Episode Transcript
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Joy Blue (00:10):
Welcome to Here We Are.
The podcast where we celebratethe beauty of being a nerd by
learning about nerdy things fromfellow nerds.
I'm your host, Joy Blue.
Today's guest is a very familiarhuman to me.
We've spent a lot of timetogether over the span of well,
my entire lifetime.
Because she is my sister.
(00:32):
If you haven't figured this outyet, welcome to the family.
Mom set us up to be curiousnerds, always looking for the
next adventure, thing to learn,experiment, to try.
And that's how we got to today'stopic.
Fresh ground flours.
Not like pick them off themeadow flowers, but like I'm a
(00:53):
go put some flour in this doughto make some bread with.
So prepare to jump in head firstto sisterly nerdiness as we
learn from my sister JanineWetzel.
Janine Wetzel (01:03):
I am Janine and I am Joy's sister.
Joy Blue (01:06):
Yeah, you are.
Janine Wetzel (01:07):
am, and I love her very much.
Joy Blue (01:10):
too.
Janine Wetzel (01:10):
And I am the mom to three really amazing girls.
And wife to an awesome husband.
And I probably like to nerd outon funny things, but I really
enjoy it.
We have 14 chickens in ourbackyard
Joy Blue (01:24):
of course you do.
Janine Wetzel (01:25):
and they all have very distinct personalities and
names.
I love to read books, love tolearn new things, love to play
around in my kitchen andexperiment with all kinds of
things.
Just to say that I did.
Joy Blue (01:36):
right.
If Janine's voice soundsfamiliar, it's not only that
she's related to me, but she wasalso featured on the nerdlet all
about lasagna.
When uh, her middle daughter,Ellie interviewed her about
lasagna.
So there you go.
Janine Wetzel (01:51):
Food Things going through here.
Joy Blue (01:53):
Right.
So what do you wanna nerd outabout today?
Janine Wetzel (01:56):
Well, we're gonna talk about wheat.
Joy Blue (01:59):
I'm so excited.
Janine Wetzel (02:00):
it's good stuff.
Joy Blue (02:02):
It's one of your latest nerd outs.
Janine Wetzel (02:04):
It is,
Joy Blue (02:05):
When did you start doing research into wheat?
Janine Wetzel (02:08):
Well, we've kind of been learning how to cook
more from whole food typeingredients
Joy Blue (02:13):
mean like, choosing more raw things instead of
processed things.
Janine Wetzel (02:16):
More Raw things instead of processed things and
how to make it from ingredientsyou could grow and pronounce
rather than things that I haveto look up.
And so we've kind of been onthis kick for a while and Caleb
and I were doing research intosomething and somehow wheat
berries came up and we werelike, oh, that's interesting.
You mean people actually dothat?
Joy Blue (02:35):
Wait, what do you mean wheat berries?
what are those?
Janine Wetzel (02:37):
Wheat berries are what flour comes from.
So when wheat is grown in thefield and it's harvested, what
they harvest is called a wheatberry.
And so it's the top.
If you've ever seen a head ofwheat, it's the little berries
from that.
I didn't know called berries!They are.
They're not really a berry is inlike asat you think of a
blueberry, but like this little,yeah, wheat berries is what
(03:01):
they're called.
Joy Blue (03:02):
That's amazing.
Janine Wetzel (03:03):
Yeah, it's kind of fun.
So anyway, we were learningabout that and when Caleb
realized that you can have abucket of wheat berries stored
properly, and it would last forlike 20 years, he was like, this
is awesome!
Joy Blue (03:19):
Nerd
Janine Wetzel (03:21):
Yeah.
Joy Blue (03:21):
oh
Janine Wetzel (03:22):
So we talked for several years off and on about
wheat berries, like, oh thatwould be fun to try sometime and
just kind of laughed it off.
And then for Christmas this yearI had a wheat mill show up on my
doorstep.
Joy Blue (03:35):
my
Janine Wetzel (03:35):
And he was really upset because it didn't come in
a box that kept it a secret.
I figured out pretty was like,dang it.
Since you know, we might as wellout and use it.
