Cooking with Durum Wheat 101

Introduction

The whole grain of the month in this series on whole grains is durum wheat.

If you’ve ever had store bought pasta, couscous or bulgur, chances are they were made out of durum wheat.

Durum Family Tree

Durum is believed to have been cultivated as far back as 8,000 years ago and it is considered an ancient grain.

It is genetically simpler than modern (common) wheat as it has 28 chromosomes while modern common wheat has 42.

Wheat species with the same number of chromosomes are more closely related to each other.

The various known cultivated wheat species are believed to be a result of crosses with wild grasses.

Below is a chart of better known cultivated wheat species based on their chromosome count and what is believed to be their relationship to each other.

For simplification purposes, the wild grass parents are not included.

Durum Wheat Properties

The name durum means “hard” in latin. 

That is because durum is the hardest of all the wheat species. 

Durum has a vitreous or glass like appearance.

One of durum’s best features is its ability to stretch out into long thin sheets when used as pasta dough.

On the other hand, durum is not as elastic as common wheat and breads made entirely with durum will not rise well.

Nutritional Benefits of Durum

Durum is rich in the B vitamins, particularly thiamine, niacin and B6.

It is particularly high in copper, manganese and selenium. (source)

The yellow color in most store bought pasta is due to the high lutein content found in durum wheat, an antioxidant that is beneficial for eye health.

Durum has a low glycemic index because it is high in slowly digestible starches.

Storing Durum Wheat

Because of its hardness, durum is ideal for long term storage. 

Fun fact:  Traces of durum wheat believed to be 7,000 years old were found in an archeological site in Italy.

To learn more about storing whole grains in general, please see this post.

Culinary Uses of Durum Wheat

Below is an overview of some common and not so common culinary uses of durum wheat.

Popped Durum

Durum grains can be roasted and popped in a tall pan set to high heat.

The grains should be jostled around frequently and most will pop within 2 minutes.

However, even when popped, the grains do not expand much. 

A detailed post on popping whole grains can be found here.

Uses

Popped durum can be used in a trail mix or as part of a breakfast cereal mix.

Sprouted Durum

Durum wheat grains sprout well and they are considered a nutritional powerhouse.

As stated in this scientific article “in sprouted grains almost all nutrients are fully available and various antioxidants occur at higher concentrations, thus providing the base to define sprouts as ‘functional foods.’ “

To sprout durum grains:

1. Soak the grains for about 6 hours or overnight in at least twice their volume of filtered water.
2. Drain water and place grains in a wide mouth mason jar with a meshed lid, held at a 45 degree angle.
3. Rinse twice a day.
4. Grains are considered full sized sprouts when the roots are as long as the length of the seed.

Uses

Sprouted durum can be used in salads, smoothies or as part of a breakfast cereal blend.

Durum Wheat Grass

Durum sprouts can grow further into durum wheat grass.

1. Using a growing medium with good drainage will result in the most nutritious wheat grass.
2. Place the sprouts in a well ventilated area and keep the soil moist.
3. Harvest with scissors close to the soil level when grass is around 7 inches – within 6 to 10 days depending on external temperatures (warmer will cause sprouts to grow faster).

Uses

Add durum wheat grass to smoothies or juice it into shots of high chlorophyll wheat juice. 

Malted Durum

Malted durum is sometimes used to make craft beers.

Enzyme rich diastatic malt powder is also used in breadmaking.

1. To make diastatic durum wheat malt, first sprout it as instructed above.
2. Dehydrate the sprouted wheat in a temperature range of 100° F to 125° F for about 24 hours until fully dry.
3. The malt can be ground to a powder using a spice grinder or other grinder.

Uses

Add the diastatic malt as instructed in you baking recipes.

Durum Malt Syrup

Malting grains can produce a variety of flavors and technically one should be able to create a nutritious malt syrup at home. 

But I have not yet been able to accomplish this successfully. 

If you are interested in making your own malt syrup, as a starting point, instructions can be found here.

