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Submitted by subfuscpersona on September 18, 2009 - 2:00pm Lee Household Flour Mill - my Review / EvaluationLEE 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 - however there are work-arounds one can apply). On eBay, I paid $125 (plus $15 shipping) for a working stone-based mill that can mill fine to coarse flour for most of the grains that home-millers use (wheat, rye, spelt, corn). Given the price, I'm willing to live with this mill's limitations, though I would be the first to admit that this mill is definitely not for everyone. If anyone wants additional information on this mill, please post back to this thread or PM me (I have done extensive searches and have collected most of the information available on the 'net relating to this mill). I would be delighted to exchange information with you on this mill. ===== Selected Internet Resources about the Lee Household Flour Mill ========== freerangegourmet.com/Docs/LeeFlourMill - the primary source for information on the Lee Household Flour Mill www.eminstrumentswi.com/lee.html - information on models from the original manufacturing company, Lee Engineering.
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Are you sure
Have you confirmed that the company doesn't make them still
http://www.eminstrumentswi.com/lee.html
still lists them on the webpage, and we bought on about 2.5 years ago from them. They said they still make them when I called. An email to the company might be in order.
I have to agree about the mill, I love ours. We inherited one from my wife's grandmother which broke (turned out to be a 20$ part) and we tried several other grain mills before I found the company, which happily sent me the parts I needed and a new model we paid for so we had a spare and so we could adjust the grind of the flour easily. They aren't cheap, but the one we inherited has ground several tons of grain in its 40 year life and is still going strong. (Nana made bread once a week and my wife makes 5 loaves a week for the family, all whole wheat, that turns into a good bit of wheat.)
Confirmed
Lee engineering is still making the grain mill. I sent them an email last night and lo and behold, first thing this morning I've got a response say yes they still make it and here's some info on it. The prices when I bought our recent one weren't cheap, but it's the best mill around (I've tried flour from 8 different grain mills) and will last you your lifetime. If you find one on ebay they also have all the spare parts for the machines so you can get the lid for the grain hopper or a new bag without problems.
Happy bread making
@weldon - Other grain mills tried?
Please tell me the other (8) grain mills you've tried. I would be interested in your evaluation of the Lee Household Flour Mill vs these other grain mills.
It would be helpful to know what grain(s) you routinely mill for bread baking and the quantity you mill at a time for each mill.
Thank you - SF
======= PS ========
I sent you a PM to THANK YOU for your initiative in contacting the manufacturer of the Lee Household Flour Mill. I eMailed the manufacturer inquiring about replacement parts (specifically the cloth grain mill receptacle bag, which is the only part that was missing from the model S-600 that I purchased)
Lee Household Flour Mill - price list for all models
I have been corresponding with Tom Thresher of EM Lee Engineering, the company that makes the Lee Household Flour Mill. He provided a current price list for this mill, which I am passing along to interested millers.
1/6 HP motor (slower output)
1/4 HP motor (faster output)
1/6 HP motor (slower output)
1/4 HP motor (faster output)
=== COMPANY CONTACT INFORMATION ===
Tom Thresher
Phone: 1 414 247 1127
3712 W. Elm St., Milwaukee, WI 53209
=== EM Lee Engineering Company site ===
www.eminstrumentswi.com/lee.html
I'm glad you posted this.
I'm glad you posted this. There's a Lee mill at the cannery in Jax that I've been wondering about for years. No one knows anything about it and I've never seen one before. Now I know.
.....Alan.
to athagan - re Lee mill at the cannery in Jax
Do you know what this mill is used for?
Is it an item for sale, or is it used to mill flour?
Any further information you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
I love my Lee, too
Congratulations on your purchase. You won't be sorry! I bought one when my son was born, so he'd be raised on healthy bread. The mill came with a one-year warranty. That was 35 years ago, and it’s still going strong, and has never needed a repair.
My only advice is to put a note on top that says, "Don't Forget Bag." Once or twice I forgot to put the bag on, and I came back to find the entire room coated with flour!! You do NOT want to go through that!
some questions re your Lee grain mill
I'm delighted to hear from another owner of this mill.
Can you tell me whether you clean the mill after using it? The manual recommends it , but do you find it to be necessary?
Aslo, if you do disassemble it for cleaning, do you find it difficult to reinsert the carborundum milling ring? That's the only thing that gives me trouble.
Looking forward to hearing from you. - SF
Cleaning the Lee mill
Hi, SF,
Yes, I do clean my mill after every use. Otherwise, I'd be afraid of attracting grain moths (or worse), or that flour left inside could go rancid. But I'm lazy, so I mill a month's worth of flour at a time, clean the mill, bake two weeks' worth of bread right away, and keep the remainder of the flour at room temperature. That's based on Reinhart's recommendation:
http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/4276/interview-peter-reinhart#comment-21990
Yes, even after all these years, I still hold my breath when replacing the stone. Because it's such a tight fit, it must go in at exactly the right angle. Just lightly set the stone over the circular hole, and wiggle it slightly until it falls in by itself. If it gets stuck, tap lightly it with something soft. I use a meat mallet wrapped in a folded kitchen towel, tapping clockwise around the stone. Again, the key word is lightly. It may take 20-30 taps, but then magically it will fall in.
A couple other hints. After I clean it, I store the cloth bag in the fridge (inside a plastic bag). That way, any flour remaining in the bag doesn't go rancid. Also, it needs washing very rarely that way. Because that leaves the chute at the bottom uncovered, I rubber-band a baggie around the open end, so no grain moths can enter the chute.
When I read about other mills, I sometimes wonder if mine is worth the trouble. But the flour is so beautifully fine that I soon get over it.
@merrybaker - wonderful information + one more question...
Great info- very helpful - thanks for taking the time to reply.
Your experience replacing the carborundum ring is exactly like mine. Because of this, I too find myself milling more than I need for one baking. I agree with you that this is the one major drawback of the Lee grain mill.
Have you ever thought of making your own bag(s) for this mill? I purchased a new flour bag from EM Lee Engineering, and now that I see how it is constructed (and, more importantly, the fabric used) I'm going through my fabric stash to see if I could duplicate it. Most important, I would think, is to make sure the inside of the bag is a little fuzzy in order to catch the flour dust that's generated. I'm contemplating trying to use 100% narrow wale corduroy *inside out* but am not sure it would be fuzzy enough. Any thoughts?
Do you know if there are any
Do you know if there are any advantages to a carborundum stone vs a ceramic corundum stone?
Is this mill available with steel plates instead?