Wheatgerm, the ingredient

[Blether]

I bought a jar of wheatcrack wheatgerm for a certain project (Kretschmer brand, net wt 12oz, retail ~12 dollars. Really. Alternative sources in Japan most welcome).

I've not used / cooked with the stuff before and a first taste suggested nothing more than Weetabix. What's the difference between wheatgerm & Weetabix ? How is wheatgerm produced - how and at what part of the milling process is it isolated, what other processing does it enjoy, if any ?

Are there any suggested substitutions ? How would Weetabix, bashed up, be ?

Later I'll happily say what the project is, but I'd like to get a bead on wheatgerm by itself first, if you don't mind.

[Mjx]

Wheat germ is a fraction of the wheat grain, and contains oils that keep the toasted form crunchy in liquids; Weetabix is made from the entire wheat grain, and tends to go soggy in milk, so if the portion of the recipe in which you were considering using it contains a significant amount of water, you might be unhappy with the result. On the other hand, if you were thinking of using it as a coating for something that is going to be fried, for example, it might be pretty good.

[Blether]

Thanks, Mjx, that answers my question beautifully. A friend who used to be in the butcher trade back in the UK recommended it to put some crunch into a skinless sausage (a raw-meat sausage for cooking). What you say adds up - I was surprised how soft the wheatgerm is, as sold.

[heidih]

Wheatgerm was all the health craze in the 70's. Often added to baked goods or used to "bread" items to be pan fried. Our family used the Kretschmer brand as well and I liked it sprinkled over plain yogurt with some halved grapes and a drizzle of honey. It added just a hint of nuttiness and was supposedly a health boost. It goes rancid so tightly closed in the fridge was our storage method.

[toolprincess]

I just bought some of this and was considering sprinkling it into smoothies. Is this a good use?

[Blether]

... It goes rancid...

Heidi, thank-you, thank-you. That is a most timely piece of advice: jeez, it even says it in big letters on the lid !

Ziplock'd & freezered.

[AAQuesada]

Think of it as the 'yolk' of the wheat, It's got the fat and most of the micro-nutrients. I guess that would make the bran the egg shell and egg white the endosperm (white wheat flour). Yep, analogy holds up.

[Blether]

... Yep, analogy holds up.

I'm thinking of it as the ball & chain round the ankle of my sausage-life. How to give that sausage extra outer crunch ? I use rusk (well, breadcrumb) already as filler/binder/fat retainer, but that stays soft.

[AAQuesada]

I want to say, just put it in a casing.. but I'm guessing you have a good reason not too. Avoiding pork maybe or just hard to get in Japan?

[Blether]

Ha ! Yes... but it's not a stuffed sausage - think of a breakfast sausage patty, or the sausage in a McDonald's muffin (cough). To answer your questions, the sausage mix includes pork, and I can get skins here, in fact, and I also have in stock a good amount of dry sausage skins that I brought over from the UK.

[AAQuesada]

Why don't you give it texture by giving it a hard sear like on a plancha or black skillet assuming you are going to be doing the cooking.

[andiesenji]

I manage to go through a jar of wheatgerm in about three months or so, sometime more rapidly.

I put a couple of tablespoons in almost every batch of bread dough, quick breads - especially in banana nut and pumpkin and it is "fabbo" in carrot cake. (A friend's favorite term.)

I add it to yogurt along with other dry cereals, also to smoothies. I add it to casseroles that contain beans, other legumes and grains.

I add it to brown rice dishes to "perk" them up a bit and also to soups.

[nibor]

Putting it in a smoothie is very good, and very 70s.

[rarerollingobject]

At the risk of over-porking the equation, crushed fried pork rinds might stay crunchy on the sausage outer without detracting too much from the pork. If they're too hard to find, what about some panko, crushed to slightly smaller flakes than they already come in? I've coated things in crushed sembei rice crackers too, for frying, and the crisp stayed sufficiently crispy.

