I am very pleased to find this web page and have enjoyed reading all the blogs that have been posted.  Most of them seem to have one thing in common and that is concern about their grain mill and flour over heating.  I have ground grain for many years and have learned that moisture in the grain can be the most common problem.  I had problems with some wheat that I had purchased from a local farmer. I noticed that when ever I tried to grind it the grain mill became hot easily and the flour was moist. The grain mill would become glazed and stop. My Father noticed this and since he had raised wheat and other grains all his life he reminded me that the problem was that there was too high of a moisture content in the grain.  I realized that he was right and I put some of the wheat in a shallow pan and put it in the oven on warm for about an hour and then I stired it and let it stay in the warm oven a little longer. I then turned the oven off and let it set until it had cooled down.  I then put it in an air tight metal container. I was pleasantly surprised when I went to grind it the next time as it went through easily and I was able to grind what I needed plus more and the grain mill was warm but not hot.  If you notice that your flour sticks together more that normal when you are using your grain mill, this could be your problem. It might take a little time to dry your grains but it will be worth it to have your grinding process go faster.

I have a website that features kitchen and cooking supplies.  My goal is to bring a "Kitchen Supply Store" to those who live in rural areas where shopping is limited and to those who like to shop from home.  If you like to look at fun and useful items, you might enjoy browsing around on the pages and the blog.  For those of you who like to bake, you will find grain mills, mixers, speciality pans and many more useful items. 

Thanks for looking- THE CHEF IN YOU        http://thechefinyou.com/

I am looking for someplace local to buy soft red wheat.  I am located north of Cincinnati, Ohio.  The only 'local' place - at a farmer market, that has soft wheat wants like $7.50 for a 5lb bag!  Okay, this just seems a little high to me considering I can get a 25lb bag of hard wheat for $12 and 5lbs isn't going to last me very long.

I can mail order from http://www.weisenberger.com for $2.10/5lb bag, but shipping really starts to add up when you get 20+lbs. 

Does anyone in the Cincy area buy local wheat???  If so, where and how much?? I am almost out, so I need to order soon or I will have to cut back on the muffins and scones :(

Thanks!!!

Steph

I just got some fresh wheat berries and I want to grind them into flour. I tried using my beer grinders but they didn't work at all so I had to use my coffee grinder. 

Please take a look at my blog site! http://breadnbeer.wordpress.com/

I just made some fresh wheat bread, it's awesome! But the coffee grinder takes forever..

Anyways, back to my question, where can I get an inexpensive but good grinder for my wheat? any suggestions for good brands? I was thinking about the kitchen aid attachment for grinding flour, it's only about 120$..

I am so excited!! I received my Nutrimill grain mill today!! 

I ran 2 cups of wheat through the mill as per the instructions....I have a couple of questions.

1. After milling, do you break down the machine and wash all of it?? If not, which pieces do you wash?  Do you take the rubber gaskets off and wash?

2. I noticed an electrical smell when I was milling and moved the upper dial (motor) toward the right for coarser flour.  Is this normal?  I wanted to see how coarse I could get the flour, but stopped when I smelled the electrical smell.  Should I be worried?  Should I be worried about moving the dials around??

3. What setting do you set for flour? (for making bread).

4. Do you leave the hopper extension ring on?? I wanted to put it back in the bowl and I wasn't able to get it back in and put the lid one (without damaging the black rubber gasket).

5. Do you sift your flour when making cake flour or other??

Oh, I just love my mill!!  I got it from www.organicwheatproducts.com AND I  received some lovely grain from her...the grain was so squeeky clean, I was delighted!! The other grain I had ordered from a mill and it was not nearly as clean...

That is all my questions for now...thank you so much :)

Steph

I have a viking 7qt mixer and was going to get the grain mill attachment for it.  I wanted to see if anyone has used it and get their feedback.  I have never milled my own flour before but reading some of the posts on here makes me think that Im mising out.  So... A few questions...

1.  Asside from the Viking Mixer Attahcment, what Grain Mills do you recommend?

2.  What kind of grain (wheats, corn etc) is recemmended?

3.  I understand that I need to only mill what I'll be using that day, and that it is a good idea to stroe the unused (milled) grain in the freezer if possible.  Any other things that I sould be aware of, from a storage perspective?

4.  I have found a source for "Golden Wheat" that is charging $9.00 for 50lb.  is this a good deal?  Is  Golden Wheat a soft or hard wheat? 

