Country Living Grain Mills
 

For those thinking about getting one of these, there's a way to save some $$$. I didn't even know about it until I happened to notice another buyer talking about it in her blog.

The company frequently has "factory second" or "blemished" mills available at a $50 discount, and they also throw in their "power bar" attachment. These normally just have some minor issues with the finish, and still come with the full warranty. You pay shipping (some of their resellers offer "free" shipping), but it's still a net savings of ~$50 or so.

And yes, I just ordered mine yesterday.

Re: Country Living Grain Mills
 

any link for the place

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Re: Country Living Grain Mills
 

I tried mine for the first time yesterday.

It is a great tool but it seems excessively slow... took 30 minutes to grind 1 cup of flour.

I think I found a way to make it go much faster near the end, by applying steady downward pressure to the grains sitting in the bin above. When I do this I grind at least 100% faster if not more. I just hope doing this does not cause any unforseen problems?

What are your thoughts?

Of course I could just buy a motor but I don't want to spoil myself for when the power goes out!

Re: Country Living Grain Mills
 

My "blemished" country living grain mill arrived last week!

You have to call or email them and ask if they have any blemished mills for sale. Typically they discount the mill about $50 and it comes with the power bar.

I have yet to find the blemish on my mill :)

I love the mill and believe it should be a "building block" of any one's survival supplies. To be honest, there is almost no point of buying grains that need to be ground until you have a mill.

Darkside:

I have heard many people have had great success powering the mill off of old bikes. If you haven't already noticed the power wheel already has the "V" groove for a belt system that could be attached to an electrical motor or other means of power.

In any case it is slow go but it gets the job done none-the-less. Additionally, if you have kids (I have four), this is a GREAT use of their additional energy :)

Dave

Re: Country Living Grain Mills
 

Something is WAY WRONG. According to the Walton Feed grinder comparison (a bitch to find online now that they've FUBAR'd their website design, I got it on the internet archive site), the Country Living mill grinds a cup of wheat berries with grinding burrs set to 0.005", wheel turning at 60 RPM in 2 minutes, 45 seconds.

Are your grinding burrs set too close together? If this slow grinding continues, you might want to give the maker a call or email. They responded to my email within minutes yesterday. I think their website also has a troubleshooting guide you might check out.

Re: Country Living Grain Mills
 

Not sure about this one, but I have a wondermill jr. , and you must turn in the proper direction (clockwise on mine) or the grain will not feed into the burs because the rotating feeds the berries in a particular direction.

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Perhaps the 'blemish' is that it takes all day to grind a cup of flour?:cry1:

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When we grind, I make my hubby get on one side, and I get on the other side and we both turn the wheel. Just look at it as extra exercise and strengthening your AR 15 or bow arm for when someone comes to steal your fresh ground grain!

Re: Country Living Grain Mills
 

If it's taking you 30 minutes to grind 1 cup of flour, you have the grinding burrs set way too tight. I've been using my Country Living Grain Mill for about four years now. And I can tell you that 60 RPM will have an average person falling down by the time you grind 3 cups of flour. What bread recipe do you know of that requires only 1 cup?

On the other hand, you can back off just a bit on the RPM and grind 3 cups in 10 minutes. I do it all the time and I'm 63 years old.

The other thing that you can do is this. Set the grinding burrs so that you get the fineness of flour you want. Then back off that setting a half turn or so. You'll still get roughly the same flour, but reduce the grinding effort significantly.

Lastly, it will be difficult to match the fineness of store-bought flour using a hand powered mill. If you're really not happy with your results, run the flour through the mill for a second pass. Even with all the extra cranks of the wheel, that's a whole lot easier than trying to produce a fine talc the first time through. At the end of the day, I'm satisfied with the courser flour -- or am I just lazy?

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You can get a Vita-Mix and get that s%$t done in about 20 seconds. :36_1_34:
And better yet, you can stop making food that requires flour and throw that junk in the trashcan.:15_1_70v:

Re: Country Living Grain Mills
 

Ummm...yeah. Are you of the belief that rice, corn, couscous, and bulgur wheat are also eeeevil?

I guess I'll just stop making yummy homemade bread, pancakes (infrequently), cakes/cookies (rarely), and switch to all organic cruelty-free tofu & bean sprouts (cooked over an all natural wood fire, while listening to John Denver & singing kumbaya).

Maybe when a really warm place freezes over.

(p.s. I do like John Denver, but don't tell too many people)

Re: Country Living Grain Mills
 

That "high performance" Vita-Mix will be "zero performance" after the power goes out, until then all the best to you.

As stated before, The Country Living Mill can be considered part of your physical fitness plan! It will warm you up (if not put you into a full sweat) when you are operating it.

Anybody know if there are any better mills out there? If there is, they would have to number few, if any.

When you order, be sure to get your extra parts and plates too.

