Ancient wheat
Khorasan (Kamut®)
Triticum turgidum subsp. turanicum
Tetraploid — revived commercially in the 20th century
In the atlas
The 'grain from King Tut's tomb' story is a beautiful piece of marketing, not archaeology. What is true: a giant, amber, buttery berry from the old Persian world was rescued by a Montana farmer, trademarked as Kamut®, and now sits in bins from Breadtopia to Whole Foods. It is durum's tall, sweet cousin.
Origin. Greater Khorasan — Iran / Afghanistan / Central Asia
Flavor. Butter, mango, sweet corn — the crowd-pleaser ancient grain.
Worth knowing
- Kamut® is a brand for the QK-77 variety grown under organic rules.
- Berries are nearly twice the size of modern wheat.
- High protein, more extensible gluten than durum — lovely for pasta and bread blends.
- Always golden. If your flour is gray, you milled something else.
Flours you can make
| Flour | Extraction | Protein | Gluten | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole-grain flour | 100% | 15.2% | 10% | Everything the berry holds — bran, germ, and endosperm. Mill 1:1 by weight. Use within days, or freeze. |
| High-extraction (85%) | 85% | 14.9% | 10.3% | Sift once through a #30–#40 sieve. Keeps most flavor and minerals, slightly stronger dough than 100%. |
| Bolted all-purpose style | 75% | 14.6% | 10.6% | Second sifting (#50–#60). Lighter crumb, longer shelf life, less fiber. Bran left behind is gold in porridge. |
Nutrition / 100 g
- Calories
- 337 kcal
- Protein
- 15.2 g
- Carbs
- 68 g
- Fiber
- 9.1 g
- Fat
- 2.2 g
- Iron
- 4.4 mg
- Magnesium
- 134 mg
- Zinc
- 3.7 mg
- Thiamin
- 0.4 mg
- Selenium
- 82 µg
Typical whole-grain flour / 100 g.
Sources & USDA linksBuy it retail
- Kamut International / grocery Kamut® bags
- Breadtopia
- Azure Standard
- Pleasant Hill Grain
- Bob's Red Mill
- Grand Teton Ancient Grains
Availability rotates by harvest. Search the berry name plus “food grade.”
Bakes well as
Mill Khorasan (Kamut®) now
Miller’s desk
Grain to flour
Vital wheat gluten booster
Most bags of vital wheat gluten are 75–80% protein. The booster is added on top of the flour, not swapped in.
Whole-grain flour · Moderate gluten
- Whole grain needed
- 505 g
- Flour you’ll get
- 500 g
- Bran left behind
- 0 g
- Protein in that flour
- 76 g · 15.2%
- Natural gluten
- 10%
- Add VWG
- None needed
- After VWG
- 15.2% protein · 10% gluten
About 2.5 cups of berries → 4 cups of whole-grain flour. Whole-grain milling is essentially 1:1 by weight; sifting is where you lose bran.
How to mill it
A 30–50% khorasan blend turns ordinary sourdough the color of a sunset.
Hard-wheat setting. Large berries feed easily.
Tempering: Nice if very dry.
Everything the berry holds — bran, germ, and endosperm. Mill 1:1 by weight. Use within days, or freeze.
Milling 101 →Next: bake it
Pick a loaf for this flour
15.2% protein after VWG · Khorasan (Kamut®) whole-grain flour. Sandwich loaf, focaccia, sourdough — the kitchen will scale dough, hydration, and times to this mix.