I know that I'm Nick the new guy here but any input would be appreciated....

Thanks,

Pat

Hi All, I have an older Whisper Mill that is probably 10 years old under "Grainmaster WhisperMill" - this made the original Whisper Mill but went bankrupt due to lifetime warranties.  The name was aquired by the current owners of Whispermill which is identical in terms of key parts; now being sold under WonderMill.  There were some problems and most can be fixed if you have the parts.

If anyone has a broken Whispermill/Wondermill  that they may be discarding, I would like to buy it at a reasonable price plus shipping to be used for spare parts.  Mine has been heavily used and I one day I will buy one of the newer mills.  I like to tinker and would love to give a go at keeping mine running forever.  My 87 year old Mother still has her 1942 Kitchen Aid Mixer that I plan on donating to the Smithsonian one day!  Thanks for indulging me...   Cheeers to all...

Nick

I'm so excited. I just ordered a new mill. I can hardly wait to start milling my own grains. Since I bake almost exclusively with whole grains this is a big deal for me. I've been ordering my flour out of state, about once or twice a month so I figure it will pay for itself in about a year.

There is a place very close to the house that sells grains in bulk so I'm pretty set, although I don't know if they have specialty grains like spelt, durum and kamut.

Now I just need to bake a bunch of whole wheat this week to use up the month old flour that I have. I'm refreshing my starter now, going to start some of my "1-2.5-3" loaves tonight.

Wow, what a great site with so much helpful info.  I really want to join the home grain milling tribe! Every 6 months, I spend hours researching mills online, get too confused and don't order anything...But I think I'm close...right now it's Nutrimill vs. Wolfgang/Komo.  Both seem like great mills, but on the downside I see it as micronizer vs. unknown millstone material.

My question is, does anyone really know what CERAMIC CORUNDUM is???? I googled it, and seemed Chinese company is a major supplier of some ceramic corundum. Has anyone come across any safety data on this mataerial?

Thanks for any advice!

LEE HOUSEHOLD FLOUR MILL

I'm in love with Lee...

The Lee Household Flour Mill is an electric grain mill manufactured by EM Lee Engineering. Purchased new, models start at $556. However, used mills are available at times on eBay at significantly reduced prices. I purchased a model S-600 on eBay several months ago and have been exploring the mill's capabilities since then.

Choice of Four Models

The S-600 model I purchased is this company's top of the line flour mill. It is a one-pass variable grind electric mill that uses a unique design for milling grain. It is adjustable from a coarse mill to a very fine flour. To-date, I have used it primarily to mill fine flour from hard spring wheat for bread and soft wheat flour for pasta and cookies. I have also milled a very coarse corn grits (from popcorn).

I have been extremely impressed with the fine flour this mill can produce. The flour I mill from hard spring wheat (red or white) is virtually indistinguishable in feel from a standard, commercial bread or all-purpose flour yet it is entirely 100% whole wheat. I also own a Nutrimill (micronizer) grain mill and I feel that the Lee Household Flour Mill produces a better fine flour.

This mill does have limitations. Like a micronizer mill, it is not capable of remilling flour. It cannot mill bean flour or small size grain such as millet or amarinth. It is difficult to clean. The units that become available on eBay may be missing some parts (most usually the flour receptacle bag and the lid for the grain hopper).

On eBay, I paid $125 (plus $15 shipping) for a working stone-based mill that can mill fine to coarse flour for most of the grains that home-millers use (wheat, rye, spelt, corn). Given the price, I'm willing to live with this mill's limitations, though I would be the first to admit that this mill is definitely not for everyone.

If anyone wants additional information on this mill, please post back to this thread or PM me (I have done extensive searches and have collected most of the information available on the 'net relating to this mill). I would be delighted to exchange information with you on this mill.

===== Selected Internet Resources about the Lee Household Flour Mill ==========

freerangegourmet.com/Docs/LeeFlourMill - the primary source for information on the Lee Household Flour Mill

www.eminstrumentswi.com/lee.html - information on models from the original manufacturing company, Lee Engineering.

Hey there!

I was wondering if anyone knew of a place to buy roller mills?  I realize they are usually set up in succession to bring the particle size down.

And... maybe what I'm looking for could be done without that.  What I'm wanting to do is mill whole buckwheat flour, and not have large hulls left over.  I assume flour processed at Birtkett Mills is all done on roller mills, but don't know if there is maybe a way to process the whole buckwheat berry, hull and all, into a flour.

Ideas?

Thanks!