What Do You Know About Wheat?

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I love wheat. I purchase it in bulk of 200 pounds at a time. I grind my own wheat for flours (I do still buy some flour). I also use wheat in other ways. Did you know that you can put some wheat in the crock pot with twice as much water as wheat. Cook it on low over night. The next morning you will have a hot wheat cereal ready to eat. All you have to do is add honey to sweeten it. You can add maple syrup or fruit or whatever you want. It is healthy and ready to eat when you get up. I have a hand wheat grinder. I would love to have an electric one to go on my kitchen aid mixer. Mine tore up. Evidently, I was too hard on it. Wheat has been around since bible times. It is a staple in most of our home kitchens. We often dont know much about it though. Wheat comes in many different varieties. Each variety is more or less suitable for a given purpose based on its characteristics. The most common classifications for wheat varieties are spring or winter, hard or soft, red or white. Some kinds store longer than others and they are used for different kinds of food. The hard wheat have kernels that tend to be small, very hard and have a high gluten content. Gluten is the protein in grains that enables the dough made from them to trap the gasses produced by yeast fermentation and raise the bread. Low gluten wheat does not produce as good a loaf as high gluten wheat, though they can still be used for yeast breads if necessary. As a general rule, hard varieties have more protein than soft varieties. The soft varieties have kernels that tend to be larger, plumper and softer in texture than hard wheat. Their gluten content is less and these are used in pastries, quick breads, pastas, and breakfast cereals. Winter wheat is planted in the fall, over winter in the field and are harvested the next summer. Spring wheat are planted in the early spring and are harvested in the fall. Red wheat comprise most of the hard varieties while white wheat comprise most of the soft. Recently, hard white wheat have been developed that are suitable for raised bread making. Some feel the hard white varieties make a better tasting whole wheat bread than the hard red. The most commonly stored are the hard red varieties, either spring or winter, because of their high protein. They should have a protein content of no less than 12%, with higher the better. The hard white spring wheat are still relatively new and are not yet widespread. They have the same excellent storage characteristics as the hard red wheat. I have a lot of recipes to use with wheat if anyone would like me to post them, just say so in the comment area and I will do so. What do you do with wheat? Do you grind your own wheat flour?