Grinding corn into flour--which mill?

Summer98 · 12-29-2012, 05:38 PM

I'm shopping for a grain mill that can grind whole corn into flour and also grind wheat berries. I don't care if it's manual or electric. I just want it to grind both well.

spacecase0 · 12-31-2012, 09:12 PM

best mill I have used is the country living grain mill,

Summer98 · 01-01-2013, 06:19 AM

I saw that mill on Lehman's website. It was expensive. Does it grind corn well? How much can you grain before getting tired?

Hoosier Girl · 01-09-2013, 08:00 PM

I was looking into grain mills and came across this review. Although not all steel like the country living mill, this one is German made and substantially less expensive. I have a lot of Indian corn in the carriage house and will likely get this one so I can turn the corn into some lovely cornmeal.

http://www.survivalblog.com/2012/08/...rain-mill.html

spacecase0 · 01-10-2013, 01:28 AM

one easy to way to see of a gran mill works well is to try it, that is what I did with the one I have... not like it would hurt to have a few of them

greenfinger · 01-10-2013, 02:14 PM

Don't buy one of this design. Cast iron mill with stainless steel hopper.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...=31-69168184-2

First time I used it, I was thrilled. My corn meal was very coarsely ground as I like it. The next 5 times I tried, I couldn't get the tension right. My cornmeal ended up fortified in iron shavings.
I could have bought 40 pounds of flour instead.

oxbowfarm · 01-21-2013, 05:19 AM

We use a Country Living mill and are very happy with it for corn and wheat. We grind by hand but I am in the process of building a version of the "Rodale Energy Cycle" to be able to operate it using pedal power. Your legs are stronger than your arms so you can grind more grain faster.

The mill greenfinger was warning you against is a version of the Corona mill that is used all over Central America for grinding corn. But there are lots of different manufacturers of that mill and some are less well made than others. No version of the corona mill will grind wheat into useable bread flour without resorting to a machine-shop modification.

As far as cost of mills go, cheaper mills will take longer to grind the same amount of flour at the same fineness setting. Pretty much the more you pay the happier you will be with the flour/meal you are making. Long-term durability also goes up with price-point. For us the Country Living was the obvious best "hand mill" for the money. The C.S. Bell and the Diamant are possibly better but were way beyond our available funds.

Grinding is hard physical work. It takes about 200 revolutions of the crank to grind a cup of flour at the fineness we like for breadmaking, so 700 or so revs for a one loaf bread recipe. That takes me about 7 - 10 minutes and you are definitely doing some aerobic exercise by the end of it.

12-29-2012, 05:38 PM	#1
Summer98 Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: USDA Zone 4a Posts: 46	Grinding corn into flour--which mill? I'm shopping for a grain mill that can grind whole corn into flour and also grind wheat berries. I don't care if it's manual or electric. I just want it to grind both well.

12-31-2012, 09:12 PM	#2
spacecase0 earth human Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: california, east of the central valley Posts: 385	best mill I have used is the country living grain mill, __________________ .... .- -- .-. .- -.. .. --- --- .--. . .-. .- - --- .-.

01-09-2013, 08:00 PM	#4
Hoosier Girl Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Indiana, zone 5B Posts: 72	I was looking into grain mills and came across this review. Although not all steel like the country living mill, this one is German made and substantially less expensive. I have a lot of Indian corn in the carriage house and will likely get this one so I can turn the corn into some lovely cornmeal. http://www.survivalblog.com/2012/08/...rain-mill.html Last edited by Hoosier Girl; 01-09-2013 at 08:01 PM. Reason: Duplicate links

01-10-2013, 01:28 AM	#5
spacecase0 earth human Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: california, east of the central valley Posts: 385	one easy to way to see of a gran mill works well is to try it, that is what I did with the one I have... not like it would hurt to have a few of them __________________ .... .- -- .-. .- -.. .. --- --- .--. . .-. .- - --- .-.

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01-01-2013, 06:19 AM	#3
Summer98 Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: USDA Zone 4a Posts: 46	I saw that mill on Lehman's website. It was expensive. Does it grind corn well? How much can you grain before getting tired?

01-10-2013, 02:14 PM	#6
greenfinger Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: zone 7 Posts: 135	Don't buy one of this design. Cast iron mill with stainless steel hopper. http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...=31-69168184-2 First time I used it, I was thrilled. My corn meal was very coarsely ground as I like it. The next 5 times I tried, I couldn't get the tension right. My cornmeal ended up fortified in iron shavings. I could have bought 40 pounds of flour instead.

01-21-2013, 05:19 AM	#7
oxbowfarm Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Southern Tier NY Posts: 10	We use a Country Living mill and are very happy with it for corn and wheat. We grind by hand but I am in the process of building a version of the "Rodale Energy Cycle" to be able to operate it using pedal power. Your legs are stronger than your arms so you can grind more grain faster. The mill greenfinger was warning you against is a version of the Corona mill that is used all over Central America for grinding corn. But there are lots of different manufacturers of that mill and some are less well made than others. No version of the corona mill will grind wheat into useable bread flour without resorting to a machine-shop modification. As far as cost of mills go, cheaper mills will take longer to grind the same amount of flour at the same fineness setting. Pretty much the more you pay the happier you will be with the flour/meal you are making. Long-term durability also goes up with price-point. For us the Country Living was the obvious best "hand mill" for the money. The C.S. Bell and the Diamant are possibly better but were way beyond our available funds. Grinding is hard physical work. It takes about 200 revolutions of the crank to grind a cup of flour at the fineness we like for breadmaking, so 700 or so revs for a one loaf bread recipe. That takes me about 7 - 10 minutes and you are definitely doing some aerobic exercise by the end of it.