Forum Thermomix
Welcoming Center, Management and General Chat => Chit Chat => Topic started by: Chelsea (Thermie Groupie) on August 06, 2010, 07:14:06 am
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Can anyone tell me what kind of wheat grain we have in Australia? I realise that we grow different varieties, but what is the standard wheat variety sold in health food stores and bulk food suppliers? I get so confused when American recipes call for different varieties (hard, soft, winter, spring, red etc) and have been trying to research what variety of wheat we have here so I can adapt the recipes. :)
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I thought most of our wheat was hard, but I haven't had much to do with farms for a while. MJ will be able to help you I'm sure.
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My husband says that he tries to grow hard wheat, but it can be graded as soft wheat if the protein levels aren't high enough.
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lol think Kimberley just blew all theories out the water :-)) :-)) :-))
Know where you are coming from Chelsea, I tried a couple of years ago and gave up (I had heaps of recipes I wanted to use) as I didn't feel I was making much headway on my research ??? ???
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And they can make soft wheat into hard wheat flour by adding gluten to the mix.
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Bakers flour is hard flour - I use that for everything and it works well. If I want to soften it I grind some wheat berries or add a bit of spelt or just wholemeal flour or rye or millet/buckwheat etc. I'd do 100g addition to 400g bakers flour.
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Thanks Zebraa, that is the sort of simplicity my brain needs :o :o :o I always have wholemeal, millet, spelt & buckwheat in my pantry so I should manage ok ;D ;D Thanks for the ratio too. I am going to make a note of that somewhere ..... (safe ?? lol)
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So bakers flour is made from hard wheat and normal flour (plain, self raising etc) is made from soft wheat. When I buy wheat grain to mill for recipes though is that generally soft wheat? ??? :)
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You don't know what you are buying when you buy grain. Even the Health food shops don't know. Bread flour also works well in biscuits.
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There are lots of varieties here: VARIETIES (http://www.ausgraintech.com/index.php?id=3)
But as Kimberley's hubbie says - it is not just variety that determines protein/hard/soft designation. A day or two in harvesting/rain etc can make a big difference. Farming !!!!
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I think I will just have to buy and use "wheat" and not worry about the variety specified in the recipe. Having no choice makes it easy sometimes. ;D
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There has been a huge crop failure in Russia this year and the Russian President,Medvedev, has banned all export of wheat.They are predicting that food prices will go up as much as 10%.
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Here is South Australia our crops are looking fantastic - and as I sit here and write this I can here it raining.
Prices are looking good too for farmers - maybe pushed up by the problems in Russia?
I am looking forward to geting grain straight out of the paddocks this year!
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The area where my family had their farm (WA) is as dry as anything. Still looks like the middle of summer. I see down round Esperance that things are better.
How is is down your way MJ?
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Kimberly, sounds good and half your luck to have home grown wheat. All we grow where I live in central Victoria, are very healthy Kangaroos, fat Wombats and a few vegies , at this time of year. We had 4 inches of rain in July.
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Here is South Australia our crops are looking fantastic - and as I sit here and write this I can here it raining.
Prices are looking good too for farmers - maybe pushed up by the problems in Russia?
I am looking forward to geting grain straight out of the paddocks this year!
Kimberley it's good to hear that your crop is doing well and that prices might mirror the true value of farmers labour.
Kimberly, sounds good and half your luck to have home grown wheat. All we grow where I live in central Victoria, are very healthy Kangaroos, fat Wombats and a few vegies , at this time of year. We had 4 inches of rain in July.
Is 4 inches of rain extreme for July where you live Chookie?
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CC, 4 inches is a lot for us at the moment as we have had a drought for the last 10 years. This year has been good and all our tanks are full. This is how I manage to water my large vegie garden in the Summer. Where we live, on the side of a small Mountain Range, we are well drained. There are water restrictions in the towns and cities around us , but as we supply our own water it is up to us how we use it. If we run out (we never have), then we would have to buy water. Many say our area is like England, and I can see what they mean, but it is a bit untidy with the Gum trees. I have been to England and assume that you live in Cornwell. We are more like Wiltshire, in climate and vegetation. It is hard to visualize another country, and Australia is so large. Jo lives in the Rain Forest up north, and this is different again. We have just visited South Australia, where Judy Dawn lives, and the houses, vegetation, and climate are also different. Hope this gives a little feel for where I live.
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It's wonderful hearing about the country that people live in.We have periods of dry spells here in the U.K. but never for longer than a few weeks and then we just get a "hose pipe" ban, i.e.unable to water the garden.I just take it for granted that when I turn on the tap, water flows.Seems very arrogant just saying it like that.I was born in Cornwall but now live 30 miles north west of London.It's very wooded here in Buckinghamshire,famous for the furniture making industry because of the Beech Trees.My DH and I have done a little globe trotting during our married life because of his job.I have experienced the tropics when we lived in Bermuda and the dessert when we lived in the Middle East.Maybe one day I will be able to visit you all in Oz and see the diversity of such a huge country. :)
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CC, you would be more than welcome. Today had lunch with a friend who has family friends in Buckinghamshire. She was talking about the Beech trees . It really is a very small world. ;D ;D ;D
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And I'm in the wheat growing region in the Great Southern Western Australia. The paddocks are lovely and green in winter, dry and barren in summer. We're having a very dry spring and our crops are starting to wilt. Today is the first day that I've seen clouds in two weeks. It's windy too, so hopefully blowing up a storm with some rain.
We're on scheme water in town, but the dams on our farms are very low and won't see us through summer without some more substantial rains. We run sheep as well, so desperately need our dams to catch some more water.
Send 'er down Huey!!
I'm fascinated by England and really want to visit one day. I'm besotted with all the UK TV shows - Rosemary & Thyme, Heartbeat, Midsomer Murders, Doc Martin etc.
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MJ, wish we could send some of this rain over, but you would have to have the cold weather with it. 4 again today.
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MJ they are the TV shows I love. In fact it is so overcast this afternoon that I was wondering if I should go and sneak to watch a Midsummer Murders DVD. Sorry family dinner is from the freezer, I've goofed off and watched DVDs this afternoon.
Hope you get some rain this time MJ.
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(http://www.thedishforum.com/smilies/happy-clapping/bliss.gif)
That's me running around in the rain!! We've had 14mm and it looks like we might be in for a bit more!!
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Hooray! I have been trying to blow some rain clouds your way MJ. It must be working because our 24 hours of torrential rain has ceased here and we are back to sunshine. Hopefully our backyard mud slide will revert back to lawn again soon. :)
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MJ, that is wonderful. ;D ;D ;D
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;D ;D ;D ;D Very pleased for you MJ. I know what DH's can be like when the rain is distant. (In my case it was a dear Dad)
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My family are also rejoicing at the rain they are getting (North of Perth). Hope it turns out to be a good season statewide