From our fields to your kitchen
Our Grains
Four wheats. Different flavors, textures, and possibilities for your kitchen.
Get to know spelt, einkorn, emmer, and hard red winter wheat—whether you’re milling your own flour, baking a loaf, or cooking a pot of whole grains.
A little perspective
How old is “ancient”?
There is no official definition of “ancient grain.” Einkorn, emmer, and spelt are commonly grouped under that name, but they have different histories. Modern bread wheats also have ancient ancestors. The dates below describe domestication, ancestry, or documented cultivation—not the age of the seed varieties on our farm.
Five wheats, with different kinds of history
Wheat
Historical perspective
Kitchen starting point
Einkorn
Domesticated about 10,000 years ago
Recipes specifically written for einkorn
Spelt
Domesticated roughly 10,000 years ago
Cooked berries, pasta, flatbreads
Emmer
Established in parts of Europe by about 2300 BC; earlier origins are complex
Muffins, pancakes, spelt breads
Hard red winter
Ancient bread-wheat ancestry; Turkey Red’s Kansas story dates to 1874
Yeast breads and rolls
Soft red winter
Ancient bread-wheat ancestry; a crop class, not a single ancient variety
Cookies, cakes, pastries
Spelt
A nutty, gently sweet wheat that makes a good introduction to baking with ancient grains.
Thousands of years in the making
Spelt was regularly cultivated in parts of Europe by about 2300 BCE—more than 4,000 years ago—and became an important Bronze Age crop. That is evidence of established cultivation, not a precise birthday: earlier finds and its origins remain subjects of research.
Its family history is more complicated than a simple progression from “old wheat” to “new wheat.” Genomic research supports European spelt arising through crosses between early bread wheat and domesticated emmer. It is closely related to common bread wheat, and both have six sets of chromosomes.
Spelt is a hulled wheat: the grain remains enclosed in a tough husk after threshing and needs an extra dehulling step before food use. Removing that husk does not make the kernel refined; the edible bran can remain intact
History: Archaeological evidenceSpelt genomic researchPenn State grain guide
In the kitchen
- Try it in
- Pancakes, muffins, quick breads, and recipes developed for spelt bread.
- Baking notes
- Spelt’s gluten is delicate. Handle the dough gently, and expect a different rise and texture from conventional bread flour.
- A place to start
- Choose a spelt muffin or pancake recipe before adapting your favorite sandwich loaf.
Einkorn
A small-kernel wheat with a mild sweetness. Its flour offers a different baking experience from modern bread wheat.
Among the first farmed wheats
Einkorn was domesticated around 10,000 years ago, roughly 8000 BCE, in the Fertile Crescent of Southwest Asia. Research points to southeastern Turkey as an important part of that story. It helped support the transition from gathering wild foods to growing crops.
One crucial change was how the plant held its seeds. Wild einkorn’s seed-bearing stem breaks apart readily, scattering the grain. Domesticated einkorn holds together, making harvesting easier. Selection for useful traits was already changing wheat long before modern breeding.
Einkorn has two sets of chromosomes, compared with four in emmer and six in common bread wheat. That describes their genetics; it is not a ranking of nutritional quality or gluten safety. Einkorn also retains a husk that must be removed before the grain is ready for food.
History and grain structure: Einkorn genome study, NaturePenn State grain guide
In the kitchen
- Try it in
- Einkorn recipes for breads, pasta, and everyday baking; cook the berries as a whole grain.
- Baking notes
- Use a recipe written for einkorn rather than assuming a one-for-one flour swap. Its weaker gluten structure makes proofing especially important in bread.
- A place to start
- Follow an einkorn-specific recipe, including its flour type, water quantity, and proofing instructions.
More guidance: Jovial’s einkorn FAQsEinkorn bread recipeGrain characteristics
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Emmer
A richly nutty wheat whose cooked berries bring a satisfying chew to a meal.
A grain from the beginnings of agriculture
Emmer’s domestication reaches back roughly 10,000 years in the Fertile Crescent. It was one of the early crops grown as farming developed in Southwest Asia. The dates are approximate because domestication was a process across generations and communities, not a single invention.
Recent analysis of ancient grains supports a complex origin involving different wild emmer populations, repeated hybridization, and later exchanges with local wild plants. This is a history of farmers and crops adapting together.
Emmer is a hulled wheat with four sets of chromosomes. It belongs to the wheat group from which durum developed, helping explain its place in pasta-making traditions. It is also often sold as farro, although “farro” can be used for more than one hulled wheat; check the species on the package when following a recipe.
History: Wheat’s early historyAncient emmer researchDurum ancestryPenn State grain guide
In the kitchen
- Try it in
- Grain salads, soups, pilafs, and risotto-style dishes. Use the flour in pasta, flatbreads, and emmer baking recipes.
- Baking notes
- Emmer flour can need different hydration from your usual flour. Start with a tested emmer recipe and adjust to the dough you have.
- A place to start
- Cook the berries until pleasantly tender, then use them as the base of a grain salad.
