We never even considered milling our own grain until we started doing a lot more multi-grain baking and cooking. Those quinoa and spelt flours get expensive! It sure would be nice to buy the whole-grains or nuts for these flours in bulk and grind them ourselves at home. Do any of you do this?
We've been using our food processor to do some very basic milling. Pour in the nut or grain, give it a few good pulses, and manage to get a fairly decent flour. The flour is pretty coarse and non-uniform (though sifting it through a strainer gets out the big bits), and this works fine for occasional baking. As we've been using alternative types of flours more frequently, we've started wishing for a better product.
The problem is that home grain mills are definitely an investment! One of the mills we came across most frequently in our searches was the Nutrimill Grain Mill, which will set you back around $270. Hand-cranked mills are significantly less, around $50, but we aren't sure how finely they will grind flour or if it would become cumbersome to grind larger batches of flour. KitchenAid used to have an attachment for about $150, but they seem to have discontinued the product.
Here are the main grain mills we found:
• Prago Cereal and Multi-Grain Mill from Walmart, $29.98 (Hand-cranked)
• Back to Basics Hand Mill from Internet-Grocer, $53.50 (Hand-cranked)
• Nutrimill Grain Mill from Pleasant Hill Grain, $270 (Electronic)
• Family Grain Mill from Internet-Grocer, $139 - $270 (Electronic, also has the possibility of alternate attachments for flaking grains, grinding meat, and pureeing fruits and vegetables)
We'll be keeping our eyes peeled at garage sales this summer. Maybe we'll get lucky and find a used one.
Do you grind flour at home? What do you use?
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Comments (16)
Well, that sucks. I was totally going to get the KitchenAid attachment.
I've never used one, but my boss's wife has used a hand mill for many years. She makes her own whole wheat flour with it and uses it to bake bread on a day to day basis. I would imagine that it's not too difficult to use, because she also works full time and managed to get her PhD...? Hope that helps!
virtualjess - I totally hear you! This post was originally going to be ONLY about the KitchenAid attachment, but everywhere I look lists it as "temporarily out of stock" and it's not even listed as a product on the KitchenAid website. Arg! Maybe we this means we can get a deal on used ones, though? (Wishful thinking!)
virtualjess - I looked at the Kitchenaid attachment on Amazon a while back...most people said they did not like it at all, and/or that the Kitchenaid motor wasn't strong enough, the attachment was made of plastic, etc. Maybe that's why they've stopped making it...
I've been using a Nutrimill Grain Mill about a year. The difference between freshly ground flour and store-bought is simply amazing. I am able to make 100% whole wheat bread that smells great and has a supple, light crumb.
My homemade spelt tortillas are soft and silky.
I can mill different grains (rye, spell, red and white wheat, rice, etc.) and often use two kinds of flour in my breads.
The mill is rather large. It's as wide as a salad spinner yet rather light. Not the type of appliance you can keep on the counter of a small kitchen, though. Still SO worth having if you bake bread often.
Oh, and it couldn't be easier to use.
There's a guy who sells his lovingly ground flours at the Ferry Building Farmer's market, and I saw him there one time with a big hand-crank grinder, and he explained that it sometimes took a few passes to get a really fine, even textured flour.
My CSA does grain/flour (good stuff too) and are super friendly. They are really into getting people to see how easy it is so I bet they would have good advice.
http://eatwell.com/
(They also sell at the Ferry Building, I wonder if that's who you saw caseoftornados?)
For years my parents had a hand-cranked mill bolted to the counter in our kitchen. We kids (there were 10 of us!) were in charge of making sure there was always whole wheat flour for Mom to make the weekly bread. We quickly learned never to say "I'm bored!" because then we'd be stuck at the grinder until our arms were numb.
After I moved off to college, my parents bought an electric one. I shake my head at my younger siblings and say, "When I was a kid . . . ."
I believe the Vita Mix blender has an attachment that grinds stuff into flour.
I would totally recommend a Wonder mill. http://www.thewondermill.com/
It works great and is very fast.
There are other companies that make grain mill attachments that work with Kitchen Aid Mixers. Here's an example: http://www.mykitchencenter.com/Details.cfm?ProdID=1081
My mom has an old, super heavy grain mill that bolted to the table. She used to use it a lot, but hardly ever uses it now and has promised it to me when I have the space for it. I remember it was very easy to use.
We have a local grain CSA so I've been seriously considering a mill (I currently get it ground for me, so it's not quite as wonderfully fresh) The nutrimill came out on top in my searches followed by the whisperlight which I've tried (very noisy and got a bit plugged up doing oat flour). It's so great having grain from just a few kilometres away!
Here's a pro tip: you can use your coffee bean grinder to grind grains! I do a lot of gluten-free baking, which often calls for millet flour. Millet flour is difficult to find, so I just grind up whole millet in my coffee grinder and it works great. Why buy another piece of equipment when you can use something you already have? :)
I have a small Tribest "personal blender," and it came with an additional milling blade which does a pretty good job. I use the milling blade pretty often to grind up small batches of stuff - spices, nuts, grains, stale bread into crumbs, etc. So for people who aren't looking to mill large quantities, I would suggest it.
I help my husband grind his grains for beer on a hand-crank one, and it's kind of fun actually...mindless, good exercise.