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Emmer: How Healthy is The Ancient Grain?

The ancient grain emmer is currently experiencing a comeback. It’s not just better for the environment. Products from it are also healthier. To what extent, you will find out in this article.

What is emmer?

Wheat, barley, maize, rapeseed and rye: these five crops dominate 75 percent of arable land in Germany. There is hardly any room left for old types of grain, such as emmer, mainly for reasons of yield. Although emmer belongs botanically to the wheat genus, it is quite different from its modern “descendant”.

Zweikorn, as emmer is also called, was already cultivated 11,000 years before Christ. Long forgotten, more and more farmers are rediscovering the old grain variety. The reason is not only the increasing regional and health awareness of consumers. Emmer also needs less fertilizer than today’s wheat and thus protects water and soil.

Emmer is particularly suitable for the production of bread and beer. Emmer grains are also suitable for soups, stews or vegetable patties.

What distinguishes the ancient grain emmer?

The grain is up to 1.50 meters high and thus grows higher than today’s wheat or rye. He has two grains per ear. These are surrounded by so-called husks – a shell that protects the grain from harmful external environmental influences such as pollution from the air or from diseases. Modern high-yield wheat has had its husks bred away, so the use of pesticides is necessary. The reason for new breeds is obvious: removing the husks means another work step that causes costs. Mills that process emmer must accept the need to remove the husks.

Other features:
Ear colors: red, black and white emmer
Different varieties: Ramses, Roter Heidfelder, Späth’s Albjuwel
Cultivation area: Emmer gets along well with a low supply of nutrients, even on poor and dry soil, and is usually cultivated in the vicinity of a few innovative mills.
Endangerment: The grain can be found on the Red List of Endangered Native Crops.

Why is emmer healthy?

Due to the high protein and protein content and the many minerals, processed emmer is significantly healthier than light wheat flour. It also contains zinc, iron, magnesium and vitamin E. This is a cell protection vitamin and protects blood vessels, for example. Whether it also has a preventive effect against cancer is discussed, but has not yet been scientifically proven.

According to the German Celiac Society, one in every 1,000 people in Germany suffers from celiac disease, i.e. gluten intolerance. Those affected are allergic to gluten, a protein contained in cereals. What may come as a surprise, however, is that, contrary to popular belief, ancient grains, including emmer, contain more gluten than modern wheat.

According to the Stuttgart University of Hohenheim, however, there is a possibility that people with celiac disease can still enjoy old grain worries, such as emmer, in bread. The key therefore lies in the gluten structure, which differs from that of wheat and a traditional baking method. “The dough is prepared with sourdough and left with sufficient rest and maturing times between the individual work steps, we speak of a ‘long dough process’,” explains Tobias Pfaff, head of the baker’s technical school in Stuttgart.

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Emmer: Interesting Facts About Ancient Grain

Emmer is one of the oldest types of grain in the world. The ancestor of our modern wheat is rich in nutrients and tastes spicy and nutty. Here you can find out why you should try Emmer.

What is emmer?

Emmer (also Zweikorn) is one of the oldest cultivated cereals in the world, along with Einkorn. Almost 10,000 years ago, the ancient grain was cultivated in the region of the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East. The grain is an ancestor of today’s wheat.

Later, emmer also came to Europe: In Rome, Julius Caesar developed a taste for the grain – under him the ancient grain became one of the most important staple foods. As higher-yielding varieties became known, emmer was increasingly pushed out of European fields.

In contrast to einkorn, emmer grows two grains per spikelet – hence the name “two-grain”.

Emmer cultivation: entirely without sprays

Along with einkorn, spelled and kamut, emmer is one of the four ancient grain varieties. The healthy grain belongs to the “wheat” genus and is very similar to our current durum wheat. Both grow tall and develop very hard grains.

Emmer is mainly grown in organic farming, because: It doesn’t need any pesticides! The ancient grain is naturally resistant to pests, fungal attack and negative environmental influences. The reason for this is the husk: each grain of husked grain is surrounded by a solid shell that protects the grain in the field and makes it easier to store.

Unlike modern wheat, emmer also thrives in lean, nutrient-poor fields. As a result, its cultivation protects the soil and contributes to ecological diversity. Emmer is therefore extremely frugal to grow – according to the Initiative Urgetreide, however, the yield is significantly lower than that of modern wheat. While the highly cultivated wheat yields eight tons of grain per hectare, Emmer only has two to four tons. In addition, the husk has to be removed in an additional step before the grains can be processed further.

Black Emmer – A special variety

The slightly higher-yielding black emmer developed naturally from emmer. The grains have a black color that protects the grain from UV light. This makes black emmer one of the most resilient types of grain there is. In the course of climate change, however, the UV-resistant ancient grain could soon gain in importance.

Emmer: properties and use

Emmer is available as a whole grain, flakes, grist or as flour in the organic market or health food store. Emmer grains have a hearty and nutty taste. If you bake bread from them, it gets a dark color. In addition, beer is brewed from the Urkorn.

If you cook the whole grains, you can also use them as a side dish in soups, casseroles, or salads. The minestra di farro is traditionally cooked with emmer – this Tuscan soup used to be served mainly to soldiers.

