Rice family
Wild Rice
Zizania palustris
Indigenous North American staple
In the atlas
Wild rice is not rice. It is an aquatic grass, manoomin, still hand-harvested from canoes in Minnesota and Wisconsin, and also paddy-grown as a commodity. The true lake grain is smoky, expensive, and sacred. Mill it sparingly: you will get a dark, tea-scented flour that is more seasoning than staff of life.
Origin. Great Lakes — Anishinaabe manoomin beds
Flavor. Smoke, black tea, roasted pecan.
Worth knowing
- Gluten-free.
- Finish (parching) is what makes the grain dark and nutty.
- Protein rivals hard wheat; gluten is zero.
- Buy genuine lake-harvested manoomin when you can — paddy wild rice is a different product.
Flours you can make
| Flour | Extraction | Protein | Gluten | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole-grain flour | 100% | 14.7% | 0% | Everything the berry holds — bran, germ, and endosperm. Mill 1:1 by weight. Use within days, or freeze. |
| High-extraction (85%) | 85% | 14.6% | 0% | Sift once through a #30–#40 sieve. Keeps most flavor and minerals, slightly stronger dough than 100%. |
| Sifted / bolted flour | 75% | 14.4% | 0% | Second sifting (#50–#60). Lighter crumb, longer shelf life, less fiber. Bran left behind is gold in porridge. |
Nutrition / 100 g
- Calories
- 357 kcal
- Protein
- 14.7 g
- Carbs
- 75 g
- Fiber
- 6.2 g
- Fat
- 1.1 g
- Iron
- 2 mg
- Magnesium
- 177 mg
- Zinc
- 6 mg
- Thiamin
- 0.12 mg
- Selenium
- 3 µg
Typical whole-grain flour / 100 g.
Sources & USDA linksBuy it retail
- Native harvest co-ops (Minnesota / Wisconsin)
- Whole Foods / co-op bulk
- Azure Standard
- Specialty wild-rice companies
Availability rotates by harvest. Search the berry name plus “food grade.”
Bakes well as
Mill Wild Rice 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 · No gluten
- Whole grain needed
- 510 g
- Flour you’ll get
- 500 g
- Bran left behind
- 0 g
- Protein in that flour
- 73.5 g · 14.7%
- Natural gluten
- 0%
- Add VWG
- None needed
- After VWG
- 14.7% protein · 0% gluten
About 3.2 cups of berries → 4.5 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 dedicated spice mill is saner than dirtying a 10-inch stone mill for 100 g.
Medium. Small batches — it's precious.
Tempering: No.
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
14.7% protein after VWG · Wild Rice whole-grain flour. Sandwich loaf, focaccia, sourdough — the kitchen will scale dough, hydration, and times to this mix.
