A few years back I picked up a cheap arse grain mill. I used it for the first time before a dinner party a few weeks ago, it was a big pain in the rear end. I had a hard time getting it to stay in place, turning the handle was painful, and in the end it left a mark on my counters. I decided to buy a new one. I wanted something that I could motorize if I wanted. In my searched I settled on the Country Living Grain Mill. A bought a few accessories to go with it and a set of spare parts just in case... That and if this worked out well intend to make bread using it at least once a week.
Well it arrived and the first thing I realized was, "Oh crap I have to make a base for it." Off to Lowes. I picked up some 3/4 birch plywood. Cut it into two 1'x2' pieces and glued it together. I then bolted the mill with 5/8" 2" long bolts and used a small piece of plywood to protect the top of the grain mill. (I'll post pictures as soon as my camera works).
I went to use it and it was pretty stable with this setup, but at high speeds it did slide a little. I could have held it in place, but instead I decided to get 2 6" irwin quick clamps. Perfect!
I was able to mill a pint worth of grains in about 5 minutes (I was going pretty fast maybe around 45-80 RPM). I haven't weighed what I have, but my guess is a pint yielded around 2 cups. I'll find out tomorrow when I make a whey bread after making mozzarella cheese.
It looks like it'll be very easy to mount a motor on this if I so choose.
Pro: easy to use doesn't take a lot of effort, just takes a while, you can go slow or fast and it seems to work just as well, just takes longer the slower you go. Comes apart fairly easily for cleaning.
Cons: it doesn't come ready to use out of the box. There may be a mount you can buy, but if not, be prepared to use your carpentry skills.
Well it arrived and the first thing I realized was, "Oh crap I have to make a base for it." Off to Lowes. I picked up some 3/4 birch plywood. Cut it into two 1'x2' pieces and glued it together. I then bolted the mill with 5/8" 2" long bolts and used a small piece of plywood to protect the top of the grain mill. (I'll post pictures as soon as my camera works).
I went to use it and it was pretty stable with this setup, but at high speeds it did slide a little. I could have held it in place, but instead I decided to get 2 6" irwin quick clamps. Perfect!
I was able to mill a pint worth of grains in about 5 minutes (I was going pretty fast maybe around 45-80 RPM). I haven't weighed what I have, but my guess is a pint yielded around 2 cups. I'll find out tomorrow when I make a whey bread after making mozzarella cheese.
It looks like it'll be very easy to mount a motor on this if I so choose.
Pro: easy to use doesn't take a lot of effort, just takes a while, you can go slow or fast and it seems to work just as well, just takes longer the slower you go. Comes apart fairly easily for cleaning.
Cons: it doesn't come ready to use out of the box. There may be a mount you can buy, but if not, be prepared to use your carpentry skills.
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