Grain mill

[Oscar Wilde]

Oz....S O's wife....UD....HP.....anyone have any experience with a hand cranked grain mill? Is this a silly question or what? Any recomendations.... places to buy from? :confused:
O.W.

[Skyowl]

We have the Family Grain Mill. It comes in a variety of configurations with numerous attachments to include powered and hand crank. Considering the thought of no electric, we bought the hand crank version.

Now I have to say, we tried the hand crank part when we ground some wheat to make flour for a loaf of bread. That will put muscles in your stuff right thar! I ended up cutting a very large allen wrench, it fit in the hand crank hole, and attached my cordless drill set on low speed. Worked wonders. Now all I need to do is keep the drill charged.

I must say, and I think Wife will back me up, the mill works great. You can grind all sorts of stuff with it. You can also turn oat groats into oatmeal with the flaker attachment. As long as power is available, this thing is great. Without power, we will have to set up a grinding detail with the children to get that two cups of flour we need to make one loaf.

[Lostinoz]

I second the Family Grain Mill. For the price, it is very good! I also have a Country Living Mill.

Here is a link to both of them and you can compare. There is quite a difference in price.

http://www.homestead-products.com/mills.htm

[herbalpagan]

I've heard of how hard a hand crank can be, so IF I got one, I would probably get one that was electric. They have them that are convertable, or you can do what Owl did.
I have thought long and hard about a grain mill, and storing bulk wheat, but at this time, I can not spend the money, nor do I have the space. It is something that is on my "list" for a later date, and hopefully it will be done before it's too late.
Sorry I couldn't help more.

[Oscar Wilde]

[I've heard of how hard a hand crank can be]
Cream puff, :p
[so IF I got one, I would probably get one that was electric.]
Can you spell EMP ???????:rolleyes:
[I have thought long and hard about a grain mill,]
you and me both.
[I can not spend the money, It is something that is on my "list" for a later date]
Again you and me both, those two models are high dollar....maybe I can find a medium size mortar and pestle.....
[Sorry I couldn't help more]
You are great thanks S O, Oz, HP. :)
O.W.

[Skyowl's Wife]

Without power, we will have to set up a grinding detail with the children to get that two cups of flour we need to make one loaf.

It's 4 cups per loaf, dear.

O.W. this will grind corn and beans, too, so you can make your own pinole.

I would love to have the large wheel of the Country Living Mill, which also has a ridge for a belt - you could hook it to a bicycle. I'm willing to bet one could be rigged for the Family Mill, though.

[Oscar Wilde]

[I'm willing to bet one could be rigged for the Family Mill, though.]

How is it?....necessity is the mother of invention? Funny you should mention the bicycle...during my search I came upon a site with an old photograph of an elderly gent doing just that....pedaling a bicycle attached to a grinder.
O.W.

[Skyowl's Wife]

Would like to see that, O.W.!

To see the saga of the grinder and the bread, it's here: http://xcolony.com/x/showthread.php?t=2511

[Oscar Wilde]

[Would like to see that, O.W.!]
I need a lesson in posting photos to this forum...:o

[To see the saga of the grinder and the bread, it's here: http://xcolony.com/x/showthread.php?t=2511[/QUOTE]

Thanks SO'sW :) Some day soon, we're all gonna be real glad we we put forth the time and effort its too bad we don't live closer to help each other in the preps....I guess I should thank Rancher for his inspiration:rolleyes:
O.W.

[Skyowl's Wife]

[Would like to see that, O.W.!]
I need a lesson in posting photos to this forum...:o

A link would work, love!

And if you are serious, I can type up how-to for posting pics.

[Oscar Wilde]

[A link would work, love!]

:confused: Duh! I didn't think of that.....my computer knows that I don't like it and so it doesn't help me out with things of this nature. I traditionally right click on clickable things and choose save as.....

[And if you are serious, I can type up how-to for posting pics.]
Your wonderful.....you SO's are hard working sorts....I for one, greatly appreciate you.
O.W.

[Skyowl's Wife]

I for one, greatly appreciate you.
O.W.

Awwww :o. Thx much! Will run through the steps tomorrow and type it up.

[herbalpagan]

How much wheat does it take to make 4 cups of flour?
What kind of wheat?
How much does wheat cost? Is it cheaper to do it yourself?
My husband likes his white bread, but I'm thinking of weaning him by using King Arthur's light wheat flour and then I'll ease him into regular wheat.

[Skyowl]

How much wheat does it take to make 4 cups of flour?
What kind of wheat?
How much does wheat cost?
Is it cheaper to do it yourself?

Question 1: Ask the Wife. I just grind it.
Question 2: Wheat-Hard Red, from Montana
Question 3: From Walton Feed, the cheapest we've found so far, $15.50 for 50 pounds. We make "large" purchases, i.e. lots of stuff at one time. Our last order was for 1056 pounds of stuff, for a total of $782.04. Goods were $438.15, Shipping $343.89. That works out to about 78 cents per pound. We then transfer everything into mylar bags with oxygen absorbers in 5 gal buckets for long term storage. The wheat Wife talked about in the link she posted has been stored for over 10 years. Tastes great.
Question 4: Ask the Wife, she keeps the records of costs.

A small list for those interested in some of the stuff they offer...

Granola, Super nutty, 25lb box = 42.50
9 Grain cracked cereal, 50lb bag = 43.25
Pearl barley, 25lb bag = 11.95
Rolled regular oats, 50lb bag = 20.60
Oat Groats, 50lb bag = 22.50
Rye, 1 bushel, 56lb bag = 21.65
Durum Wheat, for pasta, 25lb bag = 12.00
Soft Wheat, for pastry, 50lb bag = 18.75
Gremade, Cream of Wheat, 50lb bag = 20.95
Hard Red Wheat, 50lb bag = 15.50
Cornmeal, Yellow, 50lb bag = 17.25

Just about everything they sell comes wrapped in double plastic around the container the grain is in. They do a really good job of it.

Now, why whole wheat? Whole wheat berries store a lot longer than wheat flour. Besides, when they process wheat, they end up stripping off most of the nutrients from the berry. Whole wheat berries, although it takes more work to make flour, is a lot better for you. Thats why we went that direction.

For plastic 5 gal buckets, I use USPlastics, Mylar bags from Emergency Essentials, Oxygen Absorbers from SorbentSystems.

I hope this answers your questions.

[Oscar Wilde]

[Our last order was for 1056 pounds of stuff, for a total of $782.04. Goods were $438.15, Shipping $343.89. That works out to about 78 cents per pound. We then transfer everything into mylar bags with oxygen absorbers in 5 gal buckets for long term storage. The wheat Wife talked about in the link she posted has been stored for over 10 years. Tastes great.
Question 4: Ask the Wife, she keeps the records of costs.

You give your UPS guys quite a workout....me too....I give them a nice Christmas card each year.
O.W.