Need Help with Lehman's Best Grain mill

[JCK88]

I asked this in the thread about grinders and in the shout box....here's hoping someone can help.

 

I just got my grain grinder..Lehman's best. I am grinding barley and oats. (allergic to wheat) The instruction booklet says that you should discard the "first pound or so" as there would be grit in the flour from the stones breaking in.

 

My question is does this mean pounds of flour or pounds of grain before you grind it? How long does it take for the stones to stop giving off grit?

 

I just ground another pound of oats and a half pound of barley and it does seem to be getting less grit but still some in there. I already discarded the first batch...well let's be truthful here. I didn't see the part in the book about the grit and I made bread with it, LOL Mistake!!

 

THIS time...read entire book, saw the thing about grit, panicked, came here. But that was two hours ago and nobody here online today seems to know anything.

 

So I kept grinding and THIS time just in case, even after I used a flour sifter on it, I put the stuff through a finer seive and I'm going to make another loaf of barley/oat bread now and hope that our teeth won't feel like they are being sandpapered.

 

So anyone else have this mill and what do you think of the stones versus the steel? I got both burrs but chose the stones because it said these make a finer flour.

 

So, I guess I've covered the bases. I posted in the "Let's talk grain mill" thread, asked in the shout box, and posted here.

 

If in a couple days nobody comes forward I will think it is a vast Mrs. S. conspiracy!!!! So sisters of the grains...HELP!!

 

[Cricket]

Sisters of the grain!! Love it!!

 

I'm here for you , sis, I just don't have an answer for you. I'm planning to try my Lehmans Best Mill for the first time tomorrow.

 

 

[JCK88]

LOL...well, as expected, I didn't think to do the obvious..call Lehmans. They said they never had anyone ask the question about "Did you mean a pound of the grain or a pound of the flour" and they suggested that I simply grind at least four cups of FLOUR and check for grit. I did that and it seemed like WAY less grit than the batch I tried yesterday. In fact, it seemed just fine!

 

So, I made a very strange and dense loaf of barley/oat bread which tasted absolutely delicious. I found the recipe in a book I got at Lehman's. It doesn't rise very well, not having wheat in it. I believe that the next time I make this, I will add eggs and a little more oat flour and form it into a round loaf and bake it on my pizza stone.

 

I am quite happy with the grain mill, though. It works well and is easy to take apart and assemble. I haven't tried the metal burrs yet. I think I will do that. I don't think they have the grit problem and if they shave off pieces into the flour at least I could use a magnet cause the burrs are cast iron, LOL!!

 

Cricket, thanks for at least not leaving me all alone in the thread here. I thought for sure someone else here had this mill and could offer help!! So Cricket, now you know...do NOT use the first batch of flour. It will have grit in it even if you sift it!

 

 

[nmchick]

Well, hey Judy. Glad you're over your crisis. If you're feeling energetic, I'd appreciate that oat/barley bread recipe. I'll have to substitute for the barley. I'm thinking of chickpeas maybe.

 

I don't have a Lehman's mill: I have a Retsel. I use the metal burrs for sweet rice flour ('cause it's kind of sticky and gumms up the stones), but really need the stone ones for a good fine brown rice flour. The metal really doesn't make as fine a flour, but really seems to be necessary for the gummier grains. Guess you won't be grinding corn, eh? I made my kids chicken nuggets with corn meal the other day and thought to myself "these would kill JCK88".

 

I'm addicted now to milling flours. I don't think I could bring myself to buy flour anymore. Congratulations!

[dogmom4]

nmchick, can you give review of the Retsel? I've never heard of this brand.

[Vic303]

Sorry I didn't chime in earlier. I have the Lehmans mill, but never knew about the 'grit' issue. I got mine used so it may have been resolved by the time I bought it. I do have the steel burrs too, and they are great for grinding spices, like pepper, or coffee. They don't pick up flavors like the stones will.

