaged in No. 10 cans throughout 32 years of storage at ambient or cooler temperatures made bread acceptable to a majority of consumers.
References. 1Brennand and Hendricks. 1988. “Food Storage in the Home.” USU Extension Circular 257, Logan, Utah. 16 p.; 2Cuperus, G. (coordinator). 1989. Wheat Pest Management, a Guide to Profitable and Environmentally Sound Production. Extension Service/United States Department of Agriculture, The Wheat Industry Resource Committee, and The National Association of Wheat Growers Foundation. 59 p.;3Green, D. J. Rose, L. V. Ogden, and O. A. Pike. 2005. Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Science, Brigham Young University, S221 ESC, Provo, UT 84602. Poster: IFT Annual Meeting, July 15-20 - New Orleans, Louisiana. ;4Hilfliger, E. (editor). 1980. Wheat-documenta: CIBA-GEIGY, Technical Monograph. CIBA¬GEIGY Ltd., Basle, Switzerland. 95 p.;5Martin, J. H., W. H. Leonard, and D. L. Stamp. 1976. Principles of Field Crop Production, 3rd edition. Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc., New York. 1118 p.;6USDA Nutrition Database. Obtained via Esha Genesis Software.;http://www.wheatfoods.org for recipes using wheat; USU Publications: Home Storage of Wheat
February 22, 2009 Relief Society spotlight on rendering fat into tallow (beef) or lard (pork).
While living on the first farm located in Pennsylvania, we lived in an area of dairy farmers. Although we were considered "city-folk" and not one of the "in-crowd", people there were friendly and willing to help anyone. I learned a lot of frugality and ways to use almost everything at hand and not waste anything that could be useful.
We had two pigs that we raised in our own barn. My husband was in sales and made sales calls to a large cheese-making factory. A by-product of cheese making is whey. It was sold by the factory in powdered form to others, but several bags were given to my husband. We mixed the whey with water each day and supplemented the diet of our pigs with it. They thrived and grew large. After they were butchered, I saved the fat from the meat in a plastic bag and placed it in the freezer so that I could continue to collect enough scraps to render into lard.
At that same time we also raised our own beef and had it slaughtered, processed and packaged by meat cutters who worked full time at a local food market, but would come to individual farms to give this service. Beef fat is harder than pork fat. I learned how to render the fat by reading articles on it. I used my electric frying pan and put that pan as far away from the edge of the kitchen counter as I could as I did not want any of my four young children to get burned by fat that sputtered from time to time. I set the dial on the frying pan on low and allowed the fat to render or cook. As the pieces began to melt, I would turn the fat over so that it was exposed to the frying pan heat on both sides, much the same way that bacon is cooked. Over time the fat cooks out of the pieces in the pan, and cracklings are left. Cracklings are those pieces of fat that contain small bits of meat and hardened fat that just won't render or melt down any further. Some folks think these are tasty and eat them. I wouldn't even remotely consider eating them, although they did smell pretty good.
I strained the melted fat into a pot and added at least a quart of water. The amount of water depends on how much fat is in the pot. If you had a quart of melted fat, I would add at least two quarts of water. Standing by the stove continually, you would watch that pot until the mixture of fat and water came to a boil. Let it slowly boil for a few minutes to make sure that all fat is in a liquid state. Once you have done that, add two more quarts of very cold water and remove the pot from the stove and let the whole thing cool. Once the pot cools down enough that it can be refrigerated with the lid on or placed in a cold spot like a garage (if it's winter), let the fat harden.
When you are ready to work with the fat again to further clean it, put the pot with the hardened fat and water on your kitchen counter. Try to loosen the fat from the sides of the pan with a dull knife. You are trying to get that fat out of the pot in as few pieces as possible. (Fat needs to be washed in the manner you have just done because as it cooks, small pieces of meat and cracklings adhere to the fat and make it difficult to store the fat for long periods of time due to their breaking down.) Once you lift that fat out of the pot, you will see cracklings and small bits of meat that adhered to the bottom of the fat block. Scrape those off and get down to fat with nothing adhering to it.