Joy Blue (03:48):
okay.
And how many buckets of wheatberries do you have?
are they all the
Janine Wetzel (03:52):
Gosh, I don't, I have.
Joy Blue (03:53):
Are they all the same?
Janine Wetzel (03:54):
No, they're not all the same.
There are different types ofwheat, which is all things that
I've been learning about.
And it's fascinating to learnthe different types because they
have different purposes.
So there's hard and soft wheat.
And hard wheat berries are moreof what you would think of like
when you buy bread flour at thestore, they're better for
yeasted breads and things likethat because their structure is
(04:17):
stronger.
Joy Blue (04:18):
Is this analogous to like hardwoods and soft woods,
like soft woods.
You wouldn't wanna make likehouse structure out of a Birch
tree, cause it would bend andbreak, but a hardwood like Oak
or pine.
Would withstand the greaterpressure of
Janine Wetzel (04:35):
Yeah, they've got greater strength.
Greater strength with that.
So Yeah, the hard wheat hasgreater strength.
The soft wheat is more of whatyou think of as an all purpose
or a pastry flour.
Joy Blue (04:45):
Interesting.
Janine Wetzel (04:46):
Yeah.
And then there's different typeswithin that too, if you really
wanna nerd out on it.
Joy Blue (04:51):
I do.
Janine Wetzel (04:52):
like within the hard wheat, I have two different
types here.
There's a red wheat and that hasmore of a, it's not red in
color, particularly.
The berry is a little bit darkerthan a hard wheat berry.
So they're both hard, but thenthere's red and white and the
red has more of a nutty flavor.
And the white is it's a littlebit more bland.
(05:15):
So you can use that when youreally want the other flavors in
your bread to shine.
Joy Blue (05:20):
That is fascinating.
Where does one get wheatberries?
Janine Wetzel (05:25):
Well, the interwebs is a good place to
start.
You can do it there.
I found it at our local healthfood co-op, or food co-op in
town.
And then there's like a co-opcalled Bread Beckers that I
ordered stuff from and was ableto do a pickup to a local co-op
in my
Joy Blue (05:41):
Whoa service.
Okay.
So what have you noticed isdifferent about grinding your
own wheat versus just going andpicking up a bag at the store.
Janine Wetzel (05:54):
There's several things that are different.
One, the flavor is different.
If you've got whole wheat thatyou buy from the store, a lot of
times things made with wholewheat don't always taste super
awesome the bag of whole wheatfrom the store.
And sometimes it almost has arancid flavor or funky smell
when you
Joy Blue (06:10):
can go bad.
Janine Wetzel (06:12):
Yeah, it goes real, it goes bad really fast in
the bag.
So the nice thing about when yougrind your own is that it is
fresh.
So there's a lot more depth offlavor to it.
And it's got a highernutritional quality because it's
fresh because wheat when it'sground goes bad really quickly,
which is why the stuff that youbuy at the store, many times,
(06:32):
they remove all of the bran anda lot of the healthy stuff from
it.
And then they bleach it andprocess it and then they have to
enrich it because all of thosegood vitamins were taken out, so
they have to put stuff back in.
And then if you buy a wholewheat flour, a lot of times they
just add back in to that alreadybleached processed flour.
They just add back in a littlebit of the wheat bran and the
(06:53):
germ, to try to make it morewhole wheat-ish again.
So the cool thing about when yougrind your own, you don't have
any waste.
We're not pulling away the bran,we're not pulling away the germ.
We just got our wheat berries,that grind, and they're yummy.
The texture is a little bitdifferent then what you're used
(07:14):
to with like a white flower,because with a white flour, a
lot of times you have a realfluffy pastry, which is really
appealing.
We've gotten really used to thatas Americans.
When you use the fresh groundflour, because of all of the
bran and the germ and everythingin it, it's a little bit denser.
So like I made cinnamon rollsthe other day and I've made
(07:34):
cinnamon rolls in the past andthey're delicious with white
flour and all.
um, This time I used some of thefresh flour and the rolls were
still absolutely wonderful, butthey had a texture a little bit
more like a bran muffin.
