Who here mills their own grain?

[Midnightmom]

If anyone is familiar with Homestead Heart's YT channel, she unboxes and reviews an electric grain mill in this video.

It looks pretty simple to use, and looks pretty on the counter too.

Anyway, here is the vid: 

 

 

Here is the link to the grain mill: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OGIXMKM/?ref=idea_lv_dp_vv_d

NutriMill Harvest Stone Grain Mill, 450 Watt - Gold    $345

~ Near diamond hard Corundum Grainmaster milling stones. Quality made, in Germany, to mill even the hardest of grains.

~ Quickly mill all non-oily grains and legumes.

~ Grind as fine as pastry flour for a lighter texture in your baked good or as coarse as cracked grain for cereal.

 

Edited October 30, 2022 by Midnightmom

[euphrasyne]

My experience with kitchen wood is nope.   Give me stainless steel every time.  It is easier to clean and care for.  

[Mother]

The mill is sure pretty, MM, and I like it’s looks but for that price I’d opt for a more multi-functional mill.  One that has various attachments and that is both electric and hand operated.    Preferably cast iron and/or Stainless Steel.  

[Jeepers]

Since I have 4 buckets of wheat berries I have a couple of grinders. But I will admit I've never used them. I don't want to open the buckets until I need to. Probably a big mistake on my part. I should practice before I need too. Maybe get a smaller bag of wheat berries?

 

I can't say which ones I have because I don't remember and they are at the other house. I do know that I don't have that nice one with the big easier to turn wheel. Country something or other. I have its version with the smaller wheel. Bought at Lehman's.

 

I have a regular wheat grinder and one that is stainless steel that I bought because it will also handle grinding corn. And I have an electric one. It's a Whisper something or other that has an attached canister that is supposed to catch the flour. I've been told to use it outside anyway because flour still escapes from it. 

 

In other words, no real experience. 

 

 

I forgot that I have an attachment for the (what's it called) the food mixer stand thing, that is a grain grinder too. 

 

Edited October 30, 2022 by Jeepers
Added Info

[Joyfilled]

We do! We have an attachment to my Kitchen Aid, but it takes FOREVER. For most of our use, we use our Nurtramill. Not that fancy wood one, ours is plastic. We have some non-electric ones that we haven't even pulled out of the box, but should. I'm baking all of our sandwich bread now, and some of our other breads, too, and use half wheat half all purpose (all purpose from the store). We do have hard white wheat, but haven't used it yet, either. We need to get more so we can grind all our own oz wheat. I priced the bread that we like at the store, Dave's Killer Bread, 27oz, $6.44. Yikes!!! I'm glad I'm used to making our own again....

[Jeepers]

Kitchen Aid. That's the mixer thingy I couldn't think of.  Sheeesh. 

[EmeraldCat]

I have a NutriMill and it is amazing!  I have ground wheat berries, popcorn for cornmeal, and even beans in that thing.  I got it way back in...I think 2008?  And it is still going strong.  I cannot recommend it enough.  

 

However, it is dependent upon electricity and draws a LOT of power.  I've been meaning to research hand-powered grain mills for a few days now.  I've been thinking a lot about potential situations where my lovely NutraMill could become simply a hunk of plastic that doesn't do anything.  I would like to have the ability to grind wheat if we're ever in a situation where the electricity is out.  

[Mother]

We no longer grind wheat.  I have been gluten free for 10 years but DH is not so I’ve been thinking of storing wheat berries again for him.  However, we have used an OLD A&P grocery store coffee grinder for years.  DH found it could be adjusted to grind a variety of things and we’ve used it for all kinds of gluten free grains as well as wheat.  We are cautious with oily seeds and nuts and use an old Corona (clamp to the table) hand grain mill for them or a blender or food processor.   The Corona will do wheat and corn too but gets pretty tiring after a short while.  If we have electricity we can always use my equally old Vita Mix for grain of all kinds.  
 

Jeepers, I would like one of the big wheel mills too.  They are supposed to be easier to use.  Ideally though I’d have a combination hand and electric mill to cover all situations.  I have a couple of twelve volt blenders ( one is quite powerful) and a 12 volt coffee grinder but it would be faster to use a Mortar and Pestle or better yet a metate.  Hmmm, now that I think of it I might have one of those packed away somewhere.  
 

Does anyone store other grain besides wheat and corn?  I have a fair amount of almonds and coconut stored in the freezer.  I’ve tried storing nuts in buckets but I didn’t find they stored well, at least long term.  Dried beans of all kinds do store well as does white rice, brown not quite as long but still pretty well.  I’ve been thinking of sorghum seed. 

