What do you think is better, ground or whole flax seeds?
Personally or nutritionally.

ground. your stomach cannot digest the seed as a whole.

Whole = releases souleble fibers and binds to toxins
Ground = Omega 3 and nutrition

Maybe a blend?

Yes. Either pre-ground or chewed - you know?

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

I'd definitely vote for Whole, but only if you have a high-speed Blender. There's no way anyone can properly grind those seeds with teeth alone, and pre-ground and oil turns Rancid.....WY

I used to crunch those suckers up in my salads something fierce! Ha! ha! You know....romaine, onions on a flax-seed bun......

-David Z. Mason

WWW.RawFoodFarm.com

thanks everyone,
I have been using a coffee grinder to grind them when I need them; so they don't go rancid. Should whole flax be kept in the fridge with my other nuts/seeds?
Any recipes you like?

meganbubbs,
I store my flax seeds in glass jars in the freezer and only grind them right before using them.

My favorite flax things are flax crackers with soaked whole seeds, brown and golden.

Soak the flax seeds overnight or as little as 6 hours. Use enough water to keep them covered slightly as they soak. Put the soaked seeds into a large mixing bowl.

In a food processor pulse to a medium to fine consistency: red bell pepper, ground sundried tomatoes, carrot and celery.

Next I add some mild flavor with a little mixed Italian herbs, or maybe make them Mex style with minced cilantro, ground dried lime peel and some ground home grown dried mild chili peppers. I have some vegan friends who I make them for and I might make them spicier for them by adding hotter ground peppers. Pulse the flavors into the mixture in the food processor. Fold this mixture into the soaked flax seeds in the mixing bowl.

Spread the mixture thinly on teflex sheets and dehydrate them at 110 degrees for an hour or two, score them with a knife into the desired size crackers, then flip them over on the dehydrator screens and peel the teflex sheet off the top. Be careful to not cut all the way through them into the teflex sheets!

The next best flax thing are raw tortillas. Soak whole flax seeds overnight or as little as 6 hours. Blend with ripe avocado. I use a ratio of 1 cup dry golden flax seeds to 1/4 medium sized ripe Haas avo. Blend with enough water to create a vortex in a vitamix, vitaprep 3 blender or other strong blender. If you use a less powerful blender work in smaller batches and be sure to add enough water to keep the batter from overloading the blender motor. Spread the batter into the desired size tortillas on teflex sheets about 1/8 th. inch thick and dehydrate at 100 to 110 degrees until the tops are firm enough to flip over onto the dehydrator screens. For variations add spinach or cilantro. Some people have blended corn into them. I only tried this once, but the corn was too starchy and it didn't digest well. Really fresh picked young extra sweet corn would probably work. You can make raw tacos, burritos or enchiladas with these tortillas.

Here's a tip for flipping these two items on the rack/screens. I work with an Excalibur dehydrator. At the appropriate time take the rack/screen and teflex sheet with the recipe out of the dehydrator and set it on the counter. Place another rack/screen upside down over the crackers or tortillas creating a sandwich. Hold the rack sandwich tightly together while you flip them over upside down. Remove the formerly bottom rack/screen leaving the teflex sheet now exposed and ready to peel off the top of the tortillas or cracker sheet. Sometimes I use a long thin knife to coax the sticky batter free of the teflex sheet. Return the rack/screen to the dehydrator and repeat for the remaining racks. It takes a little experience to determine the right time to peel off the teflex sheets. If you try too soon the cracker or tortilla batter will hold on too tightly to the teflex sheet. Wait too long and the edges get brittle and curl up.

Uti.....Thank you for spending your time to make such an informative Post. I've used the dark Flax Seeds in the past in my Green Smoothies. I stored mine in the refrigerator, not the freezer as you do. I liked to soak my seeds 24-hours before blending, so that calls for 2 Soak Jars since I sometimes have 2 Green Smoothies a day. I use Corn, both Yellow and Purple, and have not found it to be too Starchy. I also like a couple of Tbsp. of Oats (soaked in advance).
I'm presently out of Flax Seeds and would like to buy some more. Do you have a favorite Supplier?.....WY

I buy them in bulk from my co-op in a nearby city or the natural foods store in my little town. I guess they're pretty popular here because they carry both the brown and the golden flax seeds in a small town.

I can't remember the source, but I read or heard that soaking flax too long makes them taste bitter. I have taken soaked seeds and put them in the fridge when I wasn't able to finish making the recipe.

thanks for your detailed info, uti.