Sunday, January 19, 2014

The Difference Between Raw and Toasted Buckwheat

Yesterday, I stayed by my friend, H, who runs a gluten free, dairy free, processed food free household, just as I do. She was proud of herself for making buckwheat granola bars (she didn't use my recipe for buckwheat granola bars, but another, similar one) and she loved the taste, but complained that they really were hard to eat, made her feel like she was breaking her teeth.
I tasted the bars, and immediately felt I knew why they were rock hard.

"Did you use toasted buckwheat, or raw buckwheat?"
"I used raw buckwheat groats."
"Are you sure? Can I see them?"

H showed me the package of buckwheat she used, and sure enough, what she had was toasted buckwheat, not the raw buckwheat that is called for in recipes like buckwheat granola bars. H was surprised- "But I didn't toast these- doesn't buckwheat groats mean they're raw?"

Absolutely not.

This is definitely not the first time I've had friends attempting to make a recipe that called for raw buckwheat, and they used toasted buckwheat, and were very disappointed by the results.

So, here is the difference.


Raw buckwheat is a very light tan, slightly greenish pseudo-grain that is sort of pyramid shaped. When you bite one straight out of the package, it'll crumble in your mouth very easily- it's sort of powdery and soft.
It has a very mild taste, pretty agreeable to most... and has a lot of starches in it, that mimic gluten, to the extent that, when ground and used as flour, it often doesn't need xanthan gum to hold it together like other gluten free flours do.
You can take these raw buckwheat groats and toast them in a skillet without oil for a few minutes, and then they'll harden up a bit, and they'll get to be the texture of ground nuts- with a slight crunch, but not too hard.
I use raw buckwheat groats for making porridge all the time instead of oatmeal- it tastes great and has a wonderful texture... I also use them in place of barley in soups and stews.
You can also sprout them for use in salads raw.
You can eat raw buckwheat without boiling, as they are definitely soft enough.
See here for a picture of raw buckwheat groats.

Toasted buckwheat groats, on the other hand, are much different. They are also known as kasha.
They are a definite brown- don't look greenish at all, but may be a lighter or darker brown, depending. They may even be closer to tan, but if they don't look somewhat greenish, they're toasted.
I rarely use kasha in recipes, as I find it much less versatile. First of all, in terms of flavor, they have a slight burnt taste to them, but even if they didn't taste burnt, they have a very strong flavor. When I am newly pregnant, I cannot stand the taste of kasha nor even the smell of it. The rest of the time, I don't mind it, but it isn't my favorite flavor. Lots of people hate the taste of kasha, and while I don't, I can certainly see why some would hate it.
They also make buckwheat flour from kasha- its generally just labeled "buckwheat flour", and like kasha, has a really strong flavor. I haven't seen raw buckwheat flour being sold in the store- I grind my own from green buckwheat, but regular buckwheat flour does not hold together like raw buckwheat flour does, as its starches are already cooked....
If you'd try to take a bite of raw toasted buckwheat aka kasha, you'd feel like you were breaking your teeth.
In order to use kasha, you need to boil it in water or broth until soft. Some people cook it, and eat it with milk and sugar for a breakfast cereal. I tried it- wasn't a big fan.
See here for a picture of toasted buckwheat groats.

In short... if you see a recipe on my blog that calls for untoasted buckwheat groats, or raw buckwheat, or raw buckwheat flour, you need it to be made with the green/light tan buckwheat.
If you want to make porridge or granola bars or chocolates with buckwheat, or anything of the sort- if your recipe doesn't call for boiling the buckwheat in water, you want the green buckwheat.

If you tried a buckwheat recipe and it simply didn't come out as you'd hoped for- either it tasted bad or the texture was problematic... there is a very good chance that you used the wrong type of buckwheat- most likely you used kasha/toasted buckwheat instead of the light green/tan untoasted buckwheat.
I don't find this type of buckwheat in the regular grocery store- I either buy it in bulk, or get it from the health food store.

I hope this clarifies a few things!

Have you ever made recipes with buckwheat? Toasted or untoasted? Did you know about the difference? Do you think this post will help you in the future, so you don't flop recipes? Have you ever used the wrong buckwheat in a recipe, and wondered why it didn't come out right? What types of things do you generally make with buckwheat?

