Homemade Cream of Wheat Cereal
Nov 30, 2022 7:32:21 GMT -6
heavyhitterokra, hmoosek, and 3 more like this
Post by macmex on Nov 30, 2022 7:32:21 GMT -6
Ron's thread on Cooking, Baking, Smoking Meat, Canning, Preserves, & Tips got me thinking. Not only do Jerreth and I have quite a bit of wheat berries stored up for consumption, but also, I purchased even more, this fall, to plant on our pasture for winter wheat. Unfortunately with weather the way it was I only managed to get about half of it planted and that still hasn't germinated. I have 80 lbs left over in the original sacks. It's good clean wheat without anything added. So how should we best use it?
Besides still trying to plant some I thought about how we often purchase Cream of Wheat in the grocery store. Cream of Wheat is one of those things we often have for supper at the end of a long work day. Our big meal is generally at mid day. So last night I scooped out a quart of wheat berries from storage and headed to the shed where we keep our grain mill.
I had to loosen the screw on the grinding plate, as it would have made flour. I wanted rough cut for cereal. Grinding the quart of wheat berries was pretty easy. It was no where near as hard as grinding corn meal.
I was having an "efficient afternoon," one of those times that all the gears and cogs in my brain were cooperating. I had already started some sourdough for homemade English muffins and pulled out lamb ribs to put in the crock pot for the next day's lunch. I decided to try and have our supper ready for when Jerreth got home, so I worked on English muffins at the same time that I experimented with homemade cream of wheat cereal.
Here's a picture of the rough cut wheat berries I used.
First I poured the same volume of water into a pot as I wanted of finished cereal and started it simmering. I added a pinch of salt and... started frying my English muffins.
As I worked I gradually added some ground wheat to the simmering water, stirring it in until it was about the consistency of oatmeal. Then I let it simmer on a low flame for about 5 more minutes.
This is an older photo, as I didn't take any of English muffins last night.
English muffins take a while to fry. One has to flip them and not be in a hurry. Otherwise you get doughy insides. I worked on the English muffins, all the while simmering and stirring the cream of wheat.
In the end both were ready when Jerreth came in from work.
I liked this cream of wheat a lot more than the store bought, just as I prefer steel cut oatmeal to rolled. It has more texture to it.
As I wound down for the night I thought about our grand parents, some of whom lived through the Depression. It occurred to me that they would have been all about something like this. Currently a 28 oz box of Cream of Wheat costs $4.38, before tax, at our local Walmart. I paid $15 for FORTY POUNDS of wheat berries, at the local Farmers' Co-op. That can make a whole lot of hot cereal!
Besides still trying to plant some I thought about how we often purchase Cream of Wheat in the grocery store. Cream of Wheat is one of those things we often have for supper at the end of a long work day. Our big meal is generally at mid day. So last night I scooped out a quart of wheat berries from storage and headed to the shed where we keep our grain mill.
I had to loosen the screw on the grinding plate, as it would have made flour. I wanted rough cut for cereal. Grinding the quart of wheat berries was pretty easy. It was no where near as hard as grinding corn meal.
I was having an "efficient afternoon," one of those times that all the gears and cogs in my brain were cooperating. I had already started some sourdough for homemade English muffins and pulled out lamb ribs to put in the crock pot for the next day's lunch. I decided to try and have our supper ready for when Jerreth got home, so I worked on English muffins at the same time that I experimented with homemade cream of wheat cereal.
Here's a picture of the rough cut wheat berries I used.
First I poured the same volume of water into a pot as I wanted of finished cereal and started it simmering. I added a pinch of salt and... started frying my English muffins.
As I worked I gradually added some ground wheat to the simmering water, stirring it in until it was about the consistency of oatmeal. Then I let it simmer on a low flame for about 5 more minutes.
This is an older photo, as I didn't take any of English muffins last night.
English muffins take a while to fry. One has to flip them and not be in a hurry. Otherwise you get doughy insides. I worked on the English muffins, all the while simmering and stirring the cream of wheat.
In the end both were ready when Jerreth came in from work.
I liked this cream of wheat a lot more than the store bought, just as I prefer steel cut oatmeal to rolled. It has more texture to it.
As I wound down for the night I thought about our grand parents, some of whom lived through the Depression. It occurred to me that they would have been all about something like this. Currently a 28 oz box of Cream of Wheat costs $4.38, before tax, at our local Walmart. I paid $15 for FORTY POUNDS of wheat berries, at the local Farmers' Co-op. That can make a whole lot of hot cereal!
