Baking (rec.food.baking) For bakers, would-be bakers, and fans and consumers of breads, pastries, cakes, pies, cookies, crackers, bagels, and other items commonly found in a bakery. Includes all methods of preparation, both conventional and not.

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  #1 (permalink)   Report Post  
Gary Flanigan
 
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Default Source for Durham Wheat Berries?

I make a bread which includes wheat I have been
grinding from Durham wheat berries. My source
no longer carries them. Can anyone here point me
to an alternate source?

Thanks
  #6 (permalink)   Report Post  
Alex Rast
 
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at Tue, 28 Sep 2004 23:40:34 GMT in
>,
(Kenneth) wrote :

>On Tue, 28 Sep 2004 23:14:57 -0000,

>(Alex Rast) wrote:
>
>>at Mon, 27 Sep 2004 23:19:27 GMT in
>><du7hl05edbqi7sm5dan7h7g7bnjjus1ve5@ 4ax.com>,
(Kenneth) wrote :
>>
>>>On 27 Sep 2004 15:49:40 -0700,
(Gary
>>>Flanigan) wrote:
>>>
>>>>I make a bread which includes wheat I have been
>>>>grinding from Durham wheat berries. ...
>>>
>>>As I suggested on rec.food.sourdough, this is a spelling problem.
>>>Google for "durum wheat berries" (with the quotes) and all will be
>>>well...
>>>

>>While we're at it, do you know of a source where I can get
>>*non-commercial* quantities (i.e. something like 5 lbs or less) of the
>>following:
>>
>>Organic patent durum flour
>>Organic durum wheat berries
>>Organic polished aged (white) Indian Basmati rice (NOT!!! California
>>Basmati, of which the most common is Lundberg)
>>
>>All of these are available in wholesale amounts but so far a retail
>>source eludes me.

>
>Hi Alex,
>
>I do not know a source, but...
>
>If I were looking, I would contact my local health food store. They
>are very likely to help.
>

Actually, I already have (at several separate stores). Unfortunately, the
responses have basically been of 3 types:

"We'd be happy to order it - in 50 lb sacks. A 50 lb sack will be about
$20.00. Is that OK?"

"Sorry, our distributor doesn't carry this"

"We have {xxx similar but not correct} item in stock right now"

This last one is most infuriating. What happens is, they don't pay
attention to the details. That is, they have organic durum flour, but it's
coarse semolina, not patent flour. Or they have non-organic durum wheat. Or
they have organic white california Basmati. Etc. etc. There are some store
personnel in any store who you can't make understand that every modifier of
your request is significant.

Of course *my* problem is that I'm far too picky and specific in what I
want. I'm often looking for things with so many detailed, specific aspects
that it's improbable that any store will really carry them, because most
people don't care about all those details, and, in order to get those
details, you'd end up with a higher-priced item. Given that a majority of
customers are extremely price-sensitive, most stores opt for the cheaper
product, especially when you consider that no store can stock every
possible variant of every product.

--
Alex Rast

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MOMPEAGRAM
 
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Default


"Gary Flanigan" > wrote in message
m...
>I make a bread which includes wheat I have been
> grinding from Durham wheat berries. My source
> no longer carries them. Can anyone here point me
> to an alternate source?
>
> Thanks



----- Original Message -----
From: "Mike Stancliff" >
Newsgroups: rec.food.sourdough
Sent: Thursday, September 30, 2004 1:39 PM
Subject: Source of Durham Wheatberries?


> Nicki Sinclair wrote:
>
>> Wheat Montana Farms & Bakery
>>
>> Prairie Gold Hard White Spring Wheat (this is the grain I use to grind
>> and
>> it's great bread making grain)
>>
>> 406 285-3614
>>
>> www.wheatmontana.com
>>
>> Give them a call as they are very helpful in listening and explaining
>> what
>> you wantl.
>>
>> Nicki Sinclair
>> ************************
>>
>> "Gary Flanigan" > wrote in message
>> om...
>>
>>>I've been making the same sourdough for some time
>>>with, amoung many other things, wheat which I grind
>>>from Durham wheatberries. The source I had for the
>>>berries no longer carries them. Can anyone point me
>>>to a source?
>>>
>>>Thanks

>
> I use the Prairie Gold wheat also, and I agree that it makes great bread
> (At least that's what the family says, but they're biased...).
> Unfortunately for this thread, Prairie Gold is not Durum wheat! So, if
> Gary really needs a source for Durum berries, I don't think Wheat
> Montana is the place to go..
>
> However, a google search led me to :
> http://www.organickingdom.com/gr081.html
>
> If 25 or 50 lb bags aren't too much, then this place may be a place to
> look in to.