45 comments:

  1. I buy Bob's Red Mill organic buckwheat groats. Are they toasted?? I am "assuming" they are because they are not green at all. Where do you find untoasted buckwheat groats and what company makes them??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think Bob's Red Mill are raw. They make a separate product labeled Kasha that they specifically call out as being roasted buckwheat.

      Delete
    2. How do you store it? I keep mine in the freezer.

      Delete
    3. Great information here; I am severely gluten intolerant and have really liked the bread I made with raw buckwheat groats, ground in our Wondermill. It's better than sorghum, and white rice flour has virtually no nutrients. For long term storage, I'm going to pack mine in Mylar with an oxygen absorber. Just bought some toasted buckwheat; I'll try both cereal and grinding it for baking.

      Delete
  2. I but raw buckwheat and grind it myself also - I mostly use it for pancakes and waffles, instead of regular wheat. My husband is mildly gluten-intolerant. I grind the buckwheat the night before and soak the flour in buttermilk. Makes it nice and mild for him and all my kids love it, too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hello, I am new to the healthy holistic non processed diet thing, and was wondering if you can eat the groats without soaking them, like sprinkling them directly on the salad or into chia pudding for extra crunch. Is soaking and drying absolutely essential?

    ReplyDelete
  4. its very easy to see if it is raw or toasted buckwheat - raw has whitish-greenish colour, while toasted has very distinctive brown colour: raw (white) buckwheat groats are soft, while brown (toasted) groats are hard. If you see on the shelf buckwheat, and it has brown colour, then it is toasted buckwheat.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'd like to try using buckwheat instead of whole, rolled oats in my granola recipe. If I use raw buckwheat, then add oil & honey to all dry ingredients and roast for 45 minutes, will it render the buckwheat too hard to eat?
    Thanks,
    Eliza

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Honey should never be heated as it will become toxic

      Delete
    2. Do not understand how heating honey makes it toxic unless it is commercial honey with with HFCS added. Please explain.
      A long time beekeeper

      Delete
    3. Not toxic as in poisonous but rather like sugar (think inflammation and oxidation).

      Heating as in any cooking over 120 - 140 degrees (depending on source but generally believed 120 degrees) kills and changes the substance on a cellular level.

      With honey it kills the anti-microbial properties and also turns into more of a sugary based liquid like HFCS.

      Delete
    4. no it will come out delightful. please ignore this person about honey not being able to cooked at higher temps. they're obviously a strict raw foodist. cook your honey to your desire!

      Delete
    5. This is total JUNK and NONSENSE. I had to log in to reply. Heating honey is done routinely by commercial handlers. They heat the honey just at the temperature enough to pasteurize it, which kills the the good stuff in it (.....and maybe some bad stuff, which is likely exception, since raw honey has anti-bacterial properties and you can use real raw honey to as treatment for bad wounds..unless of course you have allergy to pollen and bee venom.......) but most importantly it changes the chemical properties of honey and it becomes liquid for longer period of time (..... thus the claim "no sugar added honey", OKay, but they don't tell you it's HEATED.....).

      Heating honey is done routinely. Do you know why? There have been studies done by the way - people do not buy honey that is turned to SUGAR (which is natural process of honey and honey that turns to sugar is a natural unadulterated honey which is good for you... but go figure, people just don't like the sugary look and also because you need to use a spoon to dig it out.... yammy, right?, if you are somewhere in a restaurant, go dig deep into your honey).

      So don't post here total nonsense because I believe these guys are spamming messages here are not beekeepers but honey sellers. And that's a big difference.

      Honey that is overheated (likely by people who don't know how to handle honey, or by uncaring sellers of honey) has its properties destroyed and becomes not more than sugar syrup with one important distinction, because over-heated honey looses it's anti-bacterial properties and it's structure (think how much water is in honey), it no longer can stay preserved for long period of time and it can go bad.

      Natural unheated, unadulterated honey can last for many years. Just think of the honey they discovered in Egyptian tombs. While it wasn't eatable anymore, it was preserved thanks to unique properties of honey.

      The fact our bees are going nuts and bastardized because of pesticides, pollution, etc. is another story. The mass-production of honey does influence quality of honey.

      Delete
    6. tHANK YOU for that valuable info on honey, as I eat as natural as possible & the heat does make a difference, even with Miso!