They were not quite as light andfluffy as you would have with
one made with white flour,
Joy Blue (07:52):
did you use a hard berry or a soft berry?
Janine Wetzel (07:57):
you know, I don't remember.
I'd have to look at my recipe,whether it called for bread
flour, or all purpose.
If it called for bread flour, Iwould've used the hard.
And if it was all purpose, Iwould've used the soft.
Joy Blue (08:07):
Is it a one to one?
Like, do you have to do anythingto fill in?
Janine Wetzel (08:12):
There are a lot of people that do mixtures of
different grains to make abetter all-purpose flour.
I haven't experimented as muchwith the different mixtures of
grains.
I've done more of just a one toone because it's easier, but a
lot of people have done stuffthat make really great mixes
from my understanding.
One cup of wheat berries though,does not equal one cup of ground
(08:33):
flour.
It's usually a little bit moreflour than the berries that you
put in.
Joy Blue (08:39):
What
Janine Wetzel (08:40):
I know.
Exciting.
So I can put in about three cupsof berries and I get about four
cups of flour out of it.
Joy Blue (08:46):
that's amazing.
Janine Wetzel (08:47):
Yeah.
It's fun.
Joy Blue (08:49):
Okay.
Okay.
So tell me about the millingprocess.
What is that like?
What kind of mill do you have?
Janine Wetzel (08:57):
There's lots of different mills and things on
the market.
We have a neutra mill and I loveit.
It's a stone grinding process.
So basically I flip it on and itsounds like a really loud vacuum
cleaner.
And I pour in the wheat berriesand then it just spits out the
flour in the bottom into a bowland I'm able to use it right
(09:18):
away.
Joy Blue (09:18):
Kinda like grinding coffee, I guess?
Janine Wetzel (09:20):
Yeah, pretty much.
It doesn't add that much time tomy process unless I don't turn
on the mill before I add theberries and then I have to clean
it all out, cuz it clogs thestones and all.
So I've done that a few times.
Joy Blue (09:32):
I mean, lesson learned.
Janine Wetzel (09:33):
Yeah, I learned.
real quick.
You always turn on the millbefore you mess with the
berries.
Joy Blue (09:38):
Wow.
Okay.
What else about this topic hasjust got you super fascinated.
This is amazing.
I love all of.
Janine Wetzel (09:46):
well, obviously I love eating, so the fascination
goes
Joy Blue (09:50):
wait, what?
Janine Wetzel (09:53):
what makes me happy?
Yeah.
we've really had a lot of fun.
Eating the product of the mill.
And I have a lot moreexperimentation to do.
I'm still in the early stages ofthis.
Joy Blue (10:04):
What do you wanna try?
Janine Wetzel (10:06):
well, I'm gonna experiment with grinding corn
and make some cornbread andthings like that.
I wanna do more with some pizzadough and with breads.
And I have lots of things that Iwant to try but have yet to
actually make the time for
Joy Blue (10:20):
Is semolina a type of berry?
Janine Wetzel (10:23):
It is.
type of wheat and it's reallycool.
The the spectrum of thingswithin the wheat berries,
semolina is a specific type thathas a flavor that goes really
well with pasta.
Joy Blue (10:34):
yeah.
yeah Uhhuh.
That's
Janine Wetzel (10:35):
And then there's like, one of the ancient grains,
I'm probably gonna pronounce itwrong.
But it's kamut.
And I believe, if I'm correct inthat, they found that one in
like King Tut's tomb and grewit, which is so cool to me that
you can get grains that are anancient form.
And then you've got einkornflours and a lot of things.
So if you've got food allergies,there's a lot of options for
(10:57):
things that you can do.
So I've had fun learning about alot of that too.
I haven't experimented as muchas I want to in those areas, but
I have lots of friends that havesome food sensitivities, and
it's really appealing to me tolearn about different ways you
can make things that it's not ashard on your digestive tract and
you're able to eat things stillthat you like without being
(11:19):
sick.
Joy Blue (11:20):
Yeah.
You and I have talked about thattoo, like with the sourdough
process, because the length ofthe natural fermentation helps
break down some of those harderto digest parts of the flour
because of fermentation.
