# choosing grain mills



## stayingthegame (Mar 22, 2011)

I need help to find and choose a mill for grain. I have a heavy duty kitchen aide mixer that I can get a mill for but don't know how good that would. i know that I need a hand mill if no power, but at least for now i am on the grid. also I am not very strong in my hands and arms because of a handicap so what I get needs to be easy to use.


----------



## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

I'd like to find one too,so I'll bump you up.


----------



## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

If you are convinced that you will always have power, then get an electric grain mill.
I am not at all convinced power will not go out for an extended length of time but I can't afford a $400+ mill either, so I opted for a Wonder Mill Jr. I got it through Amazon cheaper than anywhere else I could find. 
With this you can grind 3 cups of wheat in about 10 mins and get 1 1/2 cups of flour. 
Corn will have to go thru the grinder twice unless you like the corser corn meal to make muffins etc. Takes about the same amt of time either way. This particular mill has metal burrs and stone burrs. You can research what each is best used for. It is a well made item.


----------



## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

there a few of both types of mill here: Kitchen Processing Items - Emergency Essentials

as well as other 'food processing' equipment, hand powered & electric


----------



## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

we had a few cheepies til we bit the bullet, opened up the wallet and sprung for the Country Living Mill, then I used a motor that was here and made it ele.


----------



## catsraven (Jan 25, 2010)

I have Family Grain Mill / Grain Roller Mill its versatile and easy to use. Even kids can turn the crank. It dose have a motor if you choose that option.


----------



## lotsoflead (Jul 25, 2010)

*Emergency grain mill*
Emergency Grainmill
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Improvised Grain Mill
The grain mill described can efficiently pound whole-grain wheat, corn, etc., into meal and flour-thereby greatly improving digestibility and avoiding the diarrhea and sore mouths that would result from eating large quantities of ungrounded grain.

TO BUILD: 
(1) Cut 3 lengths of pipe, each 30 inches long; 3/4-inch-diameter steel pipe (such as ordinary water pipe) is best.

(2) Cut the working ends of the pipe off squarely. Remove all roughness, leaving the full-wall thickness. Each working end should have the full diameter of the pipe.

(3) In preparation for binding the three pieces of pipe together into a firm bundle. encircle each piece of pipe with cushioning, slip-preventing tape.

(4) Tape or otherwise bind the 3 pipes into a secure bundle so that their working ends are as even as possible and are in the same plane-resting evenly on a flat surface.

(5) Cut the top smoothly out of a large can. A 4-inch-diameter, 7-inch-high fruit-juice can Is ideal. If you do not have a can, improvise something to keep grain together while pounding it.

TO MAKE MEAL AND FLOUR: 
(1) Put clean, dry grain ONE INCH DEEP in the can.

(2) To prevent blistering your hands, wear gloves, or wrap cloth around the upper part of the bundle of pipes.

(3) Place the can (or open-ended cylinder) on a hard, smooth, solid surface, such as concrete.

(4) To pound the grain, sit with the can held between your feet. Move the bundle of pipes straight up and down about 3 inches, with a rapid stroke.

(5) If the can is 4 inches in diameter, in 4 minutes you should be able to pound 1/2 lb. (one cup) of whole-kernel wheat into 1/5 lb. of fine meal and flour, and 3/10 lb. of coarse meal and fine-cracked wheat.

(6) To separate the pounded grain into fine meal, flour, coarse meal, and fine-cracked wheat, use a sieve made of window screen.

(7) To separate flour for feeding small children, place some pounded grain in an 18 X 18-inch piece of fine nylon net, gather the edges of the net together so as to hold the grain, and shake this bag-like container.

(8) To make flour fine enough for babies, pound fine meal and coarse flour still finer, and sieve it through a piece of cheesecloth or similar material.

