What is Spelt?

Since I posted about my spelt bread recipe, I've gotten the same question from many people:
"What IS is?"

In recent years, wheat has been modified to have a high gluten content for commercial baking, increased yield during harvest, and to be an easy-to-grow crop with a thinner husk.  So most of the commercial wheat foods we consume today are from a fairly new type of grain, in the grand scheme of things.

Spelt, on the other hand, is a very old form of grain.  It's high in protein, complex B vitamins, and contains good levels of both simple and complex carbs.  The composition of these nutrients is also in a simpler form than modern wheat, making it much easier on your digestive system.  It's got a nutty, almost sweet flavor.  I happen to like the taste better than the whole wheat breads I was making.

One of the reasons that spelt became obsolete in our culture is because, as it matures,  a very hard outer husk grows on the berries.  Years ago, that used to make processing the gran difficult because the mass-production methods weren't developed enough to remove these husks "fast enough" to keep up with demand.  (For more history on spelt, check this out!)

These days, spelt can be much more widely available to consumers.  Many organic food companies have brought this grain back to the scene.  You can purchase "whole grain spelt flour" from stores, but in the end, you're still not getting all the nutrition from it that you should.  And, to put it bluntly, you're probably not getting it at all.

The reason is this...
When you grind flour from whole wheat berries, it exposes all that raw nutrition to open air.  This exposure immediately begins to oxidize the nutrients in the flour, making it less and less beneficial to the human body.
Put simply: fresh ground flour + prolonged air exposure = nutritionally dead flour.

The solution to that problem is simple.  By making a one time investment in your own mill (highly recommended), you can grind your own spelt and immediately mix it into bread dough.  This is the only way to truly get THE most nutrition from your whole grain flour...no matter what type of grain you use.

Now that we know all of that...how we hook you up with your spelt?
There are several unusual ways to get a hold of whole grains because, let's face it, you can't just run over to Wal-Mart and get yourself a bag.  Here are a some ideas.

::Online Ordering::
 Go to Google, type in "bulk order spelt grain", and peruse at your leisure.

::Food Co-ops::
By doing an online search, you can find cooperatives in many areas.  Basically, a co-op is when a bunch of people go in together on bulk amounts of food.  Let's say, for example, you can buy a 25-lb bag of spelt online for $40.  If you go in with a large group of people, many companies offer bulk prices, so you may end up spending a lot less than that per person.  See?  Check it out!

::Purchase Directly::
If you are blessed to be in a farming community, unlike me, try developing relationships with your local growers.  I have no way of knowing how much they would charge, but it can't hurt to try right?

Don't worry about sticker shock when it comes to ordering grain.  It goes a loooong way.  When it comes down to calculating the actual cost of baking your own healthy bread this way.  It turns out that it's way cheaper (per loaf) to make your own bread than to buy the supposed "whole wheat" substitutes from the store.  Trust me.  :)

I hope this post has helped you.  If you have more questions, please post them in the comment section.  I'll try to figure things out and help you learn.  It'll help me learn too!

Please note: I'm not suggesting that spelt is the best grain for everyone.  It is up to each person to research, learn, and decide for themselves what is best for their families.  Freedom in health!

Happy spelting.

{The Adventurer}