Repeat this process again as many times as necessary of melting the fat in two quarts of water. Once it has liquified and has reached the boiling point, add two quarts of very cold water and repeat the above steps. You will see that as you do this that the fat becomes purer and purer. It should be almost pure white by the time you have done this at least four times. If not, then keep repeating the process until the fat is pure white with no "meat" smell. Once it has reached that point, pour the liquified fat into a long-term storage container and screw the top on the container.
This fat can be used in cooking, in making soap, or in making emergency candles. It was winter when this beef fat was rendered so I melted the tallow (fat) in a deep one-pound coffee can (gotten from a neighbor). I tied some wicking to a ruler and dipped the wick into the tallow. As you withdraw the wick from the fat, the fat adhering to the wick begins to harden. I placed those wicks outside to harden fully and then repeated this process several times until I had a decent sized candle. This candle is to be used in emergencies as it gives off quite a little smoke. I experimented and added a slab of parafin (sold in the canning department of any store carrying canning supplies). The parafin cut down on the smoking quite a little and gave me a harder candle which burned better.
The main reason I am giving you this information is to show how the wives of the farmers let nothing go to waste that could be used. I have saved fat from beef roasts and fat that I have collected from frying hamburger up before serving it or canning it. I have gotten quite a little. If you have cleaned your fat to the point that there is no meat odor in the fat, it will keep nicely in a cool dry place without needing refrigeration. I hesitate to say that the fat doesn't need refrigeration if you are going to use it to cook with (as in cooking with shortening). I wouldn't take that kind of chance. It will keep for years if kept in a closed container and kept cool and is thoroughly cleaned.
Pork fat can be rendered the same way but tends to be a softer fat than beef fat. I wouldn't use pork fat to make candles, but it can be rendered according to the same directions above and used in place of shortening for frying, piecrusts, cooking, etc. Clean it thoroughly and store it in the refrigerator.
Remember that you can collect your fat scraps and place them in a sealable plastic bag or container stored in the freezer until you have enough to render.
We had two pigs that we raised in our own barn. My husband was in sales and made sales calls to a large cheese-making factory. A by-product of cheese making is whey. It was sold by the factory in powdered form to others, but several bags were given to my husband. We mixed the whey with water each day and supplemented the diet of our pigs with it. They thrived and grew large. After they were butchered, I saved the fat from the meat in a plastic bag and placed it in the freezer so that I could continue to collect enough scraps to render into lard.
At that same time we also raised our own beef and had it slaughtered, processed and packaged by meat cutters who worked full time at a local food market, but would come to individual farms to give this service. Beef fat is harder than pork fat. I learned how to render the fat by reading articles on it. I used my electric frying pan and put that pan as far away from the edge of the kitchen counter as I could as I did not want any of my four young children to get burned by fat that sputtered from time to time. I set the dial on the frying pan on low and allowed the fat to render or cook. As the pieces began to melt, I would turn the fat over so that it was exposed to the frying pan heat on both sides, much the same way that bacon is cooked. Over time the fat cooks out of the pieces in the pan, and cracklings are left. Cracklings are those pieces of fat that contain small bits of meat and hardened fat that just won't render or melt down any further. Some folks think these are tasty and eat them. I wouldn't even remotely consider eating them, although they did smell pretty good.
I strained the melted fat into a pot and added at least a quart of water. The amount of water depends on how much fat is in the pot. If you had a quart of melted fat, I would add at least two quarts of water. Standing by the stove continually, you would watch that pot until the mixture of fat and water came to a boil. Let it slowly boil for a few minutes to make sure that all fat is in a liquid state. Once you have done that, add two more quarts of very cold water and remove the pot from the stove and let the whole thing cool. Once the pot cools down enough that it can be refrigerated with the lid on or placed in a cold spot like a garage (if it's winter), let the fat harden.
When you are ready to work with the fat again to further clean it, put the pot with the hardened fat and water on your kitchen counter. Try to loosen the fat from the sides of the pan with a dull knife. You are trying to get that fat out of the pot in as few pieces as possible. (Fat needs to be washed in the manner you have just done because as it cooks, small pieces of meat and cracklings adhere to the fat and make it difficult to store the fat for long periods of time due to their breaking down.) Once you lift that fat out of the pot, you will see cracklings and small bits of meat that adhered to the bottom of the fat block. Scrape those off and get down to fat with nothing adhering to it.
