Product Profile: Bob’s Red Mill Organic Spelt

Spelt Flour
Rene Featherstone

One of the oldest processed foods, bread is one of the simplest. And those of us who are learning to bake our own at home find it rewarding and challenging.

Bread is simple to make because you really only need a few ingredients: flour, water, salt, and some kind of leavening or yeast. Challenging – and exciting – because every flour combination, every oven, and every baker is different.

Bob’s Red Mill Organic Spelt makes a great tasting bread, whether you like sandwich loaves or traditional artisan rounds, especially when combined with whole wheat and unbleached white flours, flax seed, wheat brand, and/or other grains and seeds.

Spelt is a very old form of wheat that has strong husks enclosing the grain that must be removed by threshing or pounding. René Featherstone and Lena Lentz Hardt grow the spelt for Bob’s Red Mill on Lentz Spelt Farm, in eastern Washington.

Founded in 1978, as a small family-run business selling stone mill-ground whole grains, Bob’s Red Mill, which now offers more than 400 products, is a fine example of a company that has “done well by doing good.” Now 82, Bob Moore, founder with his wife Charlee, has turned the company over to an employee stock ownership program to ensure that the company continues to grow and reflect his values.

Where to Buy

Online: Bob’s Red Mill

Puget Sound: PCC Natural Markets

Nationwide: Whole Foods Market

(Check at your local market for availability.)