Kindly comment with any helpful tips if you have succeeded in making malt syrup as home.

Uses

Malt syrup can be used as a healthy sweetener in beverages and desserts.

Freekeh

Freekeh is durum wheat that is harvested at the green soft dough stage (prior to full maturity) and lightly roasted, traditionally on an open fire.

Eli Rogoso in her book Restoring Heritage Grains explained the reason for harvesting wheat prior to maturity: “after long winter months of waiting for the new harvest, hungry farmers reaped the wheat in its first edible stage.”

Freekeh is often sold cracked which results in a quicker cooking time.

Whether it is cracked or uncracked, freekeh is a whole grain because the bran layer and germ have not been removed.

Freekeh is a staple in many North African and Middle Eastern countries.

1. To boil freekeh, you will want to use a ratio of 2 parts water to 1 part freekeh.
2. Whole freekeh takes about 40 minutes of simmer time while cracked freekeh takes about 20 minutes.
3. The grain should be soft throughout when fully cooked but still retain a slight bite.

Freekeh has a delicious creamy texture and mild flavor.

Uses

It makes a great side dish and can be used as a rice substitute in your recipes.

Boiled Whole Durum

Boiled whole durum berries have a pleasant chewiness and mild flavor.

Boiled over Stovetop

Boil whole durum wheat berries in a 2 to 1 ratio of water to durum, with a pinch of salt and allow about one hour of simmer time.

Roasted before Boiling

For an extra nutty flavor, whole durum can be roasted first, in which case simmer time can be reduced to 40 minutes.

Instant Pot

Pressure cook whole durum in Instant Pot for 15 minutes at high pressure, then allow to natural release for a minimum of 20 minutes.

Uses

Boiled whole durum makes a great side dish.

Boiled Cracked Durum (Bulgur)

Bulgur is the generic name given to cooked cracked durum wheat.

There are several ways to make bulgur, below is an overview of three methods, from the more ancient to the more modern way.

Sprouted Bulgur

According to Eli Rogosa in her book Restoring Heritage Grains, the original bulgur was made with einkorn grains that had been soaked in water to remove their hulls.

The water would activate the sprouting process. 

The grains would then be air dried in the sun and presumably coarsely ground prior to cooking.

Roasted Bulgur

A traditional way to prepare durum is to grind it coarsely and toast it prior to boiling, as shown in detail in this video.

1. Coarsely grind raw durum wheat and sift out the finer flour.
2. Toast the coarse durum in a hot pan, one layer deep, for about two minutes, stirring a few times to avoid burning.
3. Boil the toasted durum in a 2 to1 ratio of water to durum with a pinch of salt for about 40 minutes, until grain is tender.

This is a great method to make bulgur at home, especially if you have a home mill or high speed blender to grind durum wheat (for more details on home milling please see this post).

Parboiled Bulgur

Nowadays, the term bulgur usually refers to parboiled durum wheat that has been dehydrated and cracked.

Grades of Bulgur

According to Maria Speck, author of two books on ancient grains, there are 4 grades of bulgur:  #1-very fine, #2-fine, #3-medium coarse and #4-coarse.

Very fine and fine bulgur are more likely to be used to make porridge while coarse bulgur is more likely to be used as a side dish.

From Scratch Bulgur

You can make parboiled bulgur from scratch at home using durum wheat.

1. Boil the durum wheat as instructed in the boiled durum section above.
2. Dehydrate by:
   • a) air drying in the sun for a couple of days,
   • b) using a dehydrator at 125° F for about 24 hours
   • c) or using the oven at around 200° F for a couple of hours.
3. Coarsely grind the dried bulgur with:
   • either a spice grinder
   • a strong blender
   • food processor
   • or stone mill
4. The final step involves sifting the bulgur into different coarseness levels using three different sized sifters. (For home use, just separating out the coarse bulgur from the flour with the usual home sifter works just fine. This seive set may work but I have not personally used it. )

Parboiling is ideal if you want to prepare larger quantities of bulgur to use at a later time.

