I want to purchase some type of grain mill/grinder. I would like to be able to grind wheat berries for flour every one to two weeks, grind coffee and grind corn for flour as well as chicken feed. I am looking at the Family Grain Mill hand cranked version from www.homehealthresource.net. They seem to have the best price so far on this unit ($118.00). Does any one out there have any experience with this particular grain mill that you'd be willing to share? I want one that will process a variety of different things and is easy to turn. How much cleaning has to be done between grinding different items? Is the cleaning a pain? I think I would be using it more on a weekly or bi-weekly basis rather than daily use. Any input would be most appreciated!

-- Mel Carroll (frank.a.carroll@worldnet.att.net), August 26, 2000

Answers

Don't know that particular brand, but I found that grinding wheat berries is HARD WORK!!! And the unit I use is one of the better (read:more $$$) units - but after using it you'll find muscles you never knew were in your arm and back! It takes me 20 minutes of steady grinding to get 6 or so cups. When I make bread every week, I use 9+ cups (make 3-4 large loaves), so I may only grind about half of what is needed and use unbleached white store bought.

Can your unit be hooked up to a strong drill? That might make things easier. Check with the manufacturer, the shaft has to be pretty sturdy, otherwise it'd snap.

Good eatin' - the freshly ground flour is outa this world for flavor.

-- Judi (ddecaro@snet.net), August 26, 2000.

Hi Mel, my wife and I own a grain mill from Lehmans (supplies Amish with non-electric items). Their "Best" grain mill (ranked least expensive, better, best, etc) is 149.00 and we bought the stone burrs in addition to the iron that come with it (necessary for producing fine flower). There are better models, like the Country Living which is German or Austrian I think, and able to be hooked up to a belt from a motor. Ours works great, don't be discouraged by the grinding! It doesn't take much energy, more like time, but if you are making all your flower with it, it would be better to make it work mechanically somehow. People didn't take their grains to the mills for processing for no reason =) But of course you can do it all yourself, but it makes more sense to leave mindless work to a simple machine (ie. water driven or even electric...preferably home produced). Anyway, Lehmans.com if you want to get a catalog, and good luck, I do grind some chicken feed with mine and some flower and I don't find it hard to clean at all or hard to turn, of course you will sweat. If you plan on weeky or bi-weekly I would have no problem recommending ours to you, and it really is simple to clean and take apart. Lehmans also has an excellent return policy and they are a great family owned business and they advertise in Countryside!

-- JC (survivors00@hotmail.com), August 26, 2000.

I have a family grain mill--both the hand and electric base. I haven't had any problems with it in grinding anything yet and have had it over two years. I would like to eventually get the other attachments.

-- lynne (leaves8@hotmail.com), August 27, 2000.

We have a Country Living Grain Mill, which is made in Stanwood WA (advertises in Countryside). Great quality, wonderful family that manufactures them. We have the bean auger also. I recommend the product and the company. Good luck to you. p.s. In this case, you really do get what you pay for.

-- sheepish (rborgo@gte.net), August 27, 2000.

i am wondering if this type of grinder is the kind joel was referring to when he talked about his exercise bike mounted grinder. joel will these plans be in countryside with or without your picture in the near future?

i remember years ago in organic gardening they had an article about using a exercise bike too. they mounted the grinder, pea sheller, green bean cutter etc. on a shelf i think then ran a belt around the wheel on the exercise bike and around a pulley for the equipment you wanted to power.

i know my legs are not in good shape but would be able to power more grinding with my legs than i could an arm. gail

-- gail missouri ozarks (gef123@hotmail.com), August 27, 2000.

OK guys:I'm a bit lazy I guess!I bought a K-Tec electric grinder. It works great,but it's horribly noisy(reminds me of a jet)!I simply send my kids to play, cover my ears and in no time I have lots and lots of flour,corn meal,etc.If the grains are chilled a bit before hand,your flour doesn't even end up warm.[I bought mine off of eBay btw.The Country Living mill is the one I wanted,but I couldn't afford it-even on eBay!)

Hope you get a good mill soon.(We just had cornbread made from freshly ground corn,wheat and spelt.Delicious!)

God Bless,~~~Tracy~~~

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), August 28, 2000.

Hi Mel, I have The Family Grain Mill. It can be mounted anywhere and I use a couple times a week. I love it. It is really easy to clean and use. I pop in my favorite CD and grind away. By the time the CD is over I have enough flour for the week. I also think it helps my muscles. Ha Ha . Karole

-- Karole (Biz3obymom@aol.com), August 28, 2000.

I have the Country Living mill. Before I bought it I talked to as many people as I could. For a hand-cranked mill, it was rated as the fastest, easiest way to get fine flour. Some of the mills were easier to turn, but didn't grind as fine or as fast, from what I was told.

There are a few things you should keep in mind when picking a mill. Most of these you may know, but I'll put here for completeness.

When it comes to the metal vs. stone debate, metal is the winner. You can't do oily things with stones. Stones' are not real stones, but are sand glued together with some sort of epoxy cement, so don't pick stone burrs because it sounds more natural or whatever. Some claim stones run cooler and thus don't scorch the flour or kill any nutrients from heat. No properly working hand cranked mill and few of the powered ones get that hot. If there is any difference in running temperatures, the metal would conduct the heat away from the flour and stay cooler, if anything.

One of the reasons I liked the Country Living mill is that it's hand cranked, but the wheel is made to take a belt if you want to add a power source.

A centuries-old tradition in commercial mills is to run some corn for feed between different grains. Corn cleans stones well. All off the kitchen mills though come apart with ease for cleaning. If you want to make your own peanut butter or grind other oily stuff, stick to steal burrs and the cleaning shouldn't have any surprises.

I'm getting forgetful or something. Back when people were looking for mills prior to Y2K, I had a stock reply about mills that was over a page long.

==>paul

-- paul (p@ledgewood-consulting.com), August 28, 2000.

Wheat berries? I'm an old duffer but have never heard wheat seed called "berries". I DO assume you're talkin about wheat seed? If not, then jest ignore me and my feeble brain. We used to grind our seed years ago, corn, wheat-with a hammermill. As long as the seed is clean and without cockleburrs, bugs,worms and a host of other undesirable in-edible's, well, it ground up everything you put in it. Those old dudes can be picked up at farm sales rather cheaply up here. Takes a tractor to turn'm tho. How about some rye? That makes purty good cake. Nuther good grub is deep fried, whole onions, taters, carrots and even steak. Well, talked myself into gettin hungry. Matt. 24:44

-- hoot (hoot@pcinetwork.com), August 29, 2000.

We have a Carona mill with both metal and stone burrs.We use ours several times each month for wheat and corn.I find the metal burrs best for all around use.This mill is advertised in Countryside and is the cheapest one I know of.Ours gives good service and is easy to clean.

-- JT Sessions (ltlfarm@aol.com), September 01, 2000.