Hobby Grain Milling

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Hello All,

I received a hobby grain mill for my birthday recently and got to test it out this last weekend. This post will hopefully be one of many as I experiment with grinding my own grain flour. With any luck you will be able to pick up a few pointers and benefiting from this healthy option.

      
Grain Mill with Rice
THE MILL:Obviously the most important piece of equipment in this operation, and subsequently will have the most influence on the quality of your grain flour. A grain mill can range in price from tens to hundreds of dollars, be hand/human powered or even equipped with an electric motor. My grain mill is one of the cheaper models made and can be found on Ebay for around $25 - $30.

Unless you already have experience with grinding your own grain flour or wish to use the flour on a commercial level, I would strongly recommend you purchase the cheapest cast iron hand powered mill available. A few reasons why;
  • Hand powered mills are incredibly reliable and allow the user to change technique depending on grinding conditions. The user is in touch with the mill this way and can feel how hard the mill is working and even when to back off on the effort. Occasionally a jam or clog will develop and by back turning the mill most jams can be eliminated. I also prefer the hand crank as you get the sense of pride in hand crafting your flour.
  • Despite the appeal of an electric grinder, the milling process is not friendly to the one speed drone of an electric motor. Grains vary in size and hardness each producing different grinding conditions which can lock up/burn out an electric motor if one is not careful. Unless you are purchasing a high quality mill, hundreds of dollars, most likely the electric motor is inadequate.
  • Most of the cheap mills are cast iron which is agreeably very heavy and to a degree somewhat of a brittle metal. Cast iron is also very durable and cheap to produce so as long as you are not dropping it onto a concrete floor repeatedly it should last forever.
After you have ground through a couple of hundred pounds of brown rice, flax seed, red wheat, and black beans feel free to spread your wings and purchase that restaurant quality grain mill. Until that point the investment cost of a high quality mill is unlikely to be fully utilized.

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