[JCK88]

LOL...yeah I often joke that if I am ever really terribly suicidal all I need to do is have a dinner of chicken and corn on the cob washed down with grape juice. (Uh..you were not actually plotting my demise for some of my past bad behavior, were you??? )

 

Here is the recipe for the oat barley bread. It is a small loaf and it is rather flat but it tastes great. (I still have not figured out if I am supposed to ONLY put recipies in the kitchen forum and then if you do, how you tell the people who asked in another thread you did this and hope they find it so I'm going to blunder on my own ignorant way and post the thing here.

 

Oat and Barley bread

 

2 cups oat flour

1 cup barley flour

2 Tabelspoons honey

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 cup warm water

1 package dry yeast (1/4 of an nounce)

1 teaspoon salt

 

Put the warm water into a bowl and sprinkle on the yeast. Let stand for a few minutes, then stir in the honey, salt, and barley flour. Stir and let stand for 15 minutes. Add the oil and oat flour to the misture. Knead for 3 minutes, then shap into a loaf. Set aside and rise until doubled. (Mine never did double so I just cooked it) Heat oven to 350 and put dough into greased loaf pan. (I suggest simply letting it rise on a greased pan or pizza stone) Bake the laf in the center of the oven for 45 minutes or until wooden skewer inserted into center comes out clean. (mine did not take 45 minutes to cook, I cooked it 35 minutes)

 

 

This recipe is from "The Whole Grain Cookbook" by A.D. Livingston. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for creative uses of the whole grains they are storing. There are tons of ideas in it for just about every kind of grain, nut, seed. It's not just a bread book. Many of the recipes suggest ways to use grains in desserts, main dishes, and side dishes. I got it along with the grain mill at the suggestion of a friend and I'm glad I did.

 

 

[JCK88]

Vic, if you ever get new stones for your mill--now you know about the grit!! LOL How wonderful you got your mill used. I looked and looked for one used but decided I really wanted this particular mill because I wanted a non-electric one and because the others I liked were way out of my budget.(My husband asked, "So, are we going to have to move next to a stream and get a water wheel and a couple of mill stones now???" (But oh my..wouldn't THAT be cool???)

 

I do love this mill already. I am going to switch over to the metal burrs and try grinding some beans today. My husband is on a business trip and is having a fit he is not here to try all the things I'm going to make from the various flours! He promises to help grind when he gets home.

 

I appreciate any advice about grinding various things. (I might actually be grinding some corn for the rest of the family and also wheat, too. I did get spare stones for this because I know that the stones will pick up residue. The mill seems easy enough to take apart and wash so I am not worried about that.

 

 

 

 

 

[Cricket]

I am glad you finally made it through to end up with yummy bread. One might say (someone has to) that you showed true grit and determination!

[JCK88]

Oh punster cricket...LOL!

[DenimDaze]

I'll be getting my mill tomorrow or Tuesday, it will have both stone and metal grinders too. I couldn't help you one bit, but I'm watching your thread. Maybe in a week we can compare notes.

[JCK88]

NYDebbie,

It's fine now. I did more oat flour today. I guess you need to grind about a pound of the grains or more before it is all set. It is very easy to adjust if it is hard grinding. Just be sure to THROW AWAY the first few cups of flour.

 

I have not tried doing wheat yet. I will wait until next week when hubby is home and surprise him with some bread.

 

I'd love to compare notes with you! Or anybody else who has this mill.

 

I ground up some lentils this morning just to try the metal burrs. The metal burrs rust very easily so when you first wash them, I suggest drying carefully by hand then using a hair dryer on them. A nice little brush helps get all the grain stuff off of the stone and the burrs. I used a bottle brush but any other kind of small brush that you only use on food utensils would be fine.

 

Oh--another question for anyone who has this mill or gets one and is smarter than me: What size bowl did you find worked best to catch the flour? The mill is designed to have room to put a bowl under it but every bowl I had that fit was not wide enough and flour spilled when I cranked. I finally put an oval platter under it which was wide enough but didn't have large sides. There must be some bowl that fits right! I wrote to Lehman's and asked this, too, suggested they get some local potters there to make special grain catching bowls.

