I've been contemplating a flour mill for years and am just beginning
to look at some of my options.

So far the one that appeals to me is yet another attachment for my
Kitchenaid. [I have the big one and have never experienced
overheating or bogging down with any of the myriad of attachments that
I already own for it]
http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KGM.../dp/B003DVP1V6

It is $116 and *looks* like it should make 2-3 pounds of flour every
week or 2.

Does anyone have one that they love-- or hate? See anything on this
one that says 'stay away'?

Thanks,
Jim

Jim Elbrecht wrote:
> I've been contemplating a flour mill for years and am just beginning
> to look at some of my options.

I didn't know you could get whole grain wheat in supermarkets, or do you
have to go elsewhere?


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On Mon, 15 Apr 2013 13:58:05 -0400, "Tom Del Rosso"
> wrote:

>
>Jim Elbrecht wrote:
>> I've been contemplating a flour mill for years and am just beginning
>> to look at some of my options.
>
>I didn't know you could get whole grain wheat in supermarkets, or do you
>have to go elsewhere?

Elsewhere in this neck of the woods. Health food stores, co-ops,
Asian supermarkets. [and not just wheat-- rye, oats, rice, beans,
corn, peas. . . and most of those become a whole 'nother thing once
sprouted and dried.]

Jim

On Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:44:41 -0400, Jim Elbrecht >
wrote:

>I've been contemplating a flour mill for years and am just beginning
>to look at some of my options.
>
>So far the one that appeals to me is yet another attachment for my
>Kitchenaid. [I have the big one and have never experienced
>overheating or bogging down with any of the myriad of attachments that
>I already own for it]
>http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KGM.../dp/B003DVP1V6
>
>It is $116 and *looks* like it should make 2-3 pounds of flour every
>week or 2.
>
>Does anyone have one that they love-- or hate? See anything on this
>one that says 'stay away'?
>
>Thanks,
>Jim

We regularly use a Magic Mill III which we purchased soon after they
first came out about 30 years ago. Came from a company in Salt Lake
City, UT. It still works like the day we bought it.
Quite fast, although it is a bit on the noisy side, about like a
vacuum cleaner, but it does a great job.
Just did some checking and learned that it was discontinued several
years ago. Apparently the Vital (Ultra) Mill uses the same technology
as our mill. That one can be seen here.
http://www.cooksquarters.com/lequip-...grain-mill.htm
An interesting site I came on during my search which is probably worth
reading if you are contemplating the purchase of a grain mill is:
http://tinyurl.com/cbrs56m
It contains one paragraph of note regarding milling attachments for
other machines.

<Quote>
Mill Attachments to breadkneaders/mixers: DON'T DO IT! A number of
breadkneaders/mixers on the market offer a mill "attachment" that
affixes to the machine and mills grain as it is run through. I have
heard nothing but horror stories about these. They are messy and put a
heavy heavy load on the machines--potentially shortening the life of
the kneader/mixer. In the past, (when I retailed breadmaking
equipment) I sold mills to several people who tried this option first
and wished they'd saved their money.
<End Quote>

Ross.
Southern Ontario, Canada

On Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:52:35 -0400, Ross@home wrote:

>On Mon, 15 Apr 2013 09:44:41 -0400, Jim Elbrecht >
>wrote:
>
>>I've been contemplating a flour mill for years and am just beginning
>>to look at some of my options.
>>
>>So far the one that appeals to me is yet another attachment for my
>>Kitchenaid. [I have the big one and have never experienced
>>overheating or bogging down with any of the myriad of attachments that
>>I already own for it]
>>http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KGM.../dp/B003DVP1V6
>>
>>It is $116 and *looks* like it should make 2-3 pounds of flour every
>>week or 2.
>>
>>Does anyone have one that they love-- or hate? See anything on this
>>one that says 'stay away'?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Jim
>
>We regularly use a Magic Mill III which we purchased soon after they
>first came out about 30 years ago. Came from a company in Salt Lake
>City, UT. It still works like the day we bought it.
>Quite fast, although it is a bit on the noisy side, about like a
>vacuum cleaner, but it does a great job.
>Just did some checking and learned that it was discontinued several
>years ago. Apparently the Vital (Ultra) Mill uses the same technology
>as our mill. That one can be seen here.
>http://www.cooksquarters.com/lequip-...grain-mill.htm
>An interesting site I came on during my search which is probably worth
>reading if you are contemplating the purchase of a grain mill is:
>http://tinyurl.com/cbrs56m
>It contains one paragraph of note regarding milling attachments for
>other machines.
>
><Quote>
>Mill Attachments to breadkneaders/mixers: DON'T DO IT! A number of
>breadkneaders/mixers on the market offer a mill "attachment" that
>affixes to the machine and mills grain as it is run through. I have
>heard nothing but horror stories about these. They are messy and put a
>heavy heavy load on the machines--potentially shortening the life of
>the kneader/mixer. In the past, (when I retailed breadmaking
>equipment) I sold mills to several people who tried this option first
>and wished they'd saved their money.
><End Quote>

