Barley Flour and Whole Wheat Flour Source

[BakerAunt]

I am running low on barley flour, so I went to Walmart.com and was not finding what I wanted, but I saw an 8 lb. bag of Joseph's Grainery and decided to check them out at their website:

https://josephs-grainery.square.site/

For $27.60, I could get an 8 lb. bag of barley flour at their website with FREE shipping. They have limited offerings, but they include white whole wheat (they say a whole grain pastry flour), available either as whole grain or ground, and hard red wheat, also available as whole grain or ground, in 8 lb. or 16 lb. bags.

I ordered the barley flour, and I will add to this post once it arrives, and I start to use it. I could not determine if it is stone ground, but stone ground barley flour is hard to find now that Bob's Red Mill has stopped carrying it--and would likely be impossible to find in stores if they did. Walmart.com did have some, but a 25 lb. bag is a bit much for me! I went through about 6 lbs. in a year.

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[Mike Nolan]

Their website is a bit vague on some things.

I tend to assume if a flour isn't marked as 'stone ground', it isn't stone ground.

It would be nice if the milling industry would adopt some standard conventions, like saying something is 'whole meal' if it is never separated into component streams (endosperm, bran, germ) like it is in a modern steel roller mill. As far as I know, stone-ground products are not separated into component streams, so maybe 'stone ground' and 'whole meal' are very similar terms.

Stone grinding is not, however, the only way to create whole meal flours, impact or hammer mills don't separate out the bran or germ, either. And even a simple one-stage steel roller mill would product whole-meal output.

I've recently seen some research that says recombined whole grain flours are enough different from whole meal (never separated) products to have an impact on things like glycemic index.

I've never really looked into how barley is milled, I know it has a much more substantial hull than most wheat and wheat-related grains do, but that's true of some other cereal grains as well. I also don't know what the shape of an individual barley kernel is; a wheat berry has a crease in it that complicates the milling process.

[BakerAunt]

I agree with Mike. How the flour is ground is important. I think that is why I prefer the BRM whole wheat flour to the KABC whole wheat flour.

I may write to the Jospeh's Grainery people and find out how their barley flour is processed.

They are quick on orders: mine shipped yesterday, the same day I place it.

I am also trying Vitacost, where I ordered yesterday. (Free shipping over $49, and 20% first time coupon discount.) Their BRM items were close to the price that BRM was charging before they got out of the shipping business. I'll report here on my experience with that company as well.

[BakerAunt]

I'm reporting back on my orders from Vitacost and Joseph's Grainery. I placed both orders on Thursday, October 20.

Most of the Vitacost order arrived on Saturday, October 22. The remaining items arrived today, Monday, October 24. That is speedy shipping, and it was free because I bought over a certain amount. All items are in excellent condition, and the expiration dates are as far in the future as when I bought from BRM. I will definitely order from Vitacost again.

The Joseph's Grainery order for 8 lbs. of barley flour also arrived on Monday, so that again is free, speedy shipping, and it too arrived in excellent condition.

The bag states that the barley flour is stoneground, so I am very pleased. Once I start using it, I will post again about what I think of it.

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