How to make bulgur wheat at home; a par-boiled, dried, and cracked wheat that is perfect for making tabbouleh, using instead of rice or couscous, and within Middle-Eastern/Mediterranean cuisine!
Transfer the wheat to a large bowl with enough cold water to cover it by 2-inches. Leave it to soak overnight.Quick soak method: Alternatively, you can use boiling water and leave it to soak for around 2-3 hours.
Step 2: Cook the wheat
Cook the wheat berries until al dente. To do this, combine the wheat and enough water to cover them with at least an inch of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer for between 60-80 minutes. The wheat is ready when it breaks down when pressed between your finger and thumb.
Step 3: Leave it to dry
There are three ways to leave the wheat to dry: air-drying, in the oven, or using a dehydrator.To air-dry, spread the wheat in a single layer across a large tray (or multiple trays if needed). Then leave until fully dry. This method is best done in warm/dry climates and can take up to 2 days to fully dry.Alternatively, you can spread them across dehydrator trays oroven trays and dehydrate at 100 ºF/40 ºC (if your oven goes that low) until fully dried - which should only take a few hours.Lastly, you could spread them across baking trays in the oven at 200 ºF/95 ºC until they are dried enough to "crack" easily - this is usually between 1-2 hours.
Step 4: Grind the wheat
You can either use a blender, grain mill, spice grinder, or even a ziplock bag and a rolling pin to crack the wheat. The amount you grind them for will impact their coarseness.I recommend doing this in small batches so you don’t over-blend/process the grains closest to the blade. When using a spice grinder, I recommend using it for 20-30 seconds, shaking a little. For a high-speed blender, pulse and shake the jug to more evenly grind the wheat.
Sift/sieve the mixture to separate the different coarseness of the bulgur wheat. First, use a fine-mesh sieve to first strain the "floury" consistency (this can be used as superfine/fine bulgur for puddings, etc.).Then use a sieve with slightly larger holes to sift once more. The sifted bulgur will be a "medium coarseness" bulgur. The remaining unsifted bulgur wheat will be a combination of coarse/extra-coarse.
How to Store
Store the bulgur wheat in an airtight container in a cool, dry location for up to 6 months (it should last more than 12 months, but I try to use each batch within 6). You can also freeze it for several years!Cooked bulgur: if you decide to cook the bulgur (method in the FAQs), you can store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or within the freezer for 10-12 months.
Notes
Be careful not to overprocess the wheat: otherwise, you’ll end up with a ton of very fine particles and not enough medium/coarse ones.
Grind in batches: this is important for avoiding over-griding and making the grinding process easier to control.
Don't skip sieving: if you don't sieve, you'll find that the very fine/fine particles will become a paste-consistency in the time it takes to cook the largest pieces (which won't cook fully with the soak method).
Check the FAQs section in the blog post for more helpful tips and info!