Best type of Grain?

[Learner]

Hi, Just woundering what the best type of Grain is to buy ie Buckwheat or whole wheat?

What is the difference between them. Does one produce a light type bread? Is one healthier?? Or what is the healthiest type to use. I use buy a 9 grain whole bread, & want to make something similar but know nothing about grains?

Thanks for your help

[Sonan]

that's what I have been wondering too ! I have been making the five-seed bread in the EDC and using 100g as organic wheat grain which I mill first and the rest of the flour is a bakers flour. It's still got to be better than the bread we buy with its preservatives etc!

[Chelsea (Thermie Groupie)]

It really depends on what you are making and whether you have any allergies or intolerances.  I like to use a variety of grains as they all contain different nutrients and different levels of nutrients.  Wheat is great because it is so easy to work with and reasonably easy to obtain good results in baking.  The average Western person eats an awful lot of wheat though which is very high in gluten (not overly good for us and really bad for some people).  I think mixing it up as much as you can is a good idea.  I like spelt because it is higher in nutrients and lower in gluten than wheat. It is still quite easy to bake with too. Buckwheat is an interesting one as it is the seed of a herb plant and totally unrelated to the wheat family (wheat, rye, millet etc). It does grind up well and gives a nutty flavour in bread.  Many people like the flavour of buckwheat, but we aren't overly keen on it.
Hope this helps. 

[Cuilidh]

I would also be very interested in the properties of different grains.  I have read, though, that you should soak your grains first then make bread, etc.  The information seemed quite contradictory and confusing so any guidelines would be great - both on the pre-soaking and differing properties areas.

[Chelsea (Thermie Groupie)]

Check out my blog post here.  We soak almost all of our grains.