[euphrasyne]

I use rice flour, wheat, almond meal, bean flour, oats, and cornmeal the most.  Occasionally I use rye or other specialty, but not enough to keep a large stock of it and I stock absolutely nothing I don't/ wouldn't eat on a random Tuesday.  

Edited November 1, 2022 by euphrasyne

[Littlesister]

It has been many years since I have milled wheat berries. I have both the red and the white berries.  A few years ago, I bought a hand crank mill from a baker as he couldn't keep up the demand for the bread and things he sold in his bakery.  Said one of the grinders is well used but still works. I bought it and got a new part for it. I have not tried it yet but thinking about getting it out to try. I bought a small bag of wheat berries just for trying it out. It is stainless steel and hooks onto the counter. Very easy to clean. It doesn't have the big wheel that you talk about as I have seen those but does have a long handle and baker said it was easy to turn.  I also have a grain meal with my kitchen aid blender as well but have not used that yet either.  I have a kit for my kitchen aid that I can turn my mixer into a non-electric one.  Only thing is that once you do that there is no turning it back into an electric mixer. But if things go south at least I can then change that over to a non-electric mixer.

[Jeepers]

I, and my family, don't have any allergies so I only prep wheat berries. I think it would be a waste of my money to store up other types of grain. I think other grains are valuable...very valuable. But for me, I have allotted a certain amount of money to spend on grains so I'm using it only on what I need. Plain old wheat. Hope that came out right. I'm not putting down other grains. I'm not an adventurous cook/baker so I'm pretty sure I'd never use the other grains or nuts. I have four buckets of white wheat berries and one bucket of the red. I suppose I could grind rice and beans too if I had too. I also have 3 buckets of flour stored away and about 30-40 pounds of loose flour in containers. That should jump start me until I start grinding the berries.

 

I forgot that I have one of those old wooden coffee grinders with the crank handle on top. The ones you find in antique stores. I wouldn't rely on it though. It might grind coffee but that's about it. I think.

 

I went with manual grinders first incase the power goes off. It would probably take me an entire day to hand grind enough for a loaf of bread, Then I bought the electric one thinking that I could use a generator to grind some of the wheat berries and set that flour aside. I figure if I'm without power but son still has his, I could go to his house to grind. We are on different electric systems so that is very possible. If an EMP were to hit...all bets are off.

 

I looked at my Amazon previous bought items. The electric one with the attached bin I bought is a Wonder Mill. I can not believe how much it went up in price. If I wanted to buy it today I couldn't afford it. Dang...

[Mother]

Thanks for reminding me Jeepers.  I have a couple of those antique coffee mills too.  I can just see DH and I setting in the evening grinding little drawers full of flour to make a few biscuits or a loaf of bread!   
 

Ohhhhh, but I just now remembered that the GS has a nice burr mill that is run with the tractor.  It is normally used to coarse grind feed for animals but we tried it once set finer and it worked.  We had to sift and regrind it to get it fine enough but I was thinking even if we coarse ground the grain it would make it easier to put through a hand mill.  And if we can still get gas, our old Alice tractor will start even after an EMP as we have parts stored safely for it.  Phew, now I feel more confident we could have bread.  IF I have the grain.

 

Let’s see.  We have lots of acorn, some nice amaranth growing near the pasture, curly dock near the timber, lamb’s quarter is really prolific here, and there is normally corn and soy beans growing by the acres around us.  Occasionally there are fields of wheat, triticale,  oats, and rye nearby too.    It would all be work to harvest and prepare by hand but all those would stretch the grain.  

[EmeraldCat]

I remember in Laura Ingalls Wilder’s book “The Long Winter,” Ma ground wheat in one of those little coffee grinders. It took her hours, and it made the bread dense, but she did get it ground. 
 

It’s not ideal, but y’all at least have something that could be pressed into use in an emergency! 

[Jeepers]

It's funny (not the ha-ha type) to me how we come up with things we already have at home that we forgot about. When thinking about the grinders I have, I forgot about the attachment to the Kitchen Aid. I couldn't even remember what the mixer was called. And I forgot about the old manual coffee grinder. That would be last resort for me too. I have a marble mortar and pestle but I wouldn't even attempt that. The Long Winter is a favorite book of mine. I read it probably every year or two. I always think of it in the wintertime. 

