Buckwheat question: How do you get the hulls off?

[Terri]

I have always heard how usefull buckwheat is: the nectar is good feed for bees, the grain is edible, it smothers weeds, and it self-sows.

So I got 1 pound of seeds from www.morgancountyseeds.com for $1.80, and so I planted some on a steep and sandy spot that I can think of no other use for. I hope that it will take over that spot.

The PROBLEM is that I cannot figure out what to do with the grain. Each seed is shaped sort of like a pyramid with sharp, heavy edges.

Does this grain need to be shelled or husked before using, or is it ground whole?

[Bearfootfarm]

It's usually dehulled.

http://countrylivinggrainmills.com/i...=Buckwheat.txt

This place sells 50 lbs for $1.08 per lb (not including shipping)
Most any feed/seed store can get it, so I'm sure you can find a better price

http://www.seedland.com/mm5/merchant...y_Code=WG-BUCK

[Terri]

Originally Posted by Bearfootfarm

It's usually dehulled.

http://countrylivinggrainmills.com/i...=Buckwheat.txt

This place sells 50 lbs for $1.08 per lb (not including shipping)
Most any feed/seed store can get it, so I'm sure you can find a better price

http://www.seedland.com/mm5/merchant...y_Code=WG-BUCK

Yes, well, I was hoping to use my own home grown, LOL!

[Mike in Ohio]

Terri,

If you have deer around you won't have to worry about it. I planted 1/3 of an acre and the deer kept it nice and cropped down. Kept on blooming but never got higher than 3-4 inches. The bees foraged on it but didn't notice any of it going to seed.

Mike

[suitcase_sally]

Bee Heaven. You can hear the bees from more than 200 feet away. The deer eat it, but the blue scare crow helps keep them away.

[insocal]

The buckwheat I buy at the grocery has the pyramidal hulls ON, I think......

Here's some info from the Chelsea Green blog:
http://www.chelseagreen.com/content/...ancakes-o-tay/

"....Processing buckwheat for table use is not so simple a task. The buckwheat grain, which looks like a tiny beechnut (from which word, beech, the buck of the word buckwheat derives, by the way) is mostly hull. The flour inside is nearly pure white. The groundup hulls are good fiber, but like oat hulls, too many means less tastefulness. I like whole-buckwheat pancakes, but I prefer to have most of the hulls removed. With a commercial huller this is no problem, but at home, using a blender or kitchen mill, hulling is more difficult. We have used our blender to grind all grains (it will wear out sooner, however) and have found that if the buckwheat is toasted a wee bit or at least heat-dried well before grinding, the hulls will shatter off better, and many of them can be sifted out in a flour sifter. Well worth the trouble. Get some real maple syrup and some good homemade sausage to go with your buckwheat cakes. Instead of eating this breakfast when you first arise in the morning, go outside and work awhile first. Then you’ve set the stage for a truly great adventure in eating....."

[Terri]

Thanks everyone! And, WHAT a picture!

I think I will try toasting them and then putting them in the food processor. I relize that this will shatter the grain but I will do what the Indians did with sunflowers: put it in water and let the shells float off.

[kyweaver]

Keep us updated on how this works. I want to try growing buckwheat sometime.