Red Fife Whole Wheat Flour and Grain

2# bag    5# bag    50# bag

Heritage Red Fife Wheat Flour                                                    

Heritage Red Fife Wheat Whole Grain    

Our Whole Wheat Flour is made from Red Fife hard red spring wheat. This wheat mills to make a high gluten flour with a reddish tinge.  

Red Fife wheat is a heirloom variety brought from Scotland to Saskatchewan in the early 1800's.  It almost disappeared from production during the Great Depression.  Fortunately the Canadian seed was carefully tended through the years by farmers as a pure, landrace red with with exceptional robust taste.   Red Fife wheat has found a new following in recent years by those looking for a fresh, nutty wheat flavor and whole grain breads with a rich wheat color.  

Heritage wheat like Red Fife has a different protein balance than modern wheats.  Many of  those with a sensitivity to modern-variety wheat gluten often find that breads and muffins made from Red Fife do not cause bloating or other gluten symptoms.  Red Fife flour in a good choice for bread, muffins, scones, or even as a porridge.

Whole wheat kernels, or berries, can be cooked as a wholesome grain and used in recipes to replace rice or pasta. In addition to selling flour from our wheat, Gianforte Farm offers bagged whole grain for customers interested in cooking, sprouting or milling the grain.

A Primer on Wheat Products

Most of us grew up with the choice of buying white flour or whole wheat flour. But if you want to make whole grain products part of your diet, you will find a confusing choice of wheat products. There are hard wheats and soft wheats, spring wheat and winter wheat. red wheat and white wheat, and several wholegrain by-products.

Hard wheat is the higher gluten wheat and is therefore the preferred wheat when using yeast doughs.  Hard wheat comes in both red and white varieties, and can be planted in the fall for a mid-summer harvest (winter wheat) or in the spring for a late summer harvest (spring wheat).  Gianforte Farm bread flour is made from hard red spring wheat.

Soft wheat has a slightly lower gluten and protein content and is preferred for recipes and batters such as muffins and quickbreads that use baking powder or soda. Soft wheat also comes in both red and white varieties and can be planted as winter wheat or spring wheat.  Pastry flour is often made from soft white winter wheat.

Durum wheat is an especially hard wheat, high in gluten, used for pasta. Durum wheat that is pulverized as a small grain is sold as couscous.  We did not grow durum wheat on our farm.

Bulgur (Bulghur) is whole wheat that has been pre-cooked then dried and ground into particles. The result is a quick cooking grain with a nut-like flavor and a long shelf life. Cracked wheat is whole grain wheat that has been coarsely ground. It is used for cereals or for added texture in some baked products. Gianforte Farm does not sell bulgur or cracked wheat.