It's beautiful.
Janine Wetzel (11:34):
It's a really cool, like, it's just
fascinating stuff to learnabout.
And it's really fun when you putfresh ground flour with
sourdough.
Caleb's favorite bread that I'vemade is a combination of
sourdough and fresh groundflour.
Joy Blue (11:47):
Is spelt flour then like just another variety?
Janine Wetzel (11:51):
Yeah.
Spelt is another more ancientgrain that is easier to digest
as well.
Joy Blue (11:57):
Okay.
I've also experimented with somebuck wheat.
anything with buck wheat yet?
Janine Wetzel (12:01):
Not yet.
But it's on my list.
Joy Blue (12:03):
It turned my sourdough loaf a very interesting color.
Slightly gray.
Purple.
I know.
I learned about buck wheat flourfrom this podcast when I
interviewed Ted Harro aboutbread.
I know, I love learning things.
Janine Wetzel (12:24):
I do too!
Joy Blue (12:25):
So what's next on your learning.
Janine Wetzel (12:27):
Um, Well, probably to make some of those
things that are on my bucketlist of things to make
Joy Blue (12:32):
What's on your bucket list.
Janine Wetzel (12:34):
The cornbread, absolutely, that's there.
I wanna experiment some more.
I've tried the whole wheatdonuts, but have yet to have'em
be like, I want them to be.
So I need to experiment somemore there.
My family loves it when I makeEnglish muffins.
I've got whole wheat Englishmuffin recipe that they go nuts
for.
So I'll probably make that againsoon.
Joy Blue (12:54):
Good
Janine Wetzel (12:54):
job! Um, Yeah, I just kind of like perusing
things and going, Ooh, I need totry this.
Joy Blue (13:00):
I approve of this.
We got that from mom.
Right?
Mom was basically like that.
We had an experimental kitchen.
So many people have asked me,like, why are you so confident
in the kitchen?
Or like, oh my gosh, you madedonuts or you made corn dogs.
And I'm like, well, of course Idid.
But the, of course strategyisn't an everybody thing
Janine Wetzel (13:19):
Right.
Yeah, I think cuz mom didn'tknow how to cook at all when she
got married and she kind of hadto learn with trial by fire.
And so we got used toexperimenting.
and it's been fun.
When I say experimental kitchen,my family cheers now rather than
booing, which I think is I'mexcited about that.
I've only made like one or twothings in, you know, the last 15
(13:40):
years that weren't edible.
Most of them are generallyedible.
Joy Blue (13:43):
I'm really proud of you.
Janine Wetzel (13:44):
Me too.
Joy Blue (13:45):
Look at us, doing life.
Janine Wetzel (13:47):
I'm excited.
Attempting to adult.
Joy Blue (13:49):
Thanks for your time and thanks for your nerd.
Janine Wetzel (13:52):
Aw, thanks for interviewing me.
Good to be with you.
Joy Blue (13:54):
Okay.
I love you.
Like you.
Bye.
Janine Wetzel (13:56):
love you.
Like you.
too.
Bye.
Joy Blue (13:58):
So here we are.
My mind is currently teeteringon the edge of considering if I
too should delve into themagical world of fresh ground
wheat.
Then I look at all I've gotgoing on in life and you know,
I'll just add it to the somedaylist.
This was so fun to talk withJanine about.
I'm so grateful we grew up in anexperimental kitchen and that we
(14:20):
are still taking that mentalityforward with us to this day.
Keep up the good work sis.
If you've got a flavor of nerdthat you want me to celebrate, I
would love to hear all about it.
So go ahead and email me atherewearethepodcast@gmail.com
and tell me everything.
And I mean, it.
I love taking time to sit andmake space for nerd to be
(14:41):
celebrated.
If you really liked this podcastand want to financially support
what I'm doing head on over topatreon.com, search for Here We
Are The Podcast and sign up forone of the many, many
beautifully and sassily writtensupport tiers that I'm very
proud of.
So until next time.
Don't forget that curiositywins.
And the world needs more nerds.
