Grain Mill

[StinkerBell]

I have two. One that is a hand millers (this unit works very well but takes about 20 minutes to get a few cups of flour) I also purchased a grain will attachment for my Kitchen Aid (VERY BIG DISAPPOINTMENT! It will not grind the wheat into a fine flour at all). I am looking to buy an electric grain mill that can do very fine flour and also grind dried beans. I am hoping to find someone out here that has one in use they love and can recommend it to me.

Thanks in advance!

[Willy]

I have two. One that is a hand millers (this unit works very well but takes about 20 minutes to get a few cups of flour) I also purchased a grain will attachment for my Kitchen Aid (VERY BIG DISAPPOINTMENT! It well not grind the wheat into a fine flour at all). I am looking to buy an electric grain mill that can do very fine flour and also grind dried beans. I am hoping to find someone out here that has one in use they love and can recommend it to me.

Thanks in advance!

Bosch makes a good one that works. My wife has saw them in action and said it did. She bakes allmost 20,000 lbs of cookies a year and would know. Her mixer is a Bosch also and has held up for all the years making them! Look under Bosch Grain Mill and you will find it. HERE IS ONE AND A LINK TO IT. Mark

http://www.giantsavings.com/bogrmiulwh76.html

[StinkerBell]

Thanks!


Still like others to chime in if they have had any experience. Have been looking at the Bosch. I was hoping to buy something not made in China or Korea.....However with that said my Kitchen Aid was made here in the USA and that was a large let down.

[Willy]

Thanks!


Still like others to chime in if they have had any experience. Have been looking at the Bosch. I was hoping to buy something not made in China or Korea.....However with that said my Kitchen Aid was made here in the USA and that was a large let down.

I understand where you are coming from. Hard to find anything that is not made overseas if it is a appliance nowdays. Her Home Bosch Mixer has mixed over 200,000 lbs of cookies and still runs great. I have had to replace the off and on switch and knob a couple times over a 10+ year period but no way would a normal home owner use on that much at home. I also picked up a $1,800.00  american made adjustable comercial coffie grinder for $250.00 (A-steal) and it grinds all the flax seeds and sun flower seeds she uses. This is the kind used in Expresso Places & stores you buy whole coffie beans from ect. She buys them in 50 lb sacks also. That was a great deal and it uses a 1 HP motor to run it. They will also grind flower and beans if you want. Check with used comercial restraunt places for one of those. Mark

[StinkerBell]

You have been a wonderful resource, THANKS!

[Redoverfarm]

Stink this might narrow your search down some.

http://www.iam751.org/jobs/unionstores.htm

[glenn kangiser]

That is one mighty big cookie business, Mark. 

[Willy]

That is one mighty big cookie business, Mark. 

She has been baking cookies for dogs allmost 18 years now at home. It is called Bigpaws Pantry and it allows us to live in the toolies and still be able to pay the bills. She is also looking forward to retirement and kicking back a little. Mark

http://www.bigpawspantry.com/

[glenn kangiser]

What a cool idea.  I thought it was people cookies.  That is really great.  She's a real enterprenuer-- if that's a good thing.

[Willy]

What a cool idea.  I thought it was people cookies.  That is really great.  She's a real enterprenuer-- if that's a good thing.

People cookies you have to deal with the Health Dept getting into what you do. Also people cookies are made by so many companys that there just plain cheap junk now. We can make realy good dog cookies, ones you can eat yourself(Like Granola Bars) there so good and make them out of the best stuff around! We got our fingers into a lot of different things. That is what it takes to be self employed now if you want to work at home. Mark

[Redoverfarm]

Mark I guess you can say that your buisness"went to the dogs" and get away with it Huh.

[glenn kangiser]

What a cool idea.  I thought it was people cookies.  That is really great.  She's a real enterprenuer-- if that's a good thing.

People cookies you have to deal with the Health Dept getting into what you do. Also people cookies are made by so many companys that there just plain cheap junk now. We can make realy good dog cookies, ones you can eat yourself(Like Granola Bars) there so good and make them out of the best stuff around! We got our fingers into a lot of different things. That is what it takes to be self employed now if you want to work at home. Mark

You got it.  Find a niche -- something you can do and have demand for and especially something that is a bit hard for others to get into.  Thats the way to do it. 