Very fine and fine bulgur will only need to be soaked in boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes prior to consumption.

Medium coarse and coarse bulgur need between 10 to 15 minutes of simmering time – substantially less than the hour needed to cook whole raw durum wheat.

A very detailed post on making parboiled bulgur can be found here.

Preserving Bulgur’s Nutritional Value

Bulgur is still a whole grain because the bran and germ are not removed.

Because you are dealing with a whole grain with vitamin E rich germ, it is best to use parboiled bulgur within a few months and ideally store it in the freezer for optimum nutrition.

Uses

Bulgur is used to make a whole range of dishes, from porridges to pilafs to vegetarian burgers.

Whole Durum Wheat Flour

Durum berries can be ground into a coarse flour known as semolina. 

The coarse flour can be ground yet again into a finer flour known as semola rimacinata. 

If you want to purchase the whole grain version of these flours, note that they should be labeled as “whole” durum.

The Italian whole durum flour versions will include the label “integrale.”

Semola Pasta

Finely ground durum wheat, semola, is recommended for making most Italian style water based pastas (vs egg based).

To make a pasta dough, a standard ratio is 55 grams of water for every 100 grams of whole semola.

This post provides step by step instructions for making two ingredient Whole Kamut or Whole Durum Semola pasta.

Uses

Types and uses of pasta range from tiny shapes best suited for soups to large lasagna sheets used to make main courses.

Semolina Based Couscous

Contrary to popular belief, couscous is not a grain but rather a type of pasta made from semolina.

There are many varieties of semolina based couscous made in North Africa and the Middle East which range in size from finer grained (Moroccan) to pea-sized (Lebanese Moghrabieh).

The most common type of couscous found in U.S. grocery stores is the finer grain instant couscous.

Note: Israeli couscous also commonly found is U.S. grocery stores is actually a form of extruded pasta made from common wheat and not durum wheat.

To make fine grain couscous from scratch:

1. Hydrate semolina and hand roll into tiny clumps. 
2. Use a steamer to steam the tiny clumps for about 30 minutes.
3. Every 10 minutes during the steaming process stir well to prevent clumping into larger pieces.
4. Couscous can be used immediately or dehydrated for later use.

An excellent and entertaining short video on hand rolling couscous can be found here.

If you purchase couscous at the grocery store, be aware that it needs to be labeled whole grain couscous to be a whole grain otherwise you will be getting couscous made from refined semolina.

Couscous is a wonderful example of what I like to call “slow food fast”.

Since the steaming process has already cooked the couscous, if you are starting with dried couscous, it simply needs to be rehydrated prior to eating.

1. Use a 1 to 1 ratio of boiling water to couscous with a pinch of salt.
2. Pour the water over the couscous. cover and let rehydrate 5 to 10 minutes depending on the coarseness of the couscous.
3. Fluff couscous prior to serving.

Uses

Couscous is delicious as a side dish for winter stews or as the base for a summer tabouleh.

Fermented Semolina

An interesting and healthy thick beverage called boza can be made by fermenting toasted semolina flour with water and sweetening it.

A detailed recipe for making boza with a sourdough starter can be found here.

To make a whole-food, plant-based variant substitute with a more nutritious sweetener such as maple syrup or coconut sugar.

Uses

Boza is often used for its healing properties, especially when trying to fight off colds.

Where to Buy Durum Wheat

Whole durum wheat based products such as pasta, bulgur and semolina can often be found in local grocery stores.

Whole durum wheat is not typically found in grocery stores but it can be purchased online.

This post provides a list of online sources of whole grains, including durum.

Many of the online vendors sell both the flour and the whole grain in budget friendly bulk quantities.

If you have a way of milling grains, as discussed in this post, a world of healthy culinary possibilities opens up.

Conclusion

It is my hope that this post on durum wheat has expanded your knowledge of this amazing ancient grain and will inspire you to try preparing it in new delicious ways.

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