(15:02):
Bye
Welcome to Here We Are.
The podcast where we celebratethe beauty of being a nerd by
learning about nerdy things fromfellow nerds.
I'm your host, Joy Blue.
Today's guest is a very familiarhuman to me.
We've spent a lot of timetogether over the span of well,
my entire lifetime.
Because she is my sister.
(00:32):
If you haven't figured this outyet, welcome to the family.
Mom set us up to be curiousnerds, always looking for the
next adventure, thing to learn,experiment, to try.
And that's how we got to today'stopic.
Fresh ground flours.
Not like pick them off themeadow flowers, but like I'm a
(00:53):
go put some flour in this doughto make some bread with.
So prepare to jump in head firstto sisterly nerdiness as we
learn from my sister JanineWetzel.
Janine Wetzel (01:03):
I am Janine and I am Joy's sister.
Joy Blue (01:06):
Yeah, you are.
Janine Wetzel (01:07):
am, and I love her very much.
Joy Blue (01:10):
too.
Janine Wetzel (01:10):
And I am the mom to three really amazing girls.
And wife to an awesome husband.
And I probably like to nerd outon funny things, but I really
enjoy it.
We have 14 chickens in ourbackyard
Joy Blue (01:24):
of course you do.
Janine Wetzel (01:25):
and they all have very distinct personalities and
names.
I love to read books, love tolearn new things, love to play
around in my kitchen andexperiment with all kinds of
things.
Just to say that I did.
Joy Blue (01:36):
right.
If Janine's voice soundsfamiliar, it's not only that
she's related to me, but she wasalso featured on the nerdlet all
about lasagna.
When uh, her middle daughter,Ellie interviewed her about
lasagna.
So there you go.
Janine Wetzel (01:51):
Food Things going through here.
Joy Blue (01:53):
Right.
So what do you wanna nerd outabout today?
Janine Wetzel (01:56):
Well, we're gonna talk about wheat.
Joy Blue (01:59):
I'm so excited.
Janine Wetzel (02:00):
it's good stuff.
Joy Blue (02:02):
It's one of your latest nerd outs.
Janine Wetzel (02:04):
It is,
Joy Blue (02:05):
When did you start doing research into wheat?
Janine Wetzel (02:08):
Well, we've kind of been learning how to cook
more from whole food typeingredients
Joy Blue (02:13):
mean like, choosing more raw things instead of
processed things.
Janine Wetzel (02:16):
More Raw things instead of processed things and
how to make it from ingredientsyou could grow and pronounce
rather than things that I haveto look up.
And so we've kind of been onthis kick for a while and Caleb
and I were doing research intosomething and somehow wheat
berries came up and we werelike, oh, that's interesting.
You mean people actually dothat?
Joy Blue (02:35):
Wait, what do you mean wheat berries?
what are those?
Janine Wetzel (02:37):
Wheat berries are what flour comes from.
So when wheat is grown in thefield and it's harvested, what
they harvest is called a wheatberry.
And so it's the top.
If you've ever seen a head ofwheat, it's the little berries
from that.
I didn't know called berries!They are.
They're not really a berry is inlike asat you think of a
blueberry, but like this little,yeah, wheat berries is what
(03:01):
they're called.
Joy Blue (03:02):
That's amazing.
Janine Wetzel (03:03):
Yeah, it's kind of fun.
So anyway, we were learningabout that and when Caleb
realized that you can have abucket of wheat berries stored
properly, and it would last forlike 20 years, he was like, this
is awesome!
Joy Blue (03:19):
Nerd
Janine Wetzel (03:21):
Yeah.
Joy Blue (03:21):
oh
Janine Wetzel (03:22):
So we talked for several years off and on about
wheat berries, like, oh thatwould be fun to try sometime and
just kind of laughed it off.
And then for Christmas this yearI had a wheat mill show up on my
doorstep.
Joy Blue (03:35):
my
Janine Wetzel (03:35):
And he was really upset because it didn't come in
a box that kept it a secret.
I figured out pretty was like,dang it.
Since you know, we might as wellout and use it.
Joy Blue (03:48):
okay.
