Grinding Grains Into Fine Flour

[songstressc]

I would really like to buy the whole grains of Teff, Amaranth, Millet and the other grains I use and make my own flour. I have looked and looked online and there does not seem to anything hailed as clearly working. Some say use a coffee grinder which I have already tried and just as I read it did not grind fine enough . I am stumped? Any success stories out there in making fine ground flours? Please share!

[songstressc]

I notice that a lot view my posts but I don't receive replys. Am I not posting properly? Please if anyone has any info to help about grinding grains and also where do you shop for all your grains? Prices really vary. Thanks to anyone who replies!

[mushroom]

I notice that a lot view my posts but I don't receive replys. Am I not posting properly? Please if anyone has any info to help about grinding grains and also where do you shop for all your grains? Prices really vary. Thanks to anyone who replies!

Maybe not many members have invested in a grain mill (which tend to be kind of pricey). With the number of gluten free flours you have to combine to get a good texture, it is probably easier (I know it is for me) to buy smaller quantities of the pre-ground grains. Some I buy in larger quantities than others (I use a lot of buckwheat, for example) but since I am not heavily into baking and have a great gluten free bakery nearby, it is not something that I would bother with.

[MamaJo]

You're right, a coffee grinder isn't going to work for grinding flours. And, there are a lot of different mills out there. You can sometimes find an old hand crank one on garage sales or auctions, that's what we started with. It's a lot more effort to grind your own, but IMO totally worth it. It's much easier to store whole berries in a dry storage, grind a specific amount at a time (how ever much you know you'll be using for a couple days), and not worry about them going rancid. The other benefit is that when you grind the grain from whole, it retains a lot more of the nutrition than what you get when you buy them already ground.

We invested in a Country Living Mill from Pleasant Hill Grains. It's a workhorse mill, the only one we'll ever need. It's SO quiet, and the versatility is nice. We hand cranked it for quite awhile, until my husband hooked it up to an electric motor. The nice thing is that we still have the option to hook the hand crank back up, in the case that there was a long power outage.

The other option may be a vitamix. If you also do a lot of blending and juicing it would cut down on the number of different appliances you have sitting on your counter. My father has one of those, with the grain hopper attachment (though he's never used it). I've never tried it either, but I would still think that that a 'real' mill would work better.

I guess I would recommend that you think about what *you* want in a mill, then start researching from there.

[SUZIN]

I got a Nutramill from Pleasant Hill a couple years ago...It takes a long time to grind rice flour if you want it to be a finer flour...probably 1 hr for 2#.....so I set it to grind courser and use it that way....it works OK for baking...but I would like a better grain mill....and I don't know what grain mill may be better....at the time the Nutramill sounded like the best that was available....I too, would like to find a supplier for buying whole grains...like buckwheat, millet, etc....I can get sorghum from Twin Valleys Mill here in Nebraska..

[songstressc]

thank you so much for the input! Funny the two mills I was looking at was the Nutrimill and I believe it was the Country Living Mill - this was the only one that was both hand crank and electric. I may not be strong enough to crank it but my husband could. I think a lot about all the electric things I am used to in the kitchen - We both want to plan to be solar powered in the future., I think it will be important down the road. Thanks for your input - I really am stuck between these two though not like we are buying it tomorrow or anything- does the Country L. Mill grind really fine too? the add for Nutrimill says it is the ONLY one that grinds so fine?? Thanks again!

[MamaJo]

thank you so much for the input! Funny the two mills I was looking at was the Nutrimill and I believe it was the Country Living Mill - this was the only one that was both hand crank and electric. I may not be strong enough to crank it but my husband could. I think a lot about all the electric things I am used to in the kitchen - We both want to plan to be solar powered in the future., I think it will be important down the road. Thanks for your input - I really am stuck between these two though not like we are buying it tomorrow or anything- does the Country L. Mill grind really fine too? the add for Nutrimill says it is the ONLY one that grinds so fine?? Thanks again!

I know what you mean about electric!! We are striving to live simply here. Sure, I can go back to hand cranking my mill, though I don't know how I could ever give up my kitchenaid mixer or my food processor! LOL!

I think you would be surprised though. I could crank my mill, as could my 13 year old daughter. I'm not saying we cranked fast, or that we enjoyed it, but we *could* do it We are able to get a fine flour from ours. The softer grains take a longer time, but the harder ones go through fairly quickly. One thing I have learned is to not try to go from a whole grain to a powder in one round. Instead I run it through once on a courser setting to crack it all up, then run it through again to make the flour. Some things I even run through a third time. It sounds like a lot, but it's not too bad.

As for whole grains.....I just bought sorghum from Twin Valley Mills for the first time and was *very* impressed! The rest of our grains come from some buying co-ops. Open Original Shared Link is one, Open Original Shared Link is another. I'm not sure how far that CLNF delivers, but you can contact each of those places directly to see if they have any groups that are placing orders in your area. You could ask your local churches and homeschool groups if they know of any buying clubs that are active. My experience is that many of the ones ordering (from around here at least) fall into those areas. Another idea would be to check into any health food stores in your area, see who their distributor is, and then go to them to see if there are any private groups ordering. If none of that works, a lot of HFS will offer case discounts if you buy in bulk, though it's still not going to be as cheap as if you were able to join a group.

[Ginsou]

I, too have been thinking of buying a grinder, only my thoughts were to use it to produce a superfine flour mix. I've just started using superfine brown rice mix and superfine almond. The prepackaged mixes are pricey. We live for 6 months in the southern desert in a motor home and have solar panels that serve our needs very nicely....with backup generator for those cloudy days, which are few and far between. I enjoy unlimited electricity the other 6 months while in our home. Someone on the forum had recommended a Cuisinart Supreme Grind Automatic Burr Mill, (DBM-8)the cost is very reasonable....approximately $49.95. Google it, it may be something you may be interested in....I'm still debating whether to purchase one.