Repeat this process again as many times as necessary of melting the fat in two quarts of water. Once it has liquified and has reached the boiling point, add two quarts of very cold water and repeat the above steps. You will see that as you do this that the fat becomes purer and purer. It should be almost pure white by the time you have done this at least four times. If not, then keep repeating the process until the fat is pure white with no "meat" smell. Once it has reached that point, pour the liquified fat into a long-term storage container and screw the top on the container.
This fat can be used in cooking, in making soap, or in making emergency candles. It was winter when this beef fat was rendered so I melted the tallow (fat) in a deep one-pound coffee can (gotten from a neighbor). I tied some wicking to a ruler and dipped the wick into the tallow. As you withdraw the wick from the fat, the fat adhering to the wick begins to harden. I placed those wicks outside to harden fully and then repeated this process several times until I had a decent sized candle. This candle is to be used in emergencies as it gives off quite a little smoke. I experimented and added a slab of parafin (sold in the canning department of any store carrying canning supplies). The parafin cut down on the smoking quite a little and gave me a harder candle which burned better.
The main reason I am giving you this information is to show how the wives of the farmers let nothing go to waste that could be used. I have saved fat from beef roasts and fat that I have collected from frying hamburger up before serving it or canning it. I have gotten quite a little. If you have cleaned your fat to the point that there is no meat odor in the fat, it will keep nicely in a cool dry place without needing refrigeration. I hesitate to say that the fat doesn't need refrigeration if you are going to use it to cook with (as in cooking with shortening). I wouldn't take that kind of chance. It will keep for years if kept in a closed container and kept cool and is thoroughly cleaned.
Pork fat can be rendered the same way but tends to be a softer fat than beef fat. I wouldn't use pork fat to make candles, but it can be rendered according to the same directions above and used in place of shortening for frying, piecrusts, cooking, etc. Clean it thoroughly and store it in the refrigerator.
Remember that you can collect your fat scraps and place them in a sealable plastic bag or container stored in the freezer until you have enough to render.
February 15, 2009 Relief Society spotlight on March Ensign article: "The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance" by Pres. Marion G. Romney
Part of President Romney's talk was read to the sisters in Relief Society. The whole talk can be found on pages 61-65. Following are the excerpts that were read that day:
"Doctrine and Covenants 29: 34-35 tells us there is no such thing as a temporal commandment, that all commandments are spiritual. It also tells us that man is to be "an agent unto himself." Man cannot be an agent unto himself if he is not self-reliant. Herein we see that independence and self-reliance are critical keys to our spiritual growth. Whenever we get into a situation which threatens our self-reliance, we will find our freedom threatened as well. If we increase our dependence, we will find an immediate decrease in our freedom to act.
Thus far, we should have learned that self-reliance is a prerequisite to the complete freedom to act. We have also learned, however, that there is nothing spiritual in self-reliance unless we make the right choices with that freedom. What, then, should we do once we have become self-reliant in order to grow spiritually?
The key to making self-reliance spiritual is in using the freedom to comply with God's commandments. The scriptures are very clear in their command that it is the duty of those who have to give to those who are in need...
Once a person has been made whole, or self-reliant, he reaches out to aid others, and the cycle repeats itself....
One of the three areas emphasized in the mission of the Church is to perfect the Saints, and this is the purpose of the welfare program. This is not a doomsday program, but a program for o ur lives here and now, because now is the time for us to perfect our lives. May we continue to hold fast to these truths."
"Doctrine and Covenants 29: 34-35 tells us there is no such thing as a temporal commandment, that all commandments are spiritual. It also tells us that man is to be "an agent unto himself." Man cannot be an agent unto himself if he is not self-reliant. Herein we see that independence and self-reliance are critical keys to our spiritual growth. Whenever we get into a situation which threatens our self-reliance, we will find our freedom threatened as well. If we increase our dependence, we will find an immediate decrease in our freedom to act.