And how many buckets of wheatberries do you have?
are they all the
Janine Wetzel (03:52):
Gosh, I don't, I have.
Joy Blue (03:53):
Are they all the same?
Janine Wetzel (03:54):
No, they're not all the same.
There are different types ofwheat, which is all things that
I've been learning about.
And it's fascinating to learnthe different types because they
have different purposes.
So there's hard and soft wheat.
And hard wheat berries are moreof what you would think of like
when you buy bread flour at thestore, they're better for
yeasted breads and things likethat because their structure is
(04:17):
stronger.
Joy Blue (04:18):
Is this analogous to like hardwoods and soft woods,
like soft woods.
You wouldn't wanna make likehouse structure out of a Birch
tree, cause it would bend andbreak, but a hardwood like Oak
or pine.
Would withstand the greaterpressure of
Janine Wetzel (04:35):
Yeah, they've got greater strength.
Greater strength with that.
So Yeah, the hard wheat hasgreater strength.
The soft wheat is more of whatyou think of as an all purpose
or a pastry flour.
Joy Blue (04:45):
Interesting.
Janine Wetzel (04:46):
Yeah.
And then there's different typeswithin that too, if you really
wanna nerd out on it.
Joy Blue (04:51):
I do.
Janine Wetzel (04:52):
like within the hard wheat, I have two different
types here.
There's a red wheat and that hasmore of a, it's not red in
color, particularly.
The berry is a little bit darkerthan a hard wheat berry.
So they're both hard, but thenthere's red and white and the
red has more of a nutty flavor.
And the white is it's a littlebit more bland.
(05:15):
So you can use that when youreally want the other flavors in
your bread to shine.
Joy Blue (05:20):
That is fascinating.
Where does one get wheatberries?
Janine Wetzel (05:25):
Well, the interwebs is a good place to
start.
You can do it there.
I found it at our local healthfood co-op, or food co-op in
town.
And then there's like a co-opcalled Bread Beckers that I
ordered stuff from and was ableto do a pickup to a local co-op
in my
Joy Blue (05:41):
Whoa service.
Okay.
So what have you noticed isdifferent about grinding your
own wheat versus just going andpicking up a bag at the store.
Janine Wetzel (05:54):
There's several things that are different.
One, the flavor is different.
If you've got whole wheat thatyou buy from the store, a lot of
times things made with wholewheat don't always taste super
awesome the bag of whole wheatfrom the store.
And sometimes it almost has arancid flavor or funky smell
when you
Joy Blue (06:10):
can go bad.
Janine Wetzel (06:12):
Yeah, it goes real, it goes bad really fast in
the bag.
So the nice thing about when yougrind your own is that it is
fresh.
So there's a lot more depth offlavor to it.
And it's got a highernutritional quality because it's
fresh because wheat when it'sground goes bad really quickly,
which is why the stuff that youbuy at the store, many times,
(06:32):
they remove all of the bran anda lot of the healthy stuff from
it.
And then they bleach it andprocess it and then they have to
enrich it because all of thosegood vitamins were taken out, so
they have to put stuff back in.
And then if you buy a wholewheat flour, a lot of times they
just add back in to that alreadybleached processed flour.
They just add back in a littlebit of the wheat bran and the
(06:53):
germ, to try to make it morewhole wheat-ish again.
So the cool thing about when yougrind your own, you don't have
any waste.
We're not pulling away the bran,we're not pulling away the germ.
We just got our wheat berries,that grind, and they're yummy.
The texture is a little bitdifferent then what you're used
(07:14):
to with like a white flower,because with a white flour, a
lot of times you have a realfluffy pastry, which is really
appealing.
We've gotten really used to thatas Americans.
When you use the fresh groundflour, because of all of the
bran and the germ and everythingin it, it's a little bit denser.
So like I made cinnamon rollsthe other day and I've made
(07:34):
cinnamon rolls in the past andthey're delicious with white
flour and all.
um, This time I used some of thefresh flour and the rolls were
still absolutely wonderful, butthey had a texture a little bit
more like a bran muffin.