I don't recommend any of the KA mixer attachements, all give sub
standard results, are overly expensive for a toys r us item, and
shortens the life of the mixer. I try never to buy multi task
machines, when one portion goes so do the rest. Might want to check
he http://non-electric.lehmans.com/search#w=flour mill

Jim Elbrecht wrote:
>
> I've been contemplating a flour mill for years and am just beginning
> to look at some of my options.

I have a Lee grinder. They haven't been made for years,
but you can get them on eBay. They generally sell at
high prices because people want them. They have a unique
grinding mechanism utterly unlike any other grinder.
It uses a spinning chute to feed the grain by centrifugal
force against the inner surface of a ring-shaped grinding
stone.

I bought it when I was doing experiments with green
coffee beans. It's the only small grinder I know of
that can handle green coffee beans (which are darn hard).
If you buy one, make sure it comes with a bag for
collecting the flour. Don't even think of buying one
without a bag.

On Apr 15, 8:44*am, Jim Elbrecht > wrote:
> I've been contemplating a flour mill for years and am just beginning
> to look at some of my options.
>
> So far the one that appeals to me is yet another attachment for my
> Kitchenaid. * [I have the big one and have never experienced
> overheating or bogging down with any of the myriad of attachments that
> I already own for it]http://www.amazon.com/KitchenAid-KGM-Stand-Mixer-Grain-Mill-Attachmen...
>
> It is $116 and *looks* like it should make 2-3 pounds of flour every
> week or 2.
>
> Does anyone have one that they love-- or hate? * See anything on this
> one that says 'stay away'?
>
> Thanks,
> Jim


I bought a Victoria Mill about four months ago, originally for
crushing barley for homebrewing but I've become a little obsessed with
using it to mill grains for bread, thanks to a book called Flour
Power, a Guide To Modern Home Milling, by Marleeta F Basey, which is
full of information about bread, wheat, and a lot of other stuff. A
lot of the manual mills will work for reducing wheat berries to a
fairly fine state if you run them through enough times and tighten the
burrs enough, but then you risk getting metal shavings in your gristy
stuff, and you still won't have what you'd call "bread flour," which
needs to be ground extremely fine, something the Victoria just can't
do. You can add the stuff to a bread recipe (Don't go over about a
third of your flour content with it) and it can give your bread an
almost spectacularly different character, but you can't use it to make
bread all by itself. You still have to use at least 2/3rds bread
flour, otherwise you end up trying to knead porridge or gruel or
something like that. Brick meal that, I can promise you, will not want
to become bread, ever. I'd recommend that you spend 60 bucks or so and
get a cheap manual one at first, just to see what you're getting into.
And always use Hard Red Wheat, preferably Dark Northern Spring berries
because they have a high protein content. You can get them online if
there isn't a place that sells them near you. If you do decide to take
it to the next level and start milling your own flour, there are a lot
of mills on the market. I've got a manual Country Living mill, which
wasn't cheap but it will last a lifetime and will grind wheat berries
into a fine, reddish beige flour if you're willing to accept a bit of
a workout. If not, there are a lot of good electric ones and
attachments to make the job easier.

As for the bread itself, I'm still in the learning stage but I'm
coming along and hope to be making loaves that I can give to family
and friends before long. There are a lot of aspects to bread that I
had never considered before I started this little offshoot of my
homebrewing hobby.