To Buy:
There are numerous wheat products available from health food stores and supermarkets.
Check the packets for any holes - particularly in the summer. Wheat and flour is a favourite food of weevils.
Where possible buy wholewheat flours in preference to the highly milled white flours available. If you have to have white flour buy unbleached.
Wheat products include:
Wholegrain (wheat berries) cracked wheat (bulgur).
Flours : Wholewheat. Wholemeal, Wheatgerm (white or brown flour with added wheatgerm), Malted wheatgrain (Brown or wholemeal flour with added malted grains)
Stoneground (Wholemeal flour ground in a traditional way between two stones), Organic (Flour milled from grain that has been grown to organic standards)
White, unbleached, plain and self raising.
To Store:
Store flour in airtight containers in a dry cool cupboard or preferably in the fridge.
Tips & Tricks:
If you suspect you have a gluten or wheat intolerance cut out all highly processed cakes, pastries and biscuits made from white bread before cutting it out altogether. Try some wholegrain sourdough bread and burgal (tabouleh) and see if it affects you. If not, make a rule of avoiding all processed and overly milled wheat products in favour of wholegrains.
Cooking Tips:
Plain Flour - (or all purpose flour ) is good for shortcrust pastry, sauces and gravies.
Self-raising Flour - cakes, scones and puddings.
Soft Flour - sponges, cakes and scones to give a higher rise and finer texture.
Strong Flour - for bread - it has a high gluten content providing a high volume and open texture.
Durum wheat flour - for pasta.