They were not quite as light andfluffy as you would have with
one made with white flour,
Joy Blue (07:52):
did you use a hard berry or a soft berry?
Janine Wetzel (07:57):
you know, I don't remember.
I'd have to look at my recipe,whether it called for bread
flour, or all purpose.
If it called for bread flour, Iwould've used the hard.
And if it was all purpose, Iwould've used the soft.
Joy Blue (08:07):
Is it a one to one?
Like, do you have to do anythingto fill in?
Janine Wetzel (08:12):
There are a lot of people that do mixtures of
different grains to make abetter all-purpose flour.
I haven't experimented as muchwith the different mixtures of
grains.
I've done more of just a one toone because it's easier, but a
lot of people have done stuffthat make really great mixes
from my understanding.
One cup of wheat berries though,does not equal one cup of ground
(08:33):
flour.
It's usually a little bit moreflour than the berries that you
put in.
Joy Blue (08:39):
What
Janine Wetzel (08:40):
I know.
Exciting.
So I can put in about three cupsof berries and I get about four
cups of flour out of it.
Joy Blue (08:46):
that's amazing.
Janine Wetzel (08:47):
Yeah.
It's fun.
Joy Blue (08:49):
Okay.
Okay.
So tell me about the millingprocess.
What is that like?
What kind of mill do you have?
Janine Wetzel (08:57):
There's lots of different mills and things on
the market.
We have a neutra mill and I loveit.
It's a stone grinding process.
So basically I flip it on and itsounds like a really loud vacuum
cleaner.
And I pour in the wheat berriesand then it just spits out the
flour in the bottom into a bowland I'm able to use it right
(09:18):
away.
Joy Blue (09:18):
Kinda like grinding coffee, I guess?
Janine Wetzel (09:20):
Yeah, pretty much.
It doesn't add that much time tomy process unless I don't turn
on the mill before I add theberries and then I have to clean
it all out, cuz it clogs thestones and all.
So I've done that a few times.
Joy Blue (09:32):
I mean, lesson learned.
Janine Wetzel (09:33):
Yeah, I learned.
real quick.
You always turn on the millbefore you mess with the
berries.
Joy Blue (09:38):
Wow.
Okay.
What else about this topic hasjust got you super fascinated.
This is amazing.
I love all of.
Janine Wetzel (09:46):
well, obviously I love eating, so the fascination
goes
Joy Blue (09:50):
wait, what?
Janine Wetzel (09:53):
what makes me happy?
Yeah.
we've really had a lot of fun.
Eating the product of the mill.
And I have a lot moreexperimentation to do.
I'm still in the early stages ofthis.
Joy Blue (10:04):
What do you wanna try?
Janine Wetzel (10:06):
well, I'm gonna experiment with grinding corn
and make some cornbread andthings like that.
I wanna do more with some pizzadough and with breads.
And I have lots of things that Iwant to try but have yet to
actually make the time for
Joy Blue (10:20):
Is semolina a type of berry?
Janine Wetzel (10:23):
It is.
type of wheat and it's reallycool.
The the spectrum of thingswithin the wheat berries,
semolina is a specific type thathas a flavor that goes really
well with pasta.
Joy Blue (10:34):
yeah.
yeah Uhhuh.
That's
Janine Wetzel (10:35):
And then there's like, one of the ancient grains,
I'm probably gonna pronounce itwrong.
But it's kamut.
And I believe, if I'm correct inthat, they found that one in
like King Tut's tomb and grewit, which is so cool to me that
you can get grains that are anancient form.
And then you've got einkornflours and a lot of things.
So if you've got food allergies,there's a lot of options for
(10:57):
things that you can do.
So I've had fun learning about alot of that too.
I haven't experimented as muchas I want to in those areas, but
I have lots of friends that havesome food sensitivities, and
it's really appealing to me tolearn about different ways you
can make things that it's not ashard on your digestive tract and
you're able to eat things stillthat you like without being
(11:19):
sick.
Joy Blue (11:20):
Yeah.
You and I have talked about thattoo, like with the sourdough
process, because the length ofthe natural fermentation helps
break down some of those harderto digest parts of the flour
because of fermentation.