      Delete
  6. I'd like to try substituting buckwheat for the whole, rolled oats in my granola recipe. If I use raw buckwheat, then add oil & honey to all the dry ingredients and roast that for 45 minutes, will it render the buckwheat too hard to eat?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I sprinkle raw buckwheat on my protein cookies before baking. They come out nice and soft/chewy.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am new to buckwheat and did not know the difference x raw and kasha. I made a nice cereal, but ended up giving it to the chickens due to the out shell. Can I remove the outer hull by soaking, or are my chickens going to continue to enjoy this treat?

    ReplyDelete
  9. I like toasted better, green one is disgusting taste. saying that, everybody has own opinion, right?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. THANK YOU! that's exactly what I thought! I originally come from a country where people eat buckwheat every day, sometimes even several times a day :)

      When I eat raw buckwheat I feel like I'm a barnyard animal. Toasted buckwheat tastes real nutty and flavorful whereas I find raw buckwheat to be absolutely tasteless.

      Delete
    2. I just discovered kasha, toasted buckwheat, and really like it! Not tried the raw yet...

      Delete
  10. Swanson stocks a very nice raw buckwheat. I was actually looking for kasha for a classic dish and bought the raw one instead. Soooo I just gently roasted/toasted in a skillet, very low for about 15 mintues.. voila! Kasha!

    ReplyDelete
  11. What machine do you have to grind your buckwheat - and do you also grind wheat, spelt, and things like that?

    ReplyDelete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  13. hello, roasted buckwheat isn't Kasha. Kasha or Kash is a Russian word for porridge and can be made from any type of grain. I am married to a Russian woman and we eat quite a bit of roasted buckwheat, usually as a replacement for rice or potatoes. It can be boiled the same way as rice and when incorporated into a stew takes on the flavour of the whole but gives the meal a unique texture.

    Roasted buckwheat does have distinct advantages over raw buckwheat in that it stores longer and can be stored in a sealed container in the cupboard. My wife stores it like any other bulk grain.

    The first time I had roasted buckwheat was in combination with liver cooked in a tomato base. Knowing what it was - it turned my stomach, but since it was cooked (by then my new wife) I smiled and ate it. Wow! It was fantastic and I have never turned down roasted buckwheat again!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow! You were okay with eating Organ liver and buckwheat turned you off!?! LMAO!!

      Delete
    2. I used raw buckwheat powder for over one year . I made pan cake with it. The raw buckwheat is very hard to digest. They just form a hard jelly in the stomach and stay in the stomach for a long time. Good thing, you do not get hungry easily . Bad thing, you develop serious stomach issues on the long run.
      I switched to toasted buckwheat. It is way easily digestible.
      No wonder, most of the buckwheat or buckwheat powder from Russia or China is toasted. Buckwheat has been one of their main grains and they know better.

      Delete
  14. Is it OK to use the flour made from raw buckwheat in raw recipes? The examples you mentioned all involve cooking afterwards.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Can someone tell me if I need to wash the groats before I eat them? I want to just add a handful to my protein drink every day.

    ReplyDelete
  16. i love buckwheat flour pancakes, and lately ive been adding a generous shake of coconut flour. yummmmm it makes them so light. with almond milk, 1 egg, cinnamon, allspice, coconut oil. fulljoy

    ReplyDelete
  17. Your link to the pic of toasted groats takes you to realsimpleDOTcom page full of ads but no pic of groats.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just had that same experience, VERY disappointing! Glad to know it was not just me, but still disappointed.

      Delete
    2. I just had the same experience with the ads on the link to toasted groats! Glad to know I was not the only one!

      Delete
    3. Sorry, this is an old post and the link died. I updated it to a new picture that should work.

      Delete
  18. Hey! It's like good snack to eat, I made use of this excellent tip :)

    ReplyDelete
  19. I mill my own flour for the breads I make. I've used both raw and toasted buckwheat and prefer the nutty aromatic qualities of toasted buckwheat. It also adds a nice dark color to the bread. The raw buckwheat wasn't doing enough in my breads.

    ReplyDelete
  20. If you cook toasted buckwheat (kasha) in a rice cooker it comes out a bit like mashed potatoes. Good with salt and pepper and coconut oil or butter.