Thus far, we should have learned that self-reliance is a prerequisite to the complete freedom to act. We have also learned, however, that there is nothing spiritual in self-reliance unless we make the right choices with that freedom. What, then, should we do once we have become self-reliant in order to grow spiritually?
The key to making self-reliance spiritual is in using the freedom to comply with God's commandments. The scriptures are very clear in their command that it is the duty of those who have to give to those who are in need...
Once a person has been made whole, or self-reliant, he reaches out to aid others, and the cycle repeats itself....
One of the three areas emphasized in the mission of the Church is to perfect the Saints, and this is the purpose of the welfare program. This is not a doomsday program, but a program for o ur lives here and now, because now is the time for us to perfect our lives. May we continue to hold fast to these truths."
February 8, 2009 Relief Society spotlight on soap
When you purchase a bar of soap, remove the wrapper and let the bar of soap sit in a place in your cabinet where it is exposed to the air. Bars of soap have moisture in them as they come packaged. By exposing them to the air the bars begin to dry out. You will see that this does not affect the quality of the soap, but because the bar of soap is now more compact, it will last longer when you begin using it.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
January 25, 2009 My Story
When I was called as Emergency Preparedness Specialist in Relief Society, I wondered why I was called to this position. I was reminded that I had lived through some very trying circumstances in my life which has forced me to develop skills that others may not have. I would like to share a little on some of the difficulties our family has faced, and how we have handled them.
After being married about five years, the recession in the 1970's was pretty devastating to many. It hit our family hard. My husband was totally out of work. We had just purchased a farm and were doing our best to become as self-sufficient as we could, but without an income and with a mortgage payment, it was difficult. We lived on our home-storage and could not pay many bills. My husband sold his truck, paid off that debt and looked for a new job. He was one of 200 men interviewing for a position with Westinghouse and got it. Meanwhile, we looked around the house to see what each of us had to sell. We both sold personal possessions that we treasured and managed to get $600 between us.
I bought all of the canning equipment that we needed and food that was being sold at a local farmers' market at very reasonable prices, and I learned to can from my neighbors. My neighbors also taught me how to get the most from anything that I owned. They were very frugal farmers that "made-do", and I learned a great deal about surviving on one's own. I was taught how to forage for food, barter with neighbors, share my excess, etc. Much of what I have learned on self-sufficiency was learned from the wives of these farmers. They were such a blessing in my life.
The next year I planted a large garden and canned everything that I could.
I bought some old laying hens for a very reasonable price and collected eggs to incubate in a homemade incubator. I raised 19 chicks, and then put them out in the chicken pen that we built. I later learned about chicken predators the hard way. It was hard to lose many of those chicks, but I finally got the problem solved. How I loved eating those eggs from free-ranging chickens.
We got our milk at a dollar a gallon from the local farmer. Each gallon came with about two cups of cream that I skimmed off and saved. Needless to say, I churned all of our butter and made all of our ice cream. We had many Sugar Maple trees on the property, so I tapped some of them and collected the sap. We heated our home with wood upstairs, and downstairs I cooked on a woodstove. I boiled the sap down into syrup, but let it go a little too far, so it turned to maple sugar instead. We enjoyed using the sugar.
My husband found some new friends while waiting in line at the auto-parts store and invited them to our home. The man stated that he really enjoyed fresh buttermilk and hinted at my giving him some. I told him that I would love to share some of it with him. He mentioned that he had nut trees on his property and that I could come over whenever I wanted and pick all that I wanted. This sounded like a good deal to me.
Strawberries, apples and blackberries grew wild on our place. Mostly I picked the blackberries and made jam for bread or a syrup to flavor the vanilla ice cream I would make. We learned from others to pick wild apples and take them to the local cider press where they would be pressed into cider for 25 cents a gallon. We came home with 40 gallons of cider, which my neighbors taught me to can. They also taught me how to made grape juice and cherry juice the easy way. We had a lot of juice that year. No worry, it kept very well.
The commute to work for my husband was quite lengthy so we sold the farm and bought another one closer to where he worked in Binghamton, NY. This was a smaller farm, but it had a better lay-out than the first one. We had hayfields, fenced pasture, ten acres of woods, a pond, barn, spring and a small orchard.
