Durum Wheat, SuperPail

Durum Wheat, 35 lbs.

These non-GMO conventional (not organic) durum wheat berries are triple-cleaned and perfect for making pasta!

This pasta wheat is not a good choice for making bread. Some good bread-making choices are the hard red or hard white wheat berries, as well as spelt, Kamut or rye or einkorn. We also offer soft white wheat berries that produce baked goods with a tender crumb—just what you want for making muffins, biscuits, pancakes and pastries.

Convenient & safe storage

Our durum wheat comes in five-gallon buckets (or pails... another word for the same container), containing 35 lbs. net weight. When you store durum wheat at home, it needs to be protected in a couple of ways. First, it needs to be protected from a variety of little critters who'd like to get to it before you do. Weevils and rodents, for example. You also need to protect your durum wheat from picking up excessive additional moisture, which can be drawn from the atmosphere. The buckets our durum wheat comes in provide full protection against these storage risks. They have airtight gasket-sealed lids, Mylar liners, and oxygen absorber packets that remove the oxygen from the air in the bucket after we put the lid on. The O2 absorbers leave an atmosphere of nitrogen in the bucket, because air consists almost entirely of oxygen and nitrogen. (The oxygen absorber packets themselves are completely food-safe, being made of powdered iron and salt, which are kept separate from the product itself.) Our buckets safely lock out pests, and biological processes are put "on hold" in the Mylar protected, oxygen-free nitrogen atmosphere, so your durum wheat enjoys complete peace and quiet until you want to use it. Note: If you don't already have a bucket lid removal tool, they make lid removal easy (see lower section of this web page).

Beat oxidation

In whole-grain foods, the plant's cellular walls protect nutrients from oxidation. The process of oxidation begins to occur as soon as grain is ground, exposing the cell's contents to oxygen in the air. Flour that is several days (or more) old, has been exposed to oxygen that inevitably diminishes its nutritional value. The way to get full nutrition from whole grain foods is to mill them when you need them, right in your kitchen. Modern high-speed grain mills make it fast and easy to enjoy the freshest, best tasting and most nutritious food imaginable!

Super-cleaned

All of our durum wheat is triple-cleaned to ensure purity and protect your grain mill from any foreign objects. (Durum wheat that isn't sufficiently cleaned may contain small stones that will damage or destroy a grain mill... not to mention that you don't want such things in your food!)

Shelf Life

Our durum wheat has a shelf life of 10+ years when unopened and stored in a cool, dark, dry environment.

Non-GMO

All of Pleasant Hill Grain's whole grain products are natural (non-GMO). Also, PHG does not sell any grains, beans, lentils, pulses or seeds sourced from China.

Durum Uses & History

Durum wheat (triticum durum) is the hardest type of wheat and, like all wheat, contains gluten. The word “durum” is latin for “hard”. Although it contains gluten, the type of gluten in durum wheat isn’t suitable for yeast bread, because it doesn’t create the strong elastic structure that’s necessary for dough to rise. It is used, however, for some Middle Eastern and North African flatbreads, such as kesra.

Durum flour is light golden yellow and has a mildly sweet, buttery and nut-like flavor.

Dough made from durum flour is not elastic but still holds together well, making it ideal for rolling out pasta. Because of its suitability for pasta, durum wheat is sometimes referred to as pasta wheat. If you’re making pasta, durum flour is the way to go!

Semolina—the endosperm of durum wheat—is made by sifting cracked, or coarsely ground whole grain durum flour to separate the endosperm from the bran and germ. The endosperm portion, or “semolina,” can then be cooked or ground into flour. Among other dishes, semolina is used to make pasta, couscous, and a porridge dish called halwa that’s traditional in India and Asia. Other grains can be ground and used in the same way, but when it’s referred to as “semolina,” the grain used must be specified (e.g., “rice semolina”). Corn semolina is often referred to as “grits.”

Partially cooked durum wheat that’s been dried and then cracked is called bulgur. Bulgur can be cooked and mixed with fresh vegetables and herbs for tabbouleh, used to make hot cereals, or added to salads. Bulgur is commonly used in Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Because bulgur has been partially cooked, it cooks faster than raw, cracked grain. Kibi (or kibbeh) is a combination of bulgur with ground lamb or ground beef. Kibi is used to make meatballs and many other traditional dishes in the Middle East.

Durum wheat contains gluten, like all types of wheat, but because the gluten in it doesn’t have the elastic strength necessary for bread to rise well, it’s best to mix this flour with hard red or white wheat, or spelt flour when making yeast breads. It’s best not to mix durum flour with other wheat flours when you’re making pasta though, as the texture will suffer.

Durum is a tetraploid grain, meaning it has four sets of its seven chromosomes for a total of 28 chromosomes, whereas modern red and white wheat, and spelt, have six sets of seven chromosomes, for a total of 42 chromosomes. The simpler genetic structure of durum makes it easier to digest than modern wheats. Many people who experience gluten sensitivities are able to enjoy baked foods made with durum flour, but since it does contain gluten it isn’t recommended for people with Celiac disease.

Kamut wheat is related to durum. Both are ancient grains, and have similar baking characteristics and flavor. Kamut is a larger grain with a more oblong shape. Substituting up to 50% of flour in yeast breads with durum or Kamut flour adds a delicious flavor and wonderful color to breads.

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