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Stinkerbell, I use my vita-mix to grind grain.  We've had it a little over five years now and have had no problems with it.  You don't grind large quantities at a time with it, but it works really well, and you can determine the fineness of the flour or meal made with it.  Takes about a minute to grind a cup or two of flour.  If you want, you can mix your baking stuff all in the blender too and mix and knead it all too.  It is a great product and we use ours every day.  There is a separate container for grinding, but we've found that even the "wet" container works just fine (though a year or two after we bought the machine we did go ahead and buy the "dry" container.)  Ours doesn't even have a place in the cabinets because it is used for everything so it sits out on the counter all the time.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

Also forgot, Stink, it'll grind dry beans, too... or just about anything.  I've done coffee in it before several times.  And soybeans back before I realized that soy didn't do a darn thing for me healthwise.  I've ground millet, rice, wheat, rye, buckwheat groats, oats, spelt, you name it.  Also, I ground all the corn we grew into cornmeal/ corn flour in the vita-mix.  Worked great... and homegrown heirloom corn makes a much tastier cornbread than the plain yellow stuff from the store.  Also good for grinding flaxseed, if you like to cook with it or put it in your food.  There are not too many products that I would sell, but that is one of them... I love it and use it a lot.  Makes canning tomato sauce even faster than the usual process (which is already fairly fast, for canning.)

[StinkerBell]

I went looking on the Vitamix website and at first did not find anything addressing milling. However after looking at the recipe section it was evident that it can mill. I am not sure to what degree. Can it mill to a fine textured level for pastry items?

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I've ground flour to use as tart crusts, breads, big soft pretzels, pizza crust, etc.  You have to grind it just a little longer to get a finer texture.  Same thing with coffee... if you want the finer grind for stronger coffee/cappucino, etc.  You don't want to grind it too long as it will heat up.  I've found that it works best with 1-1.5 cups of beans/grains at a time (1 cup whole grain = 1.5 cups flour or meal.) though it says you can grind two cups at a time.  A few weeks ago, I bought some of the Bob's Red Mill cornmeal... I made sure to get the finer grind, and yet when I got it home and made some bread out of it, it wasn't nearly as fine and soft as what I ground myself in the vita-mix.  Too bad we're already out of homegrown corn!!

[glenn kangiser]

...and if you ladies get too excited grinding your flour and decide you want to throw it up in the air like snow, leave the burners off and don't light a match.  It is explosive when dispersed well in air.  Homeland Security will be on you two like flies on doodoo.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

   Glenn, you're having a random morning, huh?  How many cups of coffee did you have, exactly?

[StinkerBell]

I have ni idea what glenn is talking about..

[glenn kangiser]

Seriously - flour is explosive when dispersed in air.

Flour explodes under certain conditions for two reasons. The first is that flour is a starch. Starches, like other carbohydrates, burn very easily. Secondly, while flour is not explosive in an inert state, it is capable of spreading in the air and creating a potentially explosive dust cloud. Flour explosions most often appear in locations where flour is heavily handled, although a small scale explosion can be created at home as well.

Flour is made from chains of glucose molecules, meaning that it is a complex carbohydrate. Although flour is not sweet to the taste, it does retain the highly flammable properties of sugars. However, flour will not ignite if it is densely packed, as it often is in a home kitchen. Flour must have ample air to explode, as might be the case in a flour mill when a tossed sack of flour splits open, for example.

For flour to explode, it must form a highly dispersed dust. Approximately two ounces (56 grams) of flour suspended in a cubic yard (one cubic meter) of air will have explosive properties. If a flame is introduced to the flour dust, the individual flour particles will burn. If the dust cloud is large enough, a flash fire inside the dust cloud will result, which can create a serious explosion.

Flour explosions are a much larger risk in areas where large amounts of flour are handled. Although a small dust cloud of flour might ignite in a home kitchen, the damage would probably not be severe. In a grain elevator or flour mill, however, the potential for a very large cloud of flour or grain dust is much higher. For this reason, care is taken in these facilities to prevent dust clouds, and potential sources of open flame are usually protected.

Some science classes create a small flour explosion to illustrate the principle. A simple and relatively safe way to do this is to light a candle inside a can with a lid. Poke a straw through a small hole drilled at approximately candle level, and puff flour into the can through the straw. A small fire should result, blowing the lid of the can off. If only a small amount of flour accomplishes this, the results of a larger flour explosion can easily be imagined.

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-causes-flour-to-explode.htm

Danger lurks in the kitchen.

[glenn kangiser]

  Glenn, you're having a random morning, huh?  How many cups of coffee did you have, exactly?

Getting the first one right now.

[glenn kangiser]

Let me know if you decide to experiment.  Don't get hurt and take pictures.  Open a door or window will prevent glass breakage.

Maybe.

Don't use this as an excuse not to cook.

[Homegrown Tomatoes]

I'm bad enough about catching stuff on fire without meaning to... last thing I need to do is try it on purpose!  I have a collection of wooden spoons that are burned on one side where I accidentally set them down too close to the burner, a few dishtowels that met similar fates, and cloth napkins that died a painful death by candlelight. 

[StinkerBell]

ohhhhhhhhhhh we have a fire bug in our midst 









: <-----got to get this emote.

[glenn kangiser]

ohhhhhhhhhhh we have a fire bug in our midst 









: <-----got to get this emote.

Haven't found it.