 

 

[Vic303]

You might try a rectangular plastic tupperware type container with high sides.

 

I also found it helpful to place a 1x4 piece of board between the clamp & the bottom of my table so I did not damage the table when cranking it down tight.

[JCK88]

That's a great idea, Vic. I have a couple of rectangular tupperware things I could try! I did the board thing, too. I used a board under the clamp, too.

 

One thing I did not expect--fresh ground flour really does taste better somehow. I'm never looking back. Wish I had invested in this a long time ago.

[nmchick]

Originally Posted By: dogmom4

nmchick, can you give review of the Retsel? I've never heard of this brand.

Well, sure. They are at www.retsel.com. Retsel sells electric and hand mills. I have the Millrite, which is electric, but I ordered the extra handle which you can use to convert it to manual.

It's a slower electric mill, so the flour doesn't heat up much when it's being milled. This is supposed to be good for retaining nutrients. But it is not so slow as to be a problem: if you put your grain in to mill first when you are about to make bread, by the time you've gathered everything else and heated your water, your flour will be ready.

It's American made, weights a ton, looks like it will last forever. It's supposed to be quieter than a Whispermill (which sounds like an airplane taking off, I'm told). It's no noisier than my dishwasher which is a medium loud kind of dishwasher: we can hold a conversation when it's on.

If you surf about Retsel, you'll find someone complaining that their mill took forever to arrive, or something like that. I ordered from Retsel and it arrived in 6 days, though they said to expect longer.

I'm pretty happy with it. Works fine for rice and corn. I've never milled wheat in it. (Ewwww....) Mostly I enjoy the security I get from knowing I don't have to depend on a store to stock rice flour for my sons bread. That and the fact that I can mill the flour for $0.40 cheaper per pound. We probably use at least 7 pounds of flour per week!

[nmchick]

Originally Posted By: JCK88

LOL...yeah I often joke that if I am ever really terribly suicidal all I need to do is have a dinner of chicken and corn on the cob washed down with grape juice. (Uh..you were not actually plotting my demise for some of my past bad behavior, were you??? )

Moi? Not moi. No, I think the same thing when I see the ibuprophin in the cabinet. Just a few pills and I can end it all as a pufferfish. I've written "NO NMChick" all over them so I don't take them by accident.

Thanks for the recipe, BTW. DS has been asking for "different" bread. I think I'll try it today.

[cootie]

I have a Lehman's best grain mill and have used it for years now. I love it. I only will use the stone burrs. Yes, the grit will come off the first couple of times you use it, and it sounds like you have figured that out. It stops after the first couple of batches you mill. No big deal.

 

I use a rectangular cake pan under my mill to catch the flour, and I have found that using the wood under the clamp helps as well. A toothbrush works well for cleaning. I have just done wheat, and you're right, somehow it does taste much better than pre-ground flour.

 

Cootie

[LaBellaVita]

gosh, now you ladies have me curious about Lehman's Best Grain Mill! I was thinking I pretty much needed to get the Country Living Grain Mill as it was the 'best' and I wanted a good one to last me for years. Hmmmm. I sure could save a bunch of money getting the LBGM...

 

off to do more research!

[kappydell]

Lehmans Best is a good mill too, you just cant electrify it. I just got one, the little el-cheapos I got for grinding corn do not work for wheat very well. I don't mind cranking, I have many manual things, and yes, I did save a bundle. All the more to buy the wheat from the feed store.

The burrs make the difference when grinding. Make sure you get both kinds, metal and stone. Stone grinds finer with wheat, but will get glazed with beans, for example, so that is when you use the metal ones.

I also have a Oat huller attachment on my el-cheapo corn mill. Turned out it is a metal burr with a rubber face (that is what rubs off the oat hulls). Have not seen any like it since I ordered it pre Y2K. I like the Lehmans a lot, I vote for it.

[dogmom4]

What brand of corn mill do you have kappy?