During one summer in the early 1980's there was drought that was one of the worst they had seen in the area for decades. Our spring dried up, and we were without water for 6 weeks. Neighbors that had wells brought us water. We hauled it in from other places, went to the laundramat and showered at the Church. It was not fun, but we managed. We heated this house with wood and had an air-tight woodstove that we lit in early November and kept going 24/7 until the end of March.
Our children had their own horses/ponies; we had a milk cow that we used to feed two calves that were raised for meat, had chickens and two pigs. We share-cropped the hayfield with a neighbor that had haying equipment and put in a field of corn the same way. We continued to get a gallon of milk from a neighbor in this new area, foraged for food again and had wonderful neighbors who shared what they had: blueberries and blackberries. I learned to make jam from elderberries, too. The ground was very fertile, and our huge garden yielded enough produce for me to can 600jars of food while there.
I joined a spinning and weaving group, bought a spinning wheel, and learned how to take a fleece from a sheep, treat it, and card and spin the wool. Money was not plentiful, so I also sewed many of the children's clothes. All of the skills I learned were useful and fun to me, so I didn't see this as a burden.
When a cow was butchered, it was done at our farm with the sides of beef hanging in our unheated basement during the winter for one week. I learned how to render the fat from these animals and use that fat for making homemade candles. The rest of the fat was washed several times and stored in plastic containers. This rendered fat kept very well for many years.
I have continued to learn additional skills along the way over the years. I enjoy making things from scratch and using natural materials. I also enjoy eating food that is not laced with additives and preservatives, although I do eat food containing those things. My children grew up with a good work ethic and always helped with work around the house once we left the farm and moved to the suburbs in NJ. All in all, I loved the skills that I learned from many of these experiences.
Living in the suburbs brought some unexpected hardships as well. We lived in an area where we had our own well and were dependent on electric in order to have water. We experienced a nor'easter and were without power for three days. The temperature in the house dropped to 55 degrees. I learned a lot from this experience. We had water storage so drinking, washing and flushing was not a problem. Bathing was a problem, so we went to the local YMCA. Since it was winter the sun went down by 4:45 p.m., and then the house was dark. There isn't much to do in the dark. I lined up 10 candles so I could read at the kitchen table, but even that amount of candles did not produce good reading light. The oil lanterns were in the bathrooms so that the children could see as they walked around upstairs. I wasn't comfortable leaving candles lit where I couldn't see them, so I used the lanterns. The amount of light from a lantern is sufficient for soft-light, but not really good for much else.
From this experience I needed to get some sort of lighting that wouldn't produce carbon monoxide. So, in the spring I drove to Amish country about two hours away in Pennsylvania and went to a large hardware store that many of them frequented. I went through that store looking at everything the Amish used since they lived without any purchased utilities. I found many items but focused on lighting. They use Aladdin Lamps which have a mantle and use lamp oil to light them.
I bought one lamp and some lamp oil and brought it home to try it. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the lamp produced light comparable to a 60 watt light bulb and also produced enough heat to warm my bedroom to 70 degrees if I kept the door shut. I loved this lamp so much that I went back out to Amish country and purchased two more.
I am grateful for the hardships my family experienced. We learned how to adapt and look for better ways of doing things. My children benefitted greatly from these experiences as well. They thought they were fun at the time, but now I have seen how some have put into practice much of what they gained from the situations we found ourselves in.
I have learned many things, but the thing that stands out most is to make the best of what we have while times are good. This includes learning new skills that would help me if times become worse economically or even politically. Now is the time to purchase those things I need in case we lose power or water or heat. I need to be able to cook, store food, stay warm, have enough water, etc., and it is so much easier to do when the things I need are available as opposed to being in the midst of a crisis and having to do it in less than optimal conditions.
I hope this has helped any who read this to understand a little more about the skills I have developed and about the need to prepare now for the future. I hope you will consider the skills you may need if you could not get to the grocery store or if food wasn't available or if you needed light or a way to keep warm.
