Grain Mill & Flaker

[Katie Quinn-Jacobs]

At NOFA-NY last January, I saw this grain mill demonstrated in a session on home milling. KoMo, a German company, also makes two flakers (one electric, one manual) as well. The KoMo mill is pricey; it's an import. However, the two people I've met that have one say theirs are 20 plus years old, see daily use and are still going strong.

Whole grain berries will keep for decades if properly stored, but you need to have a way to process (mill or flake) them in your home. Between the mill and the flaker, I don't have to rely on processed grains from the store any longer. Also, freshly ground flour or flaked oatmeal retains more nutrients. Oatmeal groats that are flaked just minutes before going into the pot actually have more flavor, as does the bread you make from flour you can mill yourself.

These devices save oodles of packaging too. No need to purchase small boxes of rice meal (for hot cereal) or Cream of Wheat or corn meal.

-- Kate

[Laura Woinoski]

oooohhh, so purty!
Katie, I know you also have a manual mill/grinder, right?
Can you tell us a bit about that one and your experiences/satisfaction with it?
Thanks!
- Laura :)

[Katie Quinn-Jacobs]

My manual mill is a Country Living Grain Mill . It works well on hard wheat berries, but requires a lot of muscle. Putting it on a very coarse setting to break the berries, then putting the cracked wheat through again on a fine flour setting works best. Contrary to what you might expect grinding soft wheat berries is a tougher job, since they don't snap under pressure like the hard wheat does; they tend to slip away from the grinding gears.

The mill's fly wheel is set up so that you can hook it up to a bicycle. You can see the groove for the belt to hook up to a bike in the detailed photo below. I think this would help quite a bit with the hard work of grinding, but haven't tried it yet. (Not to mention that I'm not sure if I want a bike in my dining room.) One thing's for sure...we're all going to have better biceps after the crash.

As you can see in the photo below, I mounted the mill on a old solid oak (very heavy!) butcher's block. You need to mount it to a sturdy surface of the right height. The butcher's block was perfect.

In summary, having used the hand mill, I have to say that I went ahead and bought an electric mill because I have solar panels. I figure grinding a cup of wheat berries for 30 seconds will be one of those chores that is worth using our solar electric for. It's a real time saver. When you dump 6 cups of flour in a bowl to make bread, you don't realize just how precious that fluffy ingredient is until you grind it yourself.

-- Kate

[Carlyn Buckler]

Is this the one you have http://www.yourethecure.com/cart.php?target=product&product_id=681 ? Is there any upkeep/parts that need to be replaced over time (grinding stone, etc/)?

[Katie Quinn-Jacobs]

Yep, only the hopper bowl on mine is stainless.

-- Kate