  #14 (permalink)   Report Post  
Eric Jorgensen
 
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On Fri, 01 Oct 2004 01:08:45 -0000
(Alex Rast) wrote:

> at Wed, 29 Sep 2004 15:31:01 GMT in <20040929093101.721d908f@wafer>,
>
(Eric Jorgensen) wrote :
>
> >On Wed, 29 Sep 2004 08:28:48 -0000
> (Alex Rast) wrote:
> >
> >
> >> "We have {xxx similar but not correct} item in stock right now"
> >>

> > The problem with california basmati is that it's not basmati, it's a
> >hybrid called texmati - originally bred to thrive in texas, thus the
> >name. Frankly thai jasmine rice is closer to basmati than texmati is,
> >imho.

>
> I've certainly seen rice marketed as Texmati. However, I do also believe
> there are California farmers growing purebreed basmati. But that's
> immaterial anyway. The rice that is produced just isn't the same nor is
> it aged or polished.



Yeah. If it's not aged it's not really basmati.


> >
> > On the other hand, I would be skeptical of 'organic' labeling on any
> >agricultural product from india.
> >

>
> Why? I can't see any specific reason why a farmer in India couldn't
> decide to follow organic farming rules, possibly to sell to an export
> market even if there isn't a market locally in India for his product. And
> I imagine that in a country as large and with as heavy a rice production
> as India, there are at least some growers who do farm organic Basmati. As
> I say, I've seen indications to this effect on wholesalers' sites,
> implying that you can buy it from them.



Well, to tell the truth, having had conversations with some of the
farmers who started the whole 'organically grown' movement (Some of their
sons are friends of mine), I'm skeptical of most 'organic' labeling -
almost as skeptical as they are. The sentiment is that the 'movement' got
out of hand and the standards for organic farming miss the point.

I know some indian business people. I'm pretty sure that, even if they
had local regulations on what constitutes 'organic', they'd be more than
willing to bend the rules and lie about it. After all, most of those
pesticides are organic chemicals anyway, just ask a chemist.

  #15 (permalink)   Report Post  
Alex Rast
 
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Default

at Fri, 01 Oct 2004 16:08:48 GMT in <20041001100848.257416c3@wafer>,
(Eric Jorgensen) wrote :

>On Fri, 01 Oct 2004 01:08:45 -0000
(Alex Rast) wrote:
>

....
>> > On the other hand, I would be skeptical of 'organic' labeling on
>> > any
>> >agricultural product from india.
>> >

>>
>> Why? I can't see any specific reason why a farmer in India couldn't
>> decide to follow organic farming rules, ...

>
> Well, to tell the truth, having had conversations with some of the
>farmers who started the whole 'organically grown' movement (Some of
>their sons are friends of mine), I'm skeptical of most 'organic'
>labeling - almost as skeptical as they are. The sentiment is that the
>'movement' got out of hand and the standards for organic farming miss
>the point.


What, exactly, do the people who you've talked to believe *is* the point?
Now, the USDA standard isn't necessarily perfect, at least not by one
person's definition, nor could any standard be perfect except to the people
who drafted the standard. Euro standards also aren't "perfect", nor are any
of the state standards, 3rd-party certifications, or anything.

Organic means different things to different people. Ultimately, some large,
oversight body has got to agree on a set of standards that others must
follow and for individuals and farmers then privately to claim that the
standards aren't "really organic" is at that point a personal polemic
rather than a statement of fact.

Without getting into the details, I think most consumers want organic to
be:

Pesticide and synthetic fertiliser-free
Hormone and antibiotic-free
Non-GMO
Non-irradiated
Free from chemical preservatives, additives, etc.
Free from certain aggressive industrial processes

Of course the last 2 are the slippery slope, because it's hard to define an
exact list of industrial processes and additives that are not allowable.
However, that's what we have standards bodies to do.

> I know some indian business people. I'm pretty sure that, even if
> they
>had local regulations on what constitutes 'organic', they'd be more than
>willing to bend the rules and lie about it.


In any country there are going to be a few people without solid ethics who
will be willing to bend the rules. This no doubt happens in India, in
Italy, in Illinois. But I think by and large people are honest, at least
when it comes to organic labelling. Furthermore, that's the other reason we
have standards bodies - to make sure there's enough oversight that little
rules-bending actually goes on. The certifying bodies typically monitor the
producers for compliance. Everybody knows, too, that the risk is enormous.
If a farmer who chose to bend the rules with organic got caught, the impact
to his business would be devastating - probably more than if a conventional
farmer got caught doing something directly illegal, even though the latter
is probably more harmful. So there's a powerful incentive to abide by the
rules.

--
Alex Rast

(remove d., .7, not, and .NOSPAM to reply)
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