It's beautiful.
Janine Wetzel (11:34):
It's a really cool, like, it's just
fascinating stuff to learnabout.
And it's really fun when you putfresh ground flour with
sourdough.
Caleb's favorite bread that I'vemade is a combination of
sourdough and fresh groundflour.
Joy Blue (11:47):
Is spelt flour then like just another variety?
Janine Wetzel (11:51):
Yeah.
Spelt is another more ancientgrain that is easier to digest
as well.
Joy Blue (11:57):
Okay.
I've also experimented with somebuck wheat.
anything with buck wheat yet?
Janine Wetzel (12:01):
Not yet.
But it's on my list.
Joy Blue (12:03):
It turned my sourdough loaf a very interesting color.
Slightly gray.
Purple.
I know.
I learned about buck wheat flourfrom this podcast when I
interviewed Ted Harro aboutbread.
I know, I love learning things.
Janine Wetzel (12:24):
I do too!
Joy Blue (12:25):
So what's next on your learning.
Janine Wetzel (12:27):
Um, Well, probably to make some of those
things that are on my bucketlist of things to make
Joy Blue (12:32):
What's on your bucket list.
Janine Wetzel (12:34):
The cornbread, absolutely, that's there.
I wanna experiment some more.
I've tried the whole wheatdonuts, but have yet to have'em
be like, I want them to be.
So I need to experiment somemore there.
My family loves it when I makeEnglish muffins.
I've got whole wheat Englishmuffin recipe that they go nuts
for.
So I'll probably make that againsoon.
Joy Blue (12:54):
Good
Janine Wetzel (12:54):
job! Um, Yeah, I just kind of like perusing
things and going, Ooh, I need totry this.
Joy Blue (13:00):
I approve of this.
We got that from mom.
Right?
Mom was basically like that.
We had an experimental kitchen.
So many people have asked me,like, why are you so confident
in the kitchen?
Or like, oh my gosh, you madedonuts or you made corn dogs.
And I'm like, well, of course Idid.
But the, of course strategyisn't an everybody thing
Janine Wetzel (13:19):
Right.
Yeah, I think cuz mom didn'tknow how to cook at all when she
got married and she kind of hadto learn with trial by fire.
And so we got used toexperimenting.
and it's been fun.
When I say experimental kitchen,my family cheers now rather than
booing, which I think is I'mexcited about that.
I've only made like one or twothings in, you know, the last 15
(13:40):
years that weren't edible.
Most of them are generallyedible.
Joy Blue (13:43):
I'm really proud of you.
Janine Wetzel (13:44):
Me too.
Joy Blue (13:45):
Look at us, doing life.
Janine Wetzel (13:47):
I'm excited.
Attempting to adult.
Joy Blue (13:49):
Thanks for your time and thanks for your nerd.
Janine Wetzel (13:52):
Aw, thanks for interviewing me.
Good to be with you.
Joy Blue (13:54):
Okay.
I love you.
Like you.
Bye.
Janine Wetzel (13:56):
love you.
Like you.
too.
Bye.
Joy Blue (13:58):
So here we are.
My mind is currently teeteringon the edge of considering if I
too should delve into themagical world of fresh ground
wheat.
Then I look at all I've gotgoing on in life and you know,
I'll just add it to the somedaylist.
This was so fun to talk withJanine about.
I'm so grateful we grew up in anexperimental kitchen and that we
(14:20):
are still taking that mentalityforward with us to this day.
Keep up the good work sis.
If you've got a flavor of nerdthat you want me to celebrate, I
would love to hear all about it.
So go ahead and email me atherewearethepodcast@gmail.com
and tell me everything.
And I mean, it.
I love taking time to sit andmake space for nerd to be
(14:41):
celebrated.
If you really liked this podcastand want to financially support
what I'm doing head on over topatreon.com, search for Here We
Are The Podcast and sign up forone of the many, many
beautifully and sassily writtensupport tiers that I'm very
proud of.
So until next time.
Don't forget that curiositywins.
And the world needs more nerds.
(15:02):
Bye
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