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!
Quote from: StinkerBell on January 26, 2008, 05:58:20 PM
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
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.
Quote from: StinkerBell on January 26, 2008, 07:19:50 PM
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
You have been a wonderful resource, THANKS!
Stink this might narrow your search down some.
http://www.iam751.org/jobs/unionstores.htm
That is one mighty big cookie business, Mark. :)
Quote from: glenn kangiser on January 27, 2008, 02:08:42 AM
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/
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.:)
Quote from: glenn kangiser on January 27, 2008, 11:11:44 AM
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
Mark I guess you can say that your buisness"went to the dogs" and get away with it Huh. ;D
Quote from: Willy on January 27, 2008, 11:22:43 AM
Quote from: glenn kangiser on January 27, 2008, 11:11:44 AM
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.
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.
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.)
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?
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!!
...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.
;D Glenn, you're having a random morning, huh? How many cups of coffee did you have, exactly?
I have ni idea what glenn is talking about.. [crz]
Seriously - flour is explosive when dispersed in air.
QuoteFlour 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. [crz]
Quote from: Homegrown Tomatoes on January 28, 2008, 12:43:48 PM
;D Glenn, you're having a random morning, huh? How many cups of coffee did you have, exactly?
Getting the first one right now. ;D
Let me know if you decide to experiment. Don't get hurt and take pictures. Open a door or window will prevent glass breakage. ;D
Maybe.
Don't use this as an excuse not to cook. [crz]
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.
ohhhhhhhhhhh we have a fire bug in our midst [scared]
:heh <-----got to get this emote.
Quote from: StinkerBell on January 28, 2008, 01:37:54 PM
ohhhhhhhhhhh we have a fire bug in our midst [scared]
:heh <-----got to get this emote.
Haven't found it.
Sassy knows.
She'll be back tomorrow. She can show me.
Then there was the time I decided to burn an old checkbook in the kitchen sink and it caught something else on fire... Smoked up the house a little bit but did no lasting damage, really...
That's what I call a hot check.
:drum another good emote for you glenn
LOOK IN YOUR PM BOX
Stinkerbell, tonight I baked whole wheat bread and whole wheat pumpkin chocolate bread with wheat that was ground in the vita mix. It was pretty darn good (both of them.) The whole wheat pumpkin bread was really good... like a cake, but somewhat healthier!
I want to thank everyone for sharing their opinions. It was a great help.
I have decided to go with the Electrolux Magic Mill.
My decision comes with extensive search on the product, and the fact the hubby says he likes this one and is familiar with the brand. Oh yes, He also points out he is the one with the credit card to order online....details, details, details.
Let us know how it works, Stink.
Well do, but I suspects it will work when I plug it in.... :)
Don't make any sparks -- don't forget the dangerous flour explosion -- Homeyland Security may be watching.
Everytime I say Homeland Security, I want to say Heil Bush.
Don't want to create a cloud of sugar either, as evidenced by the Imperial Sugar Refinery fire in GA... who knew that sugar was so explosive?
I might be able to get you a deal on a larger mill. Some maintenance needed ;D
(http://conneelystudio.com/fine_art/images/millncwlg.jpg)
[cool]
I've been looking at the new Vitamix - but am interested in the Electrolux mixer, Stinkerbell - let me know how it works... the new Vitamix has a much more powerful motor - looks like it would be great for grinding grain & beans - also doing the initial mixing of bread dough - Glenn said I can't run it very long because of the solar - but for a few minutes, would be great!
My mom had electroluxes & I've had them - really like the vacuum cleaner...
Will do Sassy! It comes tomorrow via DHL or UPS.
Quote from: John C on February 15, 2008, 12:56:07 PM
I might be able to get you a deal on a larger mill. Some maintenance needed ;D
(http://conneelystudio.com/fine_art/images/millncwlg.jpg)
I really like this mill -- OK -- gush --slobber--drool--- look down at the floor--- I LOVE that mill and would gladly maintain it in a state of managed disrepair. d* [crz]
Hey Glenn.. right up your alley. When I photographed that mill about 15 yrs ago the owner was in his 80's. he looked to weigh about 130 lbs. He had recently unshipped the wheel and replaced the babbit bearings with new one that he cast himself. He thought he might hae it back in operation in 6 months or so.
Real men wear overalls.
I'll even give you a choice :)
(http://www.conneelystudio.com/fine_art/images/millgalg.jpg)
John C, they look like Hobbit Homes...:heh
Nice, John. I have always liked them. We saw a great one in France.
The largest waterwheel mill in GA is about 75 miles from me on the campus of Berry College in Rome GA. The wheel is probably 40 - 50 feet in diameter. It's a beautiful thing they fire up for a few weekends in the fall. Unfortunately they have surrounded it with a chain link fence and barbed wire to keep drunken fraternity types from attempting to climb the wheel. Seems some fell and met a bad end. Shoulda been a class on darwinism instead of a fence.
That's the problem -- the dumbing down of America. They put fences up to protect these idiots rather than letting the gene pool clean itself as it should.
Another curse that is helping to end America as we used to know it -- when men were men. Now they are all busy calling their lawyers to see if there is someone with deep pockets that they can blame. What ever happened to being able to admit the guy was an idiot-- that stupid tradition of not speaking bad about the dead. When will we be able to admit it and call a Spade a Spade? hmm :)
The Darwin Awards give me hope for that America Glenn.
The mixer has just arrived!
Looks like a serious piece of Swedish engineering.
Smooth as smooth can be! I like this machine. The gluten appears to really have developed.
We have the dough rising.
This machine did not struggle, and when I was adding my flour it was easy. No flour clouds! Very interesting engineering.
Thanks, Stinkerbell! Can I ask what you paid for it? I saw some prices on the net... in the $450 range? I don't have a lot of counter space - the bigger counter is more like bar hight & wears me out when I have to mix things up there or roll out dough but the other area is really too small to do much... one of the reasons I've been putting off making bread... so this would make it easy! :)
It is expensive.
I think (granted I have using it for one whole day now :heh) it is worth it.
Takes no more space then the KA it replaced. Actually it looks like it takes less space, but that has to do with the design.
I ordered it out of state, no tax and free shipping. I also got it within 3 days of ordering it.
http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/magic_mill_dlx_mixer.aspx
Wow, I want the wood fired outdoor oven in the picture from the letter to the left of the screen! Nice. I don't know what I'd do with 48 loaves of bread, though!
This one, I assume.
(http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/jerry_wagner_oven_op.jpg)
You can build a great one that will do the same thing from clay, sand and straw at no cost in a matter of a few hours to a couple of days depending on your resources and stamina. :)
That look so pretty Glenn...Somehow I suspect my individual work would turn out like Homer Simpson's BBQ.
It can if you want it to, Stink. :P
No, see, I didn't want to build it... I just want it to show up in my backyard. A clay oven would be more in my budget and probably my style, too... but it'll have to wait until we buy land. Besides, I'm taking a couple of months sabbatical from repairs and building when we move... probably at least until after the baby gets here.