So Many Kinds of Flours to Try

So may flours to try, so many breads to make, so many stores and websites to investigate to determine what is available. I am overwhelmed with the burden of possibility.

After the sense of dread comes on, my response to the demons of limitless choice is to make a list, a table of all of the flours and flour-like ingredients I am interested in and what local stores they can be found at, and whether they are packaged or are available in bulk. 

To do list
I have so far discovered locally: Amaranth, millet, buckwheat, bulgur, barley, faro, flax seed, oats, quinoa, cornmeal. (Confession: I bought some a year ago and never used it. I put it in the compost.) That doesn't even cover most of the bean and rice flours from Bob's Red Mill. The ones I have not found yet are teff, einkorn, kamut, and triticale. Unfortunately, the endless possibilities require research, decisions, and planning. Take this last weekend for example. I bought spelt flour from the bulk aisle at the food coop, which only had a scale with pounds and ounces, not grams. One more bit of planning to add into the mix - weight conversions when writing down the shopping list. But I'm learning to plan because I love this journey of experimenting and the wonderful breakfasts of fresh bread and hot water (I liked my tea so weak, I just stopped using the tea bags). A little butter or some home made jam from a friend to go with it. A book or favorite website to read.

So proud of my table of flours and grains 
Please note that some of these entries are for beans or rice or other food materials that must be cooked, soaked or otherwise smashed before incorporating into a dough. Spreadsheet is not quite complete. Some of the entries are for foods I know I can find easily, so I did not bother to jot down where I can find those. I also have not yet gone to Whole Foods and written down exactly what is available in packages in the baking aisle.

FLOUR/GRAIN	PREPARATION	WHOLE FOODS		FOOD COOP
	SOAK	BULK	PACKAGED	BULK	PACKAGED
Amaranth
Arrowroot					X
Barley	whole grain	X		X
Bulgar (freekah)		X		X
Buckwheat
Chickpea	of course				X
Corn
Einkorn
Faro		X		X
Flaxseed
Flaxseed meal					X
Kamut
Oat		X		X
Millet
Polenta					X
Quinoa		X		X
Rice	of course
Rye				X
Spelt				X	X
Triticale
Notes	not for rising
Barley	Flour or cooked		Adds sweetness
Buckwheat	Flour or cooked		Love the taste of kasha
Corn	Whole or cornmeal		Should be sweet
Rice	Flour or cooked
Triticale	Rye/wheat grain

 

Work in progress
I've identified two breads to make, one using corn and the other buckwheat. Will proceed from there and perhaps update and alter the table as well.

I now need a spreadsheet for my life, though currently other projects are proceeding well (the biblical Hebrew project, the artwork, the art and Hebrew project, and the local grain and milling exchange project, still in the fantasy stage, which it might ever remain in, but who knows).