Easily Process Rye To Flour

To process Rye into flour you first have to have Rye. You can find out how to do that Here. Once you have your Rye, you must harvest the Rye seed. The seed is at the top of the plant in the spikelets of the plant. You can harvest this in a few ways: you can use a sickle, scythe or any sharp object to cut it just below the head, you can use a sickle, scythe or any sharp object to cut it just above the roots or if you only want a few seeds to snack on, you can apply a little pressure to a spikelet and a seed or two will pop out. If you decide to cut it at the root you can use the straw to make a variety of things, like Bedding, Saltpeter (How to make Saltpeter) or you could also feed it to livestock.

Cutting it low to the ground also makes a good handle for the collected Rye. Having the stem still attached to the seed heads allows you to tie the Rye into convenient bundles for transport out of your garden. Whichever collection method you use, you want always want the seed heads of the plant.

Once you have gathered enough spikettes you need to put them in a bucket. Then you need to thresh it. If you still have power, take a rotary stick extension and a drill. If it's SHTF then take a straight stick. Anyway, now you need to whack it a bunch of times. Turn on the drill and move it around or take a stick and stir the grain FAST while hitting the sides. If you are making a large quantity then make a big heap and smash it with; a flail, nunchucks, a large branch or anything else that you can find.

After, you have to separate the chaff from the seed. One way to do that is to winnow it. Find a fan or the wind and pour the bucket into another bucket. Since the seed is heavier than the chaff, the chaff flies away and the seed falls into the bucket. Do this multiple times. After most of the chaff has been separated, pick out the rest by hand. You should now have Rye seed. Now, to turn it into bread

To turn Rye into bread you have to first grind it down. If you still have power you can use a blender or an electric mill. If the power's out you can use a hand mill or some rocks. Grind the seed down until it is a fine powder. You just made flour! Now, you can use this flour to make bread, pancakes or any other type or food that requires flour. (How to make bread)

Article contributed by Jaxon Yon