Hi From Australia
Hello everyone,
Got more to ask than say really.
Wife and I are looking at buying a Mill. After reading about how grains lose most of their nutrients through commercial milling processes due to excessive heat (to produce flour fast so that they can sell on a commercial scale), I am honestly no longer interested in eating bread you buy or eating bread from flour you buy.
To my understanding, even the so called "Stone Ground" flour you buy is no good. It simply means stones ground the flour however, what RPMs, how hot etc... well you basically got stone ground straw. Those flours last up to 6 months in a bucket while fresh ground flour lasts 72 hours before going rancid.
Needless to say... We want to buy a mill and make our own brads, from Rye, Spelt, and Wheat.
Now After much reading, pros-con's of each method...
I think we are most comfortable to stick to the traditional "Stone" mill (with no alluminium).
I found Wonder Mill, Retsel Mil Rite, and a company called Grainmaker.
All of them claim to be worlds number 1 mill on the market lol.
Anyway, I did not like the Wonder Mill as it explodes the grain in the electric mill. I think that some how will do something to the wheat structure (on a molecular level) than it would had it just been 'ground'. (might not be true - just doesn't sound right exploding the wheat into flower).
The Retsel Mil Rite seems to use a very slow turning process to ensure the grain does not overheat. It also uses stones and I think is Alluminium free.
The way we make bread.... we make one loaf... eat that over 3-4 days, and then make another one. So wanting things done fast... "comeon..... hurry up....!" is not the issue.
In principle it seems the Retsel is the best, slow moving, stones, stones dont grind against eachother which causes stone powder to be eaten over time (I read it doesn't grind against eachother, could be wrong).
Then there is Grainmaker... I can not seem to find much about them in comparison except "We are the worlds number 1 mill on the market" - Just like wondermill claim on their website.
Anyway -
For me price does not matter. I can spend up to $2000 for a good mill.
I simply want the best functioning stone mill period.
- One that does not give you stone powder in the flour.
-One that therefor wont chip the stones.
-One that turns slowly as to make sure 100% the grain retains 100% of its nutritional value... and last of all...
- One that grinds the flour extremely fine so that you can make pasta and pastry if you wanted to.
A lot of people judge the mill by how fine it can grind. Others (Like wonder mill) claim to be the best based on the huge motor size... My logic says "Who cares about the motor, what does the rest of it do... meaning the actual part that MAKES the flower not the damn motor" and etc...
So as you see... Im not sure where to even begin.
If anything is confusing... let me know as I am sure there is plenty of it... From "hello" to... Take care"
Take care
George
Have you looked at KoMo mills yet? They have a good reputation for quality of build and operation.
Regarding flour temperature: did the sources you've read point out that the flour will experience much higher temperatures as the bread bakes? If high temperatures destroy some of the flour's nutritional value, then we're all pretty much stuck with subpar bread; even when we make our own.
Another way to approach this is to consider that home milling will give you the maximum nutritive value because you will consume everything the grain has to offer. Nothing will have been removed. It will be as fresh as it can possibly be. Those are your benefits. After that, whatever compounds are destroyed by heat will be lost in the baking process even if the flour stays cool while milling.
Pick the style of mill on the basis of what you want to produce with it. After that, your decision should be based on where you perceive the sweet spot of quality and cost to be.
Happy shopping!
Paul
Hey and thanks for the reply.
Yes the sources pointed out it goes in a much hotter oven... the thing is though... like an experiment you can do... put a grain in water and let it soak, leave the other one dry. After a while when the grain has absorbed the water take it out and dry it. Now stick a match under both of them.
They both go black. However, now cut the grain open. The dry one is all black inside while the one you had soaked in water and then dried was still healthy on the inside.
So as much as "yeah but it is going in a hot oven anyway" is true... it is not entirely accurate as the water content in the bread (dough) will protect the wheat from being destroyed in the oven, while hot grinding, there is no water to protect it, so it is slightly different between the two and why overheating during milling is worse than going into oven (its done dry while oven is done wet)
You mentioned I should pick the style of mill on the basis of what I want to produce.
Bread, Pastry, Pasta.
So grinding very fine is what I want it to do, I also want it to be able to grind course for things like Polenta/porridge.
Interchangeable stone with steel so I can also do oily nuts and seeds like almond butter, peanutt butter, cashew butter, brazil nut butter and hazelnut butter (pretty much the stuff you can buy in health food store @ a huge $15 for only 250gm price), flaxseed and sesame seed.
The sweet spot for quality and cost... Best quality, price non relevant. As said, I am happy to spend $2000 to get the best quality even if its 5% better but costs 200% more, im happy to pay 200% more to get that last little bit of 'better'.
So far as far as my research goes, the Retsel Mil-Rite seems to be good. Stone, they don't chip or rub against each other causing stone powder to go into the bread... they can change out the stone burr for metal so that you can also do nut butters and they spin at 42 rpm which means no over-heating the grain.
Anyone got any feedback on how 'fine' they grind? Do they compare to other brands?
Also I was told here, that the Mil-rite is non existent and cant buy them.... ??? - Wasn't the mil-rite retsels best mill?
Just to clarify, I am not changing the topic into 'retsel' I am just speaking what I am learning as im reading... just sharing here so that you guys can give me your thoughts on different items and so forth.
Thanks :)