Adventures in Whole Wheat: Cracked Wheat Cereal

Since my waffle experiment went swimmingly, I was eager to try out another application for whole wheat sans grain mill. I opened up Emergency Food Storage and Survival Handbook and found a recipe for Cracked Wheat Cereal and gave it a try.

First I measured out 1 cup of whole wheat kernels. Then I attempted to crack the kernels by pulsing them in my blender. They did not crack well at all. Some kernels remained whole, others cracked a bit while still more was turned completely into flour.

This is what it looked like when I gave up and decided to proceed with the recipe. After I was finished, I went back and read

the instructions for cracking wheat in a blender and you are supposed to only crack 1/4 to 1/3 c. at a time. Oops. Maybe that was the problem...

I added water, salt and a pat of butter to my improperly cracked wheat and cooked it for the 20 minutes it calls for in the recipe. When the time was up, it was still soupy and the wheat was extremely chewy.

I then increased the heat and stirred the mixture until the water had evaporated and the kernels were tender-ish.

The recipe made two large servings. Following the suggestions in the recipe, I added some milk to each bowl. Hubby Dear requested that I top his with cinnamon and brown sugar. I put honey and cinnamon on mine.

We dug in and chewed. And chewed some more. By cracky, that cracked wheat was chewy! The overall taste was okay, but the texture made it hard to enjoy. Neither of us finished our bowls.

The Verdict: This tastes like you expect "survival food" to taste. I'll pass on this one unless we're truly in a survival situation.

If you give this recipe a shot, let me know if you get it to come out better than I did.

Cracked Whole Wheat Cereal, from Emergency Food Storage and Survival Handbook by Peggy Layton

1 c. freshly cracked wheat
3 c. water
1/2 t. salt
1 T butter (or 1 T butter powder reconstituted with a few drops water)

Combine all ingredients in a pan. Bring to a full boil and reduce the heat. Simmer 20 minutes. Serve with honey, raisins, and milk. This cereal is also delicious with chopped apples, berries, nuts such as almonds or cashews, sunflower seeds, or cinnamon. Makes 2 servings.