Application Guide

personal decision. But there are benefits—the milled flour can be transferred
immediately to the pan, leaving virtually no time for oxidation to destroy
precious vitamins and minerals. The aroma of fresh-milled flour is so entic-
ing, once you smell it, you will be hooked.
With a home mill, you will be grinding only whole-grain
flours, never white flours, which need to be sifted to remove the bran and
germ. The grind settings range from very coarse to very fine. Whole grains
for milling can be kept for years stored in airtight containers. One cup of the
larger grains (wheat, corn, rye) will yield 1 cup flour. The smaller grains
(amaranth, teff, rice, millet) yield 1 cup of flour per
3
/
4
cup whole grain.
Wheat and rye are the easiest grains to mill.
It seems that the more expensive the mill, the quieter it is
and the less muscle power is required on your part. In the past, home mills
have been known for being heavy, rustic, and tremendously laborious hand-
cranked jobs, most certainly a link to the past. I had an incredibly heavy but
fascinating hand stone mill I was given by a friend. It was a modern quern; a
descendant of an ancient hand milling tool. I found out that it was a Samap
from France. It made flour, as well as cracked grains, but I spent lots of time
grinding.
The counter-clamped steel Corona hand mill, which caused
a sensation in the 1960s during the back-to the-land movement, is still a good
method for grinding wet hominy for masa, soaked soybeans for tofu, and a
variety of cracked breakfast grains. It is usually the first mill in a home
grinder’s life. My friends Ralph and Toni Korgold have been using theirs for
decades, mixing and grinding the grains for their cooked breakfast cereal
blend of the month.
The next step, the modern, lightweight plastic-bodied elec-
tric mills are incredibly efficient, living up to names like Magic Mill or
Whisper Mill. They grind hard wheat berries, soybeans, and corn kernels into
commercial-quality flour in one grinding, and are self-cleaning. They look
perfect next to the bread machine and food processor, and take up a minimal
amount of counter space.
Other electric grain mills include the Kitchen Aid, a grain
mill with steel blades that is an attachment for their heavy stand mixer (I
consider this best for cereal grinding), and a small electric mill by Braun.
The Baker’s Catalogue offers two exceptional mills. One is the Family Grain
Mill by Messerschmidt of Germany, a hand mill made of heavy-duty plastic
that clamps onto the side of the counter and grinds from coarse to fine. The
other is the Regal Kitchen Pro (from the same company that makes bread
machines), a countertop electric model that grinds everything into beautiful
flour and is very reasonably priced. Two other very good mills are a large
counter model by Lee, and another by Excalibur, which has been out of pro-
duction for a few years. If you see one of these at a flea market or garage
sale, grab it; these mills are known for their excellence and durability.
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