Now is the time to think about this and to get started. Once you are in a crisis, that opportunity has passed. Our Father in Heaven loves us so much that He gives His servants, the prophets, ample warning of the things that we need to know so that our lives won't be as difficult as they could be if we weren't warned. It is my prayer that you will follow the advice of our former prophets and our current one, Thomas S. Monson. Pray about what you should be doing for your family with emergency preparedness, listen carefully to the promptings you receive, and then do it!
After being married about five years, the recession in the 1970's was pretty devastating to many. It hit our family hard. My husband was totally out of work. We had just purchased a farm and were doing our best to become as self-sufficient as we could, but without an income and with a mortgage payment, it was difficult. We lived on our home-storage and could not pay many bills. My husband sold his truck, paid off that debt and looked for a new job. He was one of 200 men interviewing for a position with Westinghouse and got it. Meanwhile, we looked around the house to see what each of us had to sell. We both sold personal possessions that we treasured and managed to get $600 between us.
I bought all of the canning equipment that we needed and food that was being sold at a local farmers' market at very reasonable prices, and I learned to can from my neighbors. My neighbors also taught me how to get the most from anything that I owned. They were very frugal farmers that "made-do", and I learned a great deal about surviving on one's own. I was taught how to forage for food, barter with neighbors, share my excess, etc. Much of what I have learned on self-sufficiency was learned from the wives of these farmers. They were such a blessing in my life.
The next year I planted a large garden and canned everything that I could.
I bought some old laying hens for a very reasonable price and collected eggs to incubate in a homemade incubator. I raised 19 chicks, and then put them out in the chicken pen that we built. I later learned about chicken predators the hard way. It was hard to lose many of those chicks, but I finally got the problem solved. How I loved eating those eggs from free-ranging chickens.
We got our milk at a dollar a gallon from the local farmer. Each gallon came with about two cups of cream that I skimmed off and saved. Needless to say, I churned all of our butter and made all of our ice cream. We had many Sugar Maple trees on the property, so I tapped some of them and collected the sap. We heated our home with wood upstairs, and downstairs I cooked on a woodstove. I boiled the sap down into syrup, but let it go a little too far, so it turned to maple sugar instead. We enjoyed using the sugar.
My husband found some new friends while waiting in line at the auto-parts store and invited them to our home. The man stated that he really enjoyed fresh buttermilk and hinted at my giving him some. I told him that I would love to share some of it with him. He mentioned that he had nut trees on his property and that I could come over whenever I wanted and pick all that I wanted. This sounded like a good deal to me.
Strawberries, apples and blackberries grew wild on our place. Mostly I picked the blackberries and made jam for bread or a syrup to flavor the vanilla ice cream I would make. We learned from others to pick wild apples and take them to the local cider press where they would be pressed into cider for 25 cents a gallon. We came home with 40 gallons of cider, which my neighbors taught me to can. They also taught me how to made grape juice and cherry juice the easy way. We had a lot of juice that year. No worry, it kept very well.
The commute to work for my husband was quite lengthy so we sold the farm and bought another one closer to where he worked in Binghamton, NY. This was a smaller farm, but it had a better lay-out than the first one. We had hayfields, fenced pasture, ten acres of woods, a pond, barn, spring and a small orchard.
During one summer in the early 1980's there was drought that was one of the worst they had seen in the area for decades. Our spring dried up, and we were without water for 6 weeks. Neighbors that had wells brought us water. We hauled it in from other places, went to the laundramat and showered at the Church. It was not fun, but we managed. We heated this house with wood and had an air-tight woodstove that we lit in early November and kept going 24/7 until the end of March.
Our children had their own horses/ponies; we had a milk cow that we used to feed two calves that were raised for meat, had chickens and two pigs. We share-cropped the hayfield with a neighbor that had haying equipment and put in a field of corn the same way. We continued to get a gallon of milk from a neighbor in this new area, foraged for food again and had wonderful neighbors who shared what they had: blueberries and blackberries. I learned to make jam from elderberries, too. The ground was very fertile, and our huge garden yielded enough produce for me to can 600jars of food while there.
I joined a spinning and weaving group, bought a spinning wheel, and learned how to take a fleece from a sheep, treat it, and card and spin the wool. Money was not plentiful, so I also sewed many of the children's clothes. All of the skills I learned were useful and fun to me, so I didn't see this as a burden.
