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Cracking Wheat
I need a solution for coarsely cracking whole wheat berries, maybe 1/4 cup at a time. My spice grinder produces a mixture ranging from uncracked kernels to mostly powder. Mortar and pestle is wholly ineffective. What I can find for purchase is too finely ground. I'm stumped…
asked by ChefOno
9 months ago
I don't know what the intended purpose of your homemade cracked wheat is and whether this will interfere with the taste/texture of your dish, but you could try "toasting" the whole wheat berries in a low oven for an hour or two in order to make them shatter more easily. I'd go with a large mortar and pestle afterwards (I'd think a heavy brass one would be much more affective for something like this than the ceramic ones used for herb pastes and spices) and you may just have to sift the mix in order to separate the desired size pieces and find an alternate use for the smaller bits, because an all uniform cracking would be hard to achieve at home, I'd think.
effective, not affective- sorry for the typo
I gave this a little more thought and I think that the making of traditional bulgur involves parboiling as well, but I don't know whether that is done post cracking to increase nutritional bioavailability and shorten subsequent cooking time or if it is done prior to cracking the berries specifically as a part of the process.If you have a bit of time to reserach, that would probably give you a clue.
Cynthia is a trusted source on Bread/Baking.
added 9 months agoMost natural foods stores sell grinders, both electric and manual. I've use a manual one for years and have been very happy with it. the grind is adjustable.
http://www.amazon.com/Victorio...
A quick run in the food processor works for me. Just not too long, and checking every couple of seconds.
And my Vita-Mix dry container works beautifully for this if you have one.
I've never cracked whole wheat berries before, but this idea came to my mind. maybe place them in a strong plastic bag and whack them with a meat tenderizer?