The one thing I would be concerned with is mold (aflatoxin), and that can be dangerous if ingested. So if your wheat smells moldy or has black mold spores on it, then I'd be sure to destroy it. You may also want to contact your County Extension Ag Agent for further information. The fact that it is 12-years old isn't a concern. I'm using wheat that was purchased and placed in storage in 2007, and most wheat sold for commercial or home milling is generally 2-3 years old before it's sold. Wheat has already been stored in temperature extremes, so that isn't an issue with me either. Because it was in oxygen-free storage, it is possible that a lower percentage of them will sprout than normal. You can find more information at the link below in the article by Rita Bingham (my food storage guru). -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Sprout Seeds for Cheap Nutrition

--Whole wheat pastry flour is milled from low-gluten, low-protein, soft wheat varieties. I use soft white wheat for pastry flour, or anywhere I don't need a lot of gluten development. Spelt is another good wholegrain choice when you don't need a lot of gluten development. Spelt has a gluten level that is 5,000 parts per million; compared to wheat which begins at 50,000 parts per million and go up from there. --Technically, "all-purpose" flour was developed commercially for bleached/unbleached flour from a mixture of hard wheat and soft wheat. There's enough hard wheat so it has enough gluten to make yeast breads, and enough soft wheat flour so it makes decent quick breads, pastry or cakes - so it covers "all purposes", but it's NOT the optimum choice of flour for most things, other than soft dinner rolls. We've just developed our flour use from the most common commercial flour available - all-purpose - with occasional moves to Southern all-purpose for biscuits and quick breads, and the even more elusive cake flour for beautiful tender cakes. Even in the world of commercial bleached/unbleached all-purpose flour there are great differences... Northern all-purpose flour (King Arthur and Robin Hood - 11-12) have a higher protein level than National Brands (Gold Medal and Pillsbury 10-12). Southern all-purpose flour (7.5-9.5) is milled from soft wheat, so it's best used for quick breads, biscuits, muffins, pastry, cookies, cakes - foods where you don't want a lot of gluten development. A mix of 3:2 hard wheat to soft white wheat is a great "all-purpose" mixture when you want soft yeast rolls. Otherwise, choosing a mix of hard wheat and soft wheat is less than optimum for other baked goods. --Whole wheat "bread" flour would mean a high protein level milled from hard wheat. Bleached/Unbleached bread flour has a protein level of 13-14. I've milled wheat that was 16% protein and made yeast bread with it, but it takes a lot more kneading to develop the gluten and you find you have tough bread as a result of the high protein level. This also happens when you add too much vital wheat gluten to a recipe, so more (protein/gluten) is not necessarily better. The protein levels of wheat I purchase is generally between 13% and 14% protein, which is more than enough to raise a lofty loaf of bread. If you tend to get short squatty loaves of 100% whole wheat bread, there are other factors you need to address besides protein/gluten levels - such as stop using a (quick mix) direct dough method and switch to a sponge method. A sponge will help soften the bran - the sharp edges of bran can cut the gluten strands. A sponge method also helps develop the gluten without kneading. Adding an acid ingredient (vinegar, lemon juice, ascorbic acid, etc) to the recipe has a positive effect. There is a substance in wheat germ called Gluthione which breaks down the gluten strands. Adding an acid, such as ascorbic acid, counteracts the negative effects of Glutathione. Ascorbic acid helps to prevent the gluten bonds from breaking down and will repair the gluten bonds, so you'll get a high-rising loaf of 100% whole wheat bread. I generally add 1/8 t. ascorbic acid per loaf of bread when making bread that includes wheatgerm (as a single ingredient or from whole wheat flour). -Something we tend to forget, or possibly didn't even know, hard wheat wasn't even available for milling until the late 1870's when the German Mennonites arrived here in Kansas and brought the granddad of all hard winter wheat varieties, Turkey Red, with them from Europe. Prior to the developing of the hard winter varieties of wheat, all flour was milled from soft wheat. The mills liked soft wheat for milling into flour because it was easy to grind in one pass through the mill, and had a much larger extraction of flour. Soft wheat tends to be a plumper seed with more endosperm, while hard winter wheat is small and rather wrinkled with more bran and less endosperm. You can tell the difference between hard and soft wheat when you mill it at home - the hard wheat flour is more coarse and gritty from the bran, while soft wheat renders a very soft, talcum powder feeling flour. --"Bread flour" or high protein flour milled from hard wheat, was available to commercial bakers and they referenced it by calling it "strong" wheat flour. Strong and weak wheats indicate a wheat or flour's baking strength. It wasn't until the advent of the bread machine in the 1980's that high-gluten bread flour became available for home use. Up until that time all-purpose flour, which is a medium-protein level flour, was about the only kind of flour available for home use. If "whole wheat bread flour" is called for, it means use a "regular" whole wheat flour which is milled from hard wheat, instead of "pastry" whole wheat flour, which is milled from soft wheat. -Grainlady