Re: Country Living Grain Mills
 

I have a CLM with all the extra parts stored away but for every day I use the Nutrimill it probably grinds a cup a minute, has a large hopper and costs a lot less than CLM. Nutrimill is the greatest thing since sliced bread............ but it's electric .

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I have been considering the grainmaker. $425 and $20 shipping (A bit less than the CLGM w/attachments) It comes with all that is needed for wheat, corn and nut butter. Lifetime warranty and they are ready to ship without the 2 week wait that Country Living Grain has. I have been considering my milling options over the last week..

Here is the Grainmaker and web address:

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Nice looking unit! Appears similar in many aspects to the CLGM, only so many ways you could design it. There are some differences as well and some of them may be appealing. I would think that the welded steel pieces may be more durable than the cast design of the CLGM, if you think you might ever need that extra strength. The fact that the grinding plates carry a lifetime warranty is defintly a plus, I would think that you would still want to have an extra set on a shelf somewhere just in case they were to wear out and replacements were unavailable for one reason or another.

This unit might be worth more research and serious consideration for those that still need a mill.

Re: Country Living Grain Mills
 

It says it will on the website. I am using a Baratza Maestro Plus for coffie grinding. It probably would be hard to say if it ground to a consistant partical size. In a shtf senario you would be lucky to have fresh roasted and fresh ground coffie and would not care if the grind was not perfect. Just don't let the smell drift through the neighborhood or they will be breaking down your doors!:36_1_34:

Re: Country Living Grain Mills
 

The GrainMaker� grain grinder is made in Montana, with exceptional

craftsmanship and durability. GrainMaker� grinds small to large grains, coffee beans,

legumes, corn, rice, etc. It will also grind peanuts to make a creamy peanut butter. Its hardened steel

burrs are adjustable, providing a wide range of choice in milling consistency. The extended dust cover allows for the media you are milling to be directed into the bowl eliminating excessive dust. The flywheel with removable extended handle and cushioned grip (included) provides a higher degree of comfort during sustained hand grinding. GrainMaker� also offers the flexibility of easy conversion to alternate power or motor operation. GrainMaker� comes complete with EVERYTHING you need to get you

started on your way to home grinding!

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Whatever you do don't plan to use a handmill as your primary mill without trying one first or you may be sorry. Unless you enjoy doing a lot of work for a relatively miniscule return then buy your self an electric mill as well. They are much cheaper then hand mills and are really the only practical way to learn using your wheat if you plan on going through hundreds of pounds. Handmills are only useful as back up for when the power goes out. A decent electric mill is about $150 and will save you hundreds of hours of hard work. Most people will never learn to use their stored wheat if they only have a hand mill since grinding the wheat is more work then making the bread.

I bought a CLM mill years ago which never got used more then a few times, now I have a K-tec electric mill. When the power goes out I will use my back up.......rice. :wink:

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Your numbers might be out of date. The Wonder Mill (formerly Whisper Mill) is $270. The motor upgrade for the Country Living mill costs as much as the mill. Checking the prices of pulleys and bearings it looks like you wouldn't save anything trying to DIY.

When I got that info together I decided to get a Wonder Mill instead of the CL grinder I had been thinking about. For $270 instead of $800 I will put up with the noise. It only runs a couple minutes per loaf, that's not too bad. If I lose electricity for days at a time I will just go without bread.

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The Diamant grainmill (better prices available I'm sure) is probably the best, we use a Country Living grain mill with the motorization kit. I grind nearly all our flour, and chose this model so we'll be able to grind flour with no power, but man you couldn't pay me to grind it manually unless I had to, I simply haven't the strength. It would probably be hubby's job to keep us in flour if we lost power!

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http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/index.aspx#Nutrimill

I've got the Nutrimill and it's good machine...it makes very fine flour and doesn't make a mess or take up much room. I mill the whole grain and leave the flour stored in the machine until it is time to mill more.

If the power goes out, I'll crank up the generator...if the SHTF, I'll make a big mortar and pestle out of a stump and a pole and smash the grain into some usable form...in between hunting down all the semi tame deer that are all over the place around here...take out about a half dozen before anyone realizes there's a problem. :wink:

btw...Nutrimill's are $20 off and free shipping right now.

Re: Country Living Grain Mills
 

Just yesterday, we ground 8 cups of flour using the Country Living Mill. It took us 10 minutes. I turned the wheel, then hubby would turn the wheel. I found it was easier to not do a full load in the hopper, but only put in one cup at a time. It seemed to turn easier. I also have found that its easier if you have the grain mill lower than you ( sitting on a 30" table and you standing) Switching arms helps too. And for all those ladies who wave with their fallen biceps, You will find that turning the wheel will cure that problem! WHile I am out of shape right now, I dont see it taking much time to build up the muscles so I can have my own grinding parties and can exclude my hubby!
By the look of my recent power bill, I may be without power sooner than later!