Cooking and baking guidance: Bluebird Grain FarmsEmmer baking FAQs
Hard Red Winter Wheat
A versatile bread wheat and a familiar part of our farm’s story.
Ancient ancestry, a Kansas chapter
Hard red winter is a market class of common bread wheat, not one ancient variety. Bread wheat’s ancestry reaches back roughly 8,000–9,000 years, when early cultivated wheat and a wild goatgrass combined. The many varieties grown today have their own, much more recent breeding histories.
In Kansas, a defining chapter began in 1874, when Mennonite settlers brought Turkey Red winter wheat from what is now Ukraine. Its success helped establish the state’s hard winter wheat tradition. That history belongs to Kansas wheat broadly; it does not mean every hard red winter crop is the original Turkey Red variety.
The name describes three things: hard kernels, red bran, and a winter growth habit. Winter wheat is usually planted in fall and needs a period of cold to trigger its transition toward flowering. Its strong place in bread baking comes from flour performance, not simply from how much protein appears on a label.
History: Bread wheat ancestryK-State: Turkey Red and KansasWinter wheat’s cold requirement
In the kitchen
- Try it in
- Yeast breads, rolls, flatbreads, and flour blends.
- Baking notes
- Hard red winter wheat is valued for its milling and bread-making performance. Results still depend on the crop, milling, and recipe; whole-wheat flour behaves differently from refined bread flour.
- A place to start
- For whole-grain flour, choose a tested whole-wheat bread recipe that matches how you plan to bake.
Wheat uses: U.S. Wheat Associates
Soft Winter Wheat
A wheat for bakers who want tenderness in cakes, cookies, and pastries. Customer interest has given us a new reason to look at a crop we already have.
The same long ancestry, a different baking role
Like hard red winter, soft red winter belongs to common bread wheat, Triticum aestivum. Its species has an ancestry roughly 8,000–9,000 years old. “Soft red winter” names a modern crop class, however, so it cannot be assigned the age of a single ancient variety.
Soft red winter is especially associated with the eastern third of the United States. Its soft kernels and relatively weak gluten suit a different set of foods from those that need a strong, stretchy bread dough. Millers and bakers value it for cakes, cookies, crackers, and blends.
“Soft” refers to kernel texture. “Red” refers to bran color, and “winter” to the plant’s seasonal growth habit. Soft white wheat is another class with similar pastry uses; it should not be confused with soft red winter.
Background: Common wheat ancestryU.S. Wheat Associates: Soft Red WinterWheat classes
In the kitchen
- Try it in
- Cookies, cakes, crackers, biscuits, and pastry recipes that call for soft-wheat flour.
- Why choose it?
- Its lower protein and weaker gluten generally favor tender baked goods. A tall, chewy yeast loaf usually calls for stronger bread flour.
- Milling matters
- Home-milled whole soft wheat still contains bran and germ. It will not behave exactly like finely milled, refined cake flour, even when both come from soft wheat.
- A place to start
- Try a whole-wheat pastry recipe if milling the whole berry. Match the recipe’s flour type rather than assuming every soft-wheat flour is interchangeable.
Baking uses: U.S. Wheat Associates
Whole berries or flour?
Wheat berries
“Berries” are the edible wheat kernels. Cook them for meals or grind them in a grain mill to make flour at home. Whole kernels retain the bran, germ, and endosperm.
Flour
Flour is grain that has been milled. Whole-grain flour keeps all three parts of the kernel in their original proportions. Refined flour has much of the bran and germ removed, so the milling matters as well as the wheat variety.
Questions from the market
Know your wheat
Is dehulling the same as refining flour?
No. Spelt, einkorn, and emmer have a protective husk that must be removed before eating or milling. The bran is a different layer, part of the edible kernel. Dehulled berries can still be whole grain; removing bran and germ during refining changes that.
Cereals & Grains Association: Hulled wheatsWhole-grain definition
Does older automatically mean healthier?
A grain’s age alone does not establish a health advantage. Whole-grain content, the finished food, and dietary variety matter. Ancient grains offer interesting flavors and choices; modern whole wheats also belong in the whole-grain family.
Are any of these gluten-free?
No. Spelt, einkorn, emmer, hard red winter wheat, and soft winter wheat are all wheats and contain gluten. They are not suitable for a gluten-free diet for celiac disease. “Ancient” does not mean gluten-free.
Does “ancient grain” mean non-GMO?
Those terms describe different things. Ancient grain refers to a grain’s history; non-GMO describes how a crop was developed. Traditional selection and crossbreeding differ from genetic engineering. A grain’s name alone doesn’t verify a particular seed lot or product’s non-GMO status.
What should I look for when comparing flours?
Look at the wheat variety, whether the flour is whole-grain or refined, and the ingredients on the label. Milling changes grain into flour; it does not automatically remove the bran and germ. These details tell you more about the flour you’re buying than the word “ancient” alone.
Can I swap these flours in my usual bread recipe?
Expect to adjust your method. Spelt and einkorn doughs do not handle like conventional bread-wheat doughs. A recipe written for your grain—and for whole-grain or refined flour, as appropriate—is a useful first step.