 

I wonder, just thinking out loud here, but I wonder if some of us in more rural areas have a grain mill near us. There are some within about an hour from me. Not the silo elevator types that dry the farmers grain but the actual grinding mills. They might be called a grist mill. Not sure about that term. Anyway, I wonder if the time came where we saw 'the writing on the wall' and we wanted to hurry and get our grain ground, if they would do small-ish amounts. Like a 5 gallon bucket amount. It probably wouldn't be worth their time and effort but it might be worth it to see. All they could do is say no. The more grain we have to take in at one time the more likely they would come to doing it. I wouldn't take in one bucket. I'd take them all in at once. Try to make a good show of it. Desperate times call for desperate measures. 

 

Some Amish communities still have them but on a small scale. You'd probably have to ask where they are. The Amish are friendly and don't mind those type of questions at all. And they are polite enough to not ignore you. Most Amish, that I know, buy their flour at the bulk food stores these days though.

 

One prepper is setting up his own mill to service other preppers that he knows in his community. Nice. 

[Mother]

Good suggestion, Jeepers.  I think there might be a feed store near us that ‘used’ to grind feed.  It would be worth while to find out if they still do or at least still have the ability.  We used to buy oatmeal and whole corn there for us to store and eat.  But then we learned that they sprayed pesticides and had rats that ran all over the bags.  Not exactly considered human safe after that but as prices get worse I bet people consider doing it again. 
 

We have a new community of Amish in our area.  They have a small bulk food store now and  hope to build it up soon but no mill yet.  I have seen pictures of Amish kitchens that have nice big mills on their countertops.  They usually buy the best when possible. 
 

The Wilder books made the bases of some of our homeschool lessons.  I have always loved them too.  That was the very picture I could see with DH and I grinding…..

Edited November 3, 2022 by Mother

[Darlene]

On 11/1/2022 at 5:42 PM, Mother said:

Does anyone store other grain besides wheat and corn?  

I do oat groats and flake my own oatmeal and also semolina.

[Darlene]

On 11/2/2022 at 3:51 PM, Jeepers said:

I wonder if the time came where we saw 'the writing on the wall' and we wanted to hurry and get our grain ground, if they would do small-ish amounts.

Once you bust the grain you'll need to keep it refrigerated or frozen because all of the nutrients that the commercial companies pull out (and then add back a few vitamins) will go rancid unless used in a decent amount of time.

[Littlesister]

Right now all I have are the red and white wheat berries. As soon as I can get the rest of the house in order and organized, I want to start setting up my kitchen and putting things where I can get to them easier in case of an EMP. I want to start practicing more with the nonelectric items I have. I have the grain mill I bought from that baker a few years ago. But haven't really given it a test run yet. It's easier to use the grinder on my KitchenAid mixer as that is electric. I have all sorts of gadgets for that mixer. The one to grind my own hamburger works great. 

 

Darlene, I should get some oat groats for oatmeal. I do eat oatmeal and GS will eat it when he gets home from work sometimes if he doesn't want to heat up anything else. Thanks for the reminder. 

[Darlene]

I started using the home ground grains (soft and hard) as well as the flaked oats from the groats decades ago. I can’t stand cookies made with the store bought flour anymore because of all the fresh ground brings to the party. This is all personal preference but I enjoy knowing that the stuff I make is extra loaded with nutrition. 

[Ambergris]

I'm buying broken corn and grinding it in my Corona mill, coarser for the chickens and finer for the cuy and for me.  It's much easier to grind if it's already broken.  The "six" bag is six kilos, roughly ten pounds, and is not that hard to carry the few blocks to the taxi stand.  By law, corn here is non-GMO.   The wheat I can get is not dehulled.

[Jeepers]

I bought 2 buckets of red wheat from Augason Farms some time ago and stored them away. After the house flooded I found one of the buckets had popped it's lid. So now I'm down to one bucket of red wheat berries. I suppose it could have happened because I stack them three high? I wouldn't have known until I was forced to move them. So many buckets...so little room. Ladies, check your bucket lids every so often. 

 

Cracked corn is a good idea. All I have is pop corn stored away. 

 

 

I just had a vision. One sack of corn + one hammer + One grandson = cracked corn. Win-Win. 

 

Edited March 4, 2023 by Jeepers
A vision

[Ambergris]

Is his name Jimmy?

I guess Jimmy Crack Corn isn't sung anymore.

 

Uncracked corn would store a lot longer.

[Jeepers]

LOL. I was thinking of that song too! Not a Jimmy but his name does start with a J.

 

Busy hands are a good thing. Instead of pounding nails in a board he can pound corn for the Gramster. 

[Littlesister]

Keep him busy grandma. I am going to get my manual grander out soon. I really want to try it out. I would love to have a wander mill grinder. I have been looking at them for a long time. Just don't need the fancy one like the wooden one. Need to get in gear and make sure I know how to use all this nonelectric stuff I have.