Just looking at soapstone pictures before I take the plunge. Eandhl, love love love your kitchen. What size is the sink? Is it 30" or smaller? Is it the Green Mountain Chicago Wright? You have given me the courage to go for the stone! I put my order in yesterday. Had a hard time sleeping ($$$$), especially with the current financial state of the world (well, in a depression, canning one's own vegetables and never going out to eat again -- good to love your kitchen, right?) Shadey

Yes, white whole wheat flour can be used for cookies. And yes, there is hard and soft white wheat as plllog explained. There are also spring hard/soft white or red wheat and winter hard/soft white or red wheat to get even more complicated than things really need to be. And don't forget durum wheat (the type of wheat best used for pasta/noodles) and all the ancient varieties. Before going gluten free, I used a large number of wheat varieties: durum, hard spring white, hard winter white, soft spring white, hard winter red, hard spring red, triticale (a hybrid of wheat and rye), as well as spelt, kamut, and einkorn (ancient varieties). I saved soft white wheat (because it was so expensive -purchased from Bob's Red Mill) for some (not all) quick breads, biscuits, and pastry, as well as for cakes (especially delicate chiffon and angel food cake). I would use a 3:1 mix of soft white wheat and spelt OR oat groats (milling flour myself) for a low-protein flour similar in protein to cake flour. I also milled rye, barley, sorghum, and many other grains/seeds/beans for flour. I milled the mixture of grains into a very fine flour and made sure to sift it (removing any large pieces of bran) before using it for cake. Since you may not have any soft white wheat flour available for your cookies, just make sure when making cookies (or anything leavened with chemical leavening - soda, baking powder) NOT to over-mix them or you will develop too much gluten and will get tough cookies or baked goods using regular (hard) white whole wheat flour. This is yet another time I suggest using a Danish Dough Whisk (or a wooden spoon) instead of a stand or regular mixer. Keep mixing to a minimum once the flour has been added. If you use white whole wheat flour in a recipe that is designed for bleached or unbleached all-purpose flour, you may find you need to add a little more hydration, OR reduce the amount of whole wheat flour by 1-tablespoon from each cup of flour called for in the recipe, and adjust accordingly, if needed. If you can find recipes that specifically call for whole wheat flour you will find you have better results until you get accustomed to using it. Check your public library for wholegrain cookbooks. The recipe at the link below from the Kansas Wheat Commission is one of my favorites using 100% whole wheat flour :-). This recipe will work with either white or red whole wheat flour, but white whole wheat works best due to the flavor differences. If you want to kick it up a notch, add 1/8-1/4 t. of Fiori di Sicilia (an all-natural citrus and vanilla scented flavoring from King Arthur Flour - but caution, a little goes a long way). You may want to take a look at their recipe collection for a lot of great recipes using whole wheat flour. I've collected the Kansas Wheat Commission Recipe Books for years (free when you attend the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson, KS) and have them going back several decades. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Whole Wheat Sugar Cookies