In Germany, emmer is mainly used to make bread. However, pure emmer bread is hard to find, as the grain is less sticky than wheat. Therefore, flour mixtures are often used for the bread. Because it is very similar to durum wheat, emmer is also ideal for pasta. Due to the hard grain, the pasta remains al dente after cooking.

As the ancestor of wheat, emmer also contains gluten. Urkorn is therefore not an alternative for people who suffer from gluten intolerance. However, the gluten in Emmer is structured differently – people with a mild gluten intolerance can often eat it without any problems. Information about gluten-free flour can be found here.

What makes Emmer so healthy?

Emmer contains many valuable ingredients: Because of the many minerals it contains and the high protein content, the original grain is much healthier than white wheat flour. Here is a brief overview of the nutritional values per 100 g:
Calories: 325g
Carbohydrates: 62 g
Protein: 13 g
Fiber: 9 g
Fat: 2.7g
With around 13 g of protein per 100 g, emmer contains about twice as much protein as wheat. Your body not only needs this to build muscle, but it also keeps you full for a long time. Emmer also scores with a lot of zinc, iron and vitamin E. The carotenoids it contains preserve the eyesight. Overall, the nutrients in emmer are similar to those in spelled.

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Emmer Flour: You Can Use It For This

Emmer flour is an ancient grain flour with a strong, nutty taste. Not only can you use it to bake bread and rolls, you can also use it in other areas. We present you with various ideas.

Emmer is one of the oldest ancient grains and is considered the forerunner of today’s wheat. After higher-yield types of grain had long supplanted the emmer, today it is once again being appreciated. On the one hand, this is due to its aromatic taste, on the other hand, emmer flour contains numerous healthy nutrients. In particular, it is very rich in protein and provides important minerals such as zinc, iron and magnesium.

In the kitchen you can use the flavor characteristics of emmer in many ways – not only for baking bread, but also for cakes or pasta, for example. We give you an overview of the possible uses of emmer flour and present a simple recipe for emmer spelled bread.

Whether wheat, spelt or emmer: Flour is best bought in organic quality and from regional suppliers. Organic flour comes from ecologically sustainable agriculture and is therefore not treated with chemical-synthetic pesticides. If you use regionally produced products for cooking and baking, you also save on unnecessary transport routes and know exactly where your food comes from.

Incidentally, because emmer is less productive than other varieties when cultivated, conventional emmer flour is rare. That’s why most of the flour comes from organic farming anyway. To be on the safe side, look out for an organic seal.

Emmer Flour: Nutty basis for breads

Emmer flour provides a good basis for bread or rolls with a hearty, spicy taste. You can either use pure emmer flour for baking bread or combine it with other types of flour to form a mixed dough. In terms of taste, emmer flour and spelled flour go particularly well together.

Mixtures have the advantage that the ingredients bind better to form a dough – pure emmer flour does not stick as well as, for example, wheat flour. Doughs made from pure emmer flour therefore have a slightly softer consistency, but can still be processed.

In most wheat or spelled-based bread recipes, you can simply substitute the same amount of emmer flour for the amount of wheat or spelled flour. In this case, however, it is best to add water or milk carefully and gradually: If you change the type of flour, you may need a little more or less liquid than in the original recipe. Depending on the consistency of the resulting dough.

Recipe: mixed bread with spelled and emmer flour

Ingredients:

300 g emmer flour
250 g spelled flour (type 630)
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
2 teaspoons bread spice
20 g fresh yeast
200 ml lukewarm water
130 ml cow’s milk or plant milk
flour for sprinkling

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix the emmer and spelled flour with the sugar, salt, and bread spices.
Make a well in the middle of the mixture and crumble in the yeast. Then add the water and milk to the well and stir in the yeast until dissolved.
Knead all ingredients with the dough hook of the hand mixer to a smooth dough. Cover the bowl with a kitchen towel and let the dough rise for an hour.
Sprinkle a work surface with some flour and knead the dough well again with your hands. Then shape it into a ball.
Line a baking sheet with baking paper (or a sustainable baking paper substitute). Place the ball of dough on the baking sheet and cover with a kitchen towel. Let the dough rise again for an hour.
Cut the emmer spelled bread in a diamond shape and brush generously with water. Then bake it at 200 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Emmer flour: not only suitable for bread

You can not only use emmer flour for baking bread. Its nutty taste also lends an interesting note to sweet baked goods and goes well with spices such as cinnamon, anise or fennel seeds. This means that emmer flour is also suitable, for example, as a basis for Christmas cakes.

The strong emmer aroma goes particularly well with apples. In apple pie recipes, it is therefore worth replacing part of the flour with emmer flour. As with baking bread, you can usually do this in a 1:1 ratio. For example, try the following recipes with emmer flour for a change:

Apple pie with shortcrust pastry
Covered apple pie from the tin
Vegan apple pie

You can also make pasta dough partially or completely with emmer flour. Because emmer grains are a bit firmer than wheat grains, the pasta gets not only a strong wholemeal flavor but also an additional bite when you prepare it al dente.

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