When a cow was butchered, it was done at our farm with the sides of beef hanging in our unheated basement during the winter for one week. I learned how to render the fat from these animals and use that fat for making homemade candles. The rest of the fat was washed several times and stored in plastic containers. This rendered fat kept very well for many years.
I have continued to learn additional skills along the way over the years. I enjoy making things from scratch and using natural materials. I also enjoy eating food that is not laced with additives and preservatives, although I do eat food containing those things. My children grew up with a good work ethic and always helped with work around the house once we left the farm and moved to the suburbs in NJ. All in all, I loved the skills that I learned from many of these experiences.
Living in the suburbs brought some unexpected hardships as well. We lived in an area where we had our own well and were dependent on electric in order to have water. We experienced a nor'easter and were without power for three days. The temperature in the house dropped to 55 degrees. I learned a lot from this experience. We had water storage so drinking, washing and flushing was not a problem. Bathing was a problem, so we went to the local YMCA. Since it was winter the sun went down by 4:45 p.m., and then the house was dark. There isn't much to do in the dark. I lined up 10 candles so I could read at the kitchen table, but even that amount of candles did not produce good reading light. The oil lanterns were in the bathrooms so that the children could see as they walked around upstairs. I wasn't comfortable leaving candles lit where I couldn't see them, so I used the lanterns. The amount of light from a lantern is sufficient for soft-light, but not really good for much else.
From this experience I needed to get some sort of lighting that wouldn't produce carbon monoxide. So, in the spring I drove to Amish country about two hours away in Pennsylvania and went to a large hardware store that many of them frequented. I went through that store looking at everything the Amish used since they lived without any purchased utilities. I found many items but focused on lighting. They use Aladdin Lamps which have a mantle and use lamp oil to light them.
I bought one lamp and some lamp oil and brought it home to try it. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the lamp produced light comparable to a 60 watt light bulb and also produced enough heat to warm my bedroom to 70 degrees if I kept the door shut. I loved this lamp so much that I went back out to Amish country and purchased two more.
I am grateful for the hardships my family experienced. We learned how to adapt and look for better ways of doing things. My children benefitted greatly from these experiences as well. They thought they were fun at the time, but now I have seen how some have put into practice much of what they gained from the situations we found ourselves in.
I have learned many things, but the thing that stands out most is to make the best of what we have while times are good. This includes learning new skills that would help me if times become worse economically or even politically. Now is the time to purchase those things I need in case we lose power or water or heat. I need to be able to cook, store food, stay warm, have enough water, etc., and it is so much easier to do when the things I need are available as opposed to being in the midst of a crisis and having to do it in less than optimal conditions.
I hope this has helped any who read this to understand a little more about the skills I have developed and about the need to prepare now for the future. I hope you will consider the skills you may need if you could not get to the grocery store or if food wasn't available or if you needed light or a way to keep warm.
Now is the time to think about this and to get started. Once you are in a crisis, that opportunity has passed. Our Father in Heaven loves us so much that He gives His servants, the prophets, ample warning of the things that we need to know so that our lives won't be as difficult as they could be if we weren't warned. It is my prayer that you will follow the advice of our former prophets and our current one, Thomas S. Monson. Pray about what you should be doing for your family with emergency preparedness, listen carefully to the promptings you receive, and then do it!
February 1, 2009 - Gardening with open-pollinated, heirloom plants
Today in Relief Society there was a spotlight on gardening. The Sisters were reminded that help was available if anyone was interested in being mentored through the gardening process. The sign-up sheet was circulated again so that Sisters could sign up to become a mentor to another Ward member or to sign up to get a mentor. There was also a discussion on the difference between buying "hybrid" seed and buying open-pollinated, standard or heirloom seed. Saving seed from hybrid plant varities is not recommended because the saved seed will most likely revert back to the dominant strain from which it was developed. On the other hand seed can be saved from the open-pollinated, standard or heirloom seed varieties. Considering the cost of seed or what a global crop failure could mean, it would be important to have a source of viable seed year after year. So, consider planting at least some standard varieties and practice seed-saving this year. There will be more information on seed-saving this summer.
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