Different Kinds of Wheat

[Grudgie]

I'm currently reading about the different kinds of wheat and its uses to figure out what to buy. I had a question concerning yeast for making bread. What does rising the bread really do for you as far as nutritional content? Is the yeast just for tasting purposes?

I'm also looking into ways of collecting yeast but I don't want to have to rely on it due to the low shelf life. Any other tips or advice you guys could throw my way pertaining to wheat or bread making would be appreciated.

[special-k]

Once heated, the nutritional benefits of the yeast itself are insignificant.  However, yeast risen bread does digest faster (due to the texture).  This effect can be an advantage or disadvantage depending on whether or not the consumer wants quick energy or slow time-released energy from the bread.  This also translates to blood sugar spikes for diabetics.

I studied the differences between the different kinds a wheat some years ago, but have long since forgotten.  Personally, I spend my prepping money on rice & beans instead of gluten rich wheat... but that's just me.

[thatGuy]

Brigham Young College has done some wonderful work on long term food storage.

http://ndfs.byu.edu/Research/LongTermFoodStorageResearch/ResearchOnFoodStorage.aspx

Jodi and Julia is a great website if you can put up with the format. I will copy and paste their article below.

From J&J@http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/2009/05/13/types-of-wheat/

We have had a few questions lately about the difference between types of wheat. While we have touched on it before we thought it would be helpful to explain it in full detail for you in an individual post. There are three general classifications of wheat: Red vs. White, Hard vs. Soft, and Spring vs. Winter.
 
Red vs. White
 
Red wheat tends to have a stronger wheat flavor and produces a heavier denser bread than white wheat. Red wheats are typically the hard varieties and whites are typically soft. However if you prefer the flavor of one over the other you can find soft red and hard white. Experiment with different varieties in your recipes to find out what works best for you and your family.
 
Hard vs. Soft
 
Hard varieties of wheat are the most common and versatile. Hard wheat has a higher gluten (protein) than soft wheat. It is better for making breads, pastas, pancakes, etc. Soft varieties have lower protein and nutrients but are better for pastries and other items where a light fine flour is required.
 
Spring vs. Winter
 
Wheat is categorized by which season it is harvested in (either winter or spring). Winter wheat has a tiny bit less protein than spring wheat. Winter averages about 12% protein while spring wheat is closer to 14%. The winter wheat is a little harder than spring as well. Red winter wheat tends to be better for baking than red spring wheat. There isn?t much difference between winter and spring varieties of white wheats.

Our preferred variety of wheat to use is hard white (either winter or spring, whatever you can find). We don?t do much pastry cooking so the hard white has been great in everything we have tried to make. Our families don?t object to any of the meals or foods where we have replaced store-bought white flour with whole wheat hard white wheat flour. To view some of the success we?ve had with using our wheat visit our Wheat Recipes category page.

[thatGuy]

There is tons of great information on this topic here and on the interweb, google "wheat, long term food storage"

[JohnyMac]

I have yeast in vacuum sealed packages however you can use a starter instead of yeast. That is what the old timers use to make sour dough bread out of. Google "bread starter" to get a recipe. 

[thatGuy]

That is yeast Jmac,

Grudgie, the way to roll is like Jmac says. Bake regularly and keep a starter living on top of your fridge.

[JohnyMac]

Yup you are right TG...Starter is yeast, just a different form of.... [URL=http://www.smileyvault.co

[gapatriot]

Look up friendship bread, kindof a cool idea same as starter. it passes a small portion of the dough around to your friends. for you brewers save a the yeast out of the bottom before you ummmmm..... yeah and spread it to dry in the sun. it helps to get a higher alcohol tollorance out of your yeast, and you can use it for baking.