Unlike wheat and corn, the kernels of barley, grain sorghums. and oats have rough, fibrous hulls that must be removed from the digestible parts to produce an acceptable food. Moistening the grain will toughen such hulls and make them easier to remove. If the grain is promptly pounded or ground into meal, the toughened hulls will break into larger pieces than will the hulls of un-dampened grain. A small amount of water. weighing about 2% of the weight of the grain, should be used to dampen the grain. For 3 pounds of grain (about 6 cups), sprinkle with about one ounce (28 grams, or about 2 tablespoons) of water, while stirring constantly to moisten all the kernels. After about 5 minutes of stirring, the grain will appear dry. The small amount of water will have dampened and toughened the hulls, but the edible parts inside will have remained dry. Larger pieces of hull are easier to remove after grinding than smaller pieces.

One way to remove ground-up hulls from meal is by flotation. Put some of the meal-hulls mixture about I inch deep in a pan or pot, cover the mixture with water, and stir. Skim off the floating hulls, then pour off the water and more hulls. Sunken pieces of hulls that settle on top of the heavier meal can be removed with one's fingers as the last of the water is poured off. To produce a barley meal good for very small children, the small pieces of hulls must again be separated by flotation.

To lessen their laxative effects, all grains should be ground as finely as possible, and most of the hulls should be removed. Grains also will be digested more easily if they are finely ground.


----------



## mosquitomountainman (Jan 25, 2010)

Here's a short article on what we use at home:

Dirttime » Meat Grinders & Grain Mills

We are quite satisfied with both grain mills. The K-tec is one of the finest electric mills you can own and the price is reasonable (for an electric mill). The Corona is bullet-proof and will last for generations. You may have to run things through twice to get super-fine flour but it's fast and efficient and the price is right.

Steve


----------



## longtime (Nov 22, 2009)

I have a Kitchen Aid 600 and the mill attachment. It works very well for the price ($100.00). 

It does not grind as fine as some, but it is adequate.

I would buy it again.


----------



## Centraltn (Feb 21, 2011)

That site is fascinating


----------



## Quills (Jun 14, 2011)

I have the Kitchen Aid one, and didn't like it. It was flimsy and I was constantly expecting it to break. Kitchen Aid isn't the same quality that it used to be 

I went looking for something else several years ago, and I settled on the Retsel MilRite. It's heavy-duty, and rather pricey, but worth every single penny.

I bake bread for market. I bake probably forty loaves a week of artisan breads made from different grains, all milled through this mill, and it has never even hesitated. With the stone burrs, you can grind just about any grain, and with the addition of the steel burrs, that expands to any THING, not just grain. Nuts, seeds, you name it, I've milled it through this thing. 

The twist of a knob adjusts your grind from cracking corn and beans to the finest milled flour for pastries.

Again, it's a workhorse and has NEVER hesitated. I set it up and let it go, and it works for hours at a time; I just keep filling the hopper.

The stone burrs CAN get clogged if your grain isn't perfectly dry when grinding. You simply remove the top burr, brush out the hollows with a stiff brush, and reassemble. You can get a manual grind handle attachment if power outages may be an issue.

I wouldn't trade it. It's the most solid kitchen appliance I own, and I expect it will be something I pass down to my children eventually.


----------



## Deborah2 (Oct 6, 2011)

COUNTRYLIVING !!!! It is beautiful. It is tough and it works like a jewel.


----------



## siletz (Aug 23, 2011)

We have a Nutrimill and love it. It grinds flour so easily, but it is definitely on the loud side. However, it is electric, so I have been on the lookout for a hand crank at a thrift store to have on the shelf just in case.


----------



## Emerald (Jun 14, 2010)

I bought a Porket grain mill at the flea market for $25 they had it put together wrong and I got it for a song. But darn that thing must weigh about 20lbs and it was a long heavy slog thru the market carrying that puppy.. I do have to run things thru twice to get a real good fine grind. One of the Amish men saw what I had and told me that I got a very good deal on it. Fun thing is.. I can take the handle off and hub's cordless drill has a socket that fits the handle and I can use it to grind quicker.. 
They still make them too. I've had it for sheesh at least 12 years now and still works wonderfully. Looks a lot like the Coronas.


----------