[Blether]

Is there such a thing as over-porking, RRO ? I must remember to give the OED a call and put in a pre-emptive block. I think I've misled you by being brief before I was clear - this isn't as a coating, it's mixed into the sausage meat.

AAQuesada, the sausage is normally cooked so it crisps up on the outside (being sausage, the meme is "well done", so there's not so much need to cook the

outside quickly. (for the purposes of this thread I'll not open a discussion about 'black' or cast iron in a skillet. My copper-sandwich stainless ones will do everything they can and more, IMO. Dang ! I tried to resist, really I did). I don't even know what a'plancha' is, though I'm guessing 'plank' i.e. griddle.

My going on about it is just girning over price, in which I shouldn't be indulged. I would be interested to know how much wheat germ costs, where you are. Too many products in Japan that are culturally unusual end up being taken as a gouging opportunity, or end up crazy-expensive because they're low-volume - I'm looking at you, oatmeal - and not being familiar with its overseas prices, I can't judge if wheatgerm is one of them.

Sausage aside, I think there's plenty more interesting discussion to be had about wheatgerm. andiesenji, in each case, what do you like about the wheatgerm addition ? Flavour, texture, appearance, nutrition... ?

I'm still interested to hear, too, anything about the process of wheatgerm production. This jar of Kretschmer's says it is indeed 'Toasted'. Each grain looks to me much larger then would be the amount of germ in a single wheat grain. How does it get to this form ? If flour-refining takes out bran & germ, to what degree is each separated in a 65%, 70%, 85% exraction flour ?

[andiesenji]

Sausage aside, I think there's plenty more interesting discussion to be had about wheatgerm. andiesenji, in each case, what do you like about the wheatgerm addition ? Flavour, texture, appearance, nutrition... ?

I like the flavor it adds to bland cereals (oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, Malt O Meal, etc.)

and to rice dishes.

I like the texture it adds to yogurt and smoothies, which I really don't like all that "smooth" - I want some texture.

I have been known to sit with a very small dish of the toasted wheatgerm, eating a banana, dipping the banana into the wheatgerm between bites.

(One of my "sneaky" pleasures.)

I like it sprinkled on top of mac and cheese during the final ten minutes of baking.

I find a lot of ways to use it, which is how I manage to use up a jar more rapidly than most people do.

[AAQuesada]

Blether- My point was to give it a good crust using high heat the way you might with a steak in order to give it texture. I didn't mean to start an equipment battle lol, I'm sure what you have is fine. You can cook a sausage through with out crusting it. Another option would be to use caul fat to wrap them, and then you could add additional flavors before wrapping. I think the pork rind crust upthread is a great one and very creative. Btw, a placha is a griddle with usually a thicker metal than a griddle but pretty much the same thing. Think of the Spanish 'Gambas a la plancha'. Just some ideas..

Re: Wheatgerm, how about making your own Grahm Crackers. This recipe is a good example.

http://www.marthastewart.com/282131/homemade-graham-crackers

Edited March 30, 2011 by AAQuesada (log)

[merstar]

Many years ago, a friend of mine put toasted wheatgerm in scrambled eggs - I thought it sounded strange, but when I tasted it, I really liked it.

[Blether]

AAQuesada' timestamp='1301464547' post='1801641']

Blether- My point was to give it a good crust...

Hi again. Yes, it's possible to cook sausage through without making a crust (or even browning it), of course you're right about that. And of course crusts on meat can be had both quickly with high heat and slowly with lower heat. In the sausage's case the wheatgerm definitely gives more crunch to the crust than browning alone.

Oh on you go, let's have an equipment battle - and I would love to have a source for caul fat, believe me. I agree RRO's pork rind is a great idea. She's good at those.

Andie, thanks for all those uses - now I really want to eat more of the stuff. How much do you pay for it ? Is it comparable to the dollar-an-ounce rate here ?

Edited April 19, 2011 by Blether (log)