    ReplyDelete
  21. If you cook toasted buckwheat (kasha) in a rice cooker it comes out a bit like mashed potatoes. Good with salt and pepper and coconut oil or butter.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Kasha is any grain cooked into a porridge like consistency. It is a Russian word for cooked grain cereal that's consumed hot. Buckwheat kasha is sometimes made with meat and onions.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I have a question. I make a sauerkraut/buckwheat groat pierogi. I have generally been using a roasted buckwheat groat but I find that sometimes they are too crunchy. Do you think if I used the raw they would taste better. Been using roasted for 47 years now. Would it change the flavor also? The recipe calls for cooking in water and then baking to dry out. Then bake again with onions, sauerkraut and butter. Thanks for any suggestions. Ginny

    ReplyDelete
  24. I tried to cook raw buckwheat. The taste is a bit bland
    I love roasted buckwheat! I eat it everyday as a hot meal kasha from here https://www.baybuckwheat.co.nz

    ReplyDelete
  25. Thank you for this explanation- it helped me understand the difference!

    ReplyDelete
  26. I wish you would have shown photos of toasted vs raw buckwheat . I’m still not sure if I have toasted or not

    ReplyDelete
  27. A common foreigner's mistake: Kasha in Russian means something like porridge. The grilled buckwheat is called Greïtshka. Once cooked with water the dish is Kasha. But Kasha can be made with oats or others.

    ReplyDelete
  28. The occasional issue with buckwheat is there are from time to time small sand or small stones in it and they are not easy to fish out. So instead of having to bite it, I opted for cooking it completely soft so there is no need to bite because it happened a few times I almost broke my teeth. I source buckwheat from different places and no matter where they come from there will be some sand particles from time to time. It's rare, but when it happens you know it ;)

    Anyhow, the post is not about cooking hard or soft. The reason Buckwheat is a darling of the food industry is because it contains decent amount of lutein (for eyes) but most importantly rutin (powerful antioxidant). In fact buckwheat is one of few commercially viable sources for rutin and therefore Rutin extract doesn't come cheap. Rutin is extracted mostly from buckwheat flour (now you know why it's best to grind your own buckwheat floor (see the author of the original blog article makes her own ; Ifor example using a blender machine). If you get one from nutrition store, almost almost always it will be without rutin because that has been extracted into pills which you can buy for extra $$$. Now the second source of rutin extraction is buckwheat grains. Yes, the ones you see in store that are roasted, could possible (not necessarily) been subject to rutin extraction (using high pressure hot steam apparently, but other non-destructive methods are being researched as well using ultrasound etc). So there is a chance the toasted / roasted buckwheat is ruin-deprived. Now that's not all to rutin dilemma. Boiling rutin can also lower the content of rutin, however, some studies contradict that if cooking is done at temperatures up to 100C. Toasting on the other hand, can decrease amount of rutin but it can lock the amount or rutin if toasting is done right (as long as rutin is not extracted in the process). However, what is certain is sprouted buckwheat has significantly increased content of rutin about 24 hours after sprouting (sprouting takes about 2 days). So there we go, it's all buckweat science and rutin is one of the phytochemicals you get absolutely for free and it has amazing properties for your health.

    Out of all miracle grains such as chia, amaranth, millet, quinoa etc.. buckwheat is probably by far the most ecologically sustainable, has a high yield and ... since we talk about honey in this thread .. not to mention the amazing dark thick and aromatic buckwheat honey it generates thanks to bees that really like buckwheat flowers nectar.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Thank you to all for fascinating information. I have bought roasted buckwheat groats, but reading what Unknown said about rutin extraction makes me want to switch to unroasted and then I'll roast it myself.
    I have used roasted buckwheat groats, ground up by my blender into a powder, to replace oats in my favorite meatloaf recipe, and it was very successful -- delicious and super moist meatloaf. I tried to add the whole roasted kernels, which was much less successful. I enjoyed the flavors the roasted buckwheat added -- not particularly noticeable except for a deeply rich flavor -- the best addition to my meatloaf yet.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for leaving a comment on your blog. Comments are moderated- please be patient to allow time for them to go through. Opposing opinions are permitted, discussion and disagreements are encouraged, but nasty comments for the sole purpose of being nasty without constructive criticisms will be deleted.
Just a note- I take my privacy seriously, and comments giving away my location or religion are automatically deleted too.