This week, I’ve been playing with my new Family Grain Mill (known at Lehman’s as the “German-Made Family Food Mill”). I’ve been thinking about getting a grain mill for several years; what sold me on this one is its good performance and the fact that it’s not a one-trick pony. You can get attachments for this that will grind grain and beans, shred and slice vegetables, grind meat, stuff sausages, and roll grains (make your own oatmeal). It also has both electric and hand-crank bases, and when I bought mine, EverythingKitchens.com was offering a deal where you got the hand-crank base free if you bought the electric base. I did this, and got the grain grinding and vegetable attachments.
Overall, I find this machine a breeze to use and to clean. I will probably not use it for certain vegetables any more, but I’m definitely going to keep experimenting with making flour. Details after the jump…
Vegetable prep
For firm, non-fibrous veggies and cheese, the shredder was fantastic. I shredded carrots (large grater), Parmesan (small grater), and sliced potatoes and cabbage (slicing drum) with great success. I can see myself using this to prep veggies for pickling.
Other things were not so great. Ginger, for example, was too fibrous. Onions were a problem because they tended to separate into layers, and once, a layer got stuck between the chute and the food pusher and effectively cemented the two together. Maybe if I were shredding instead of slicing the onions? In any case, dealing with onions and cabbage is a snap without the machine, so I might not haul it out for those two items.
I was impressed, though, that this mess of ginger cleaned up with just a quick rinse under the tap. The carrot juice stained a little and took some scrubbing, but the rest of the veg and grain was no-effort on the cleanup. The cutting surfaces are also not microplane sharp, so I’m not worried about cutting myself during handling or washing. You can actually run your fingers across the cutting surfaces without bleeding.
Grinding Grain
Then next day, I switched attachments and tried my hand at grinding wheat and rye into flour. I used hard red wheat and some rye that I’d grown and harvested last year (plain old ryegrass sold for erosion control). First I tried the coarsest setting – this made something that would work as a hot cereal, I think (lower left). Then I dialed it down to the finest setting (lower right), and got something much closer to commercial whole wheat (top).
I did one batch of all wheat and one cup half wheat and half rye. I mixed the whole berries and ground them together; I’ve heard that rye can gum up your mill. In both cases, a cup of berries turned into about two cups of flour.
I’m making bread with these flours as we speak; I’ll let you know how it turns out!
El said,
March 1, 2008 at 9:19 am
Emily, how interesting! (I think you got me hooked with the “sausage making attachment.”) I’ve been researching plain old grain mills for a while now. Most likely I will get some monstrous thing that needs to be set up permanently in the basement. This one, though, really appeals because of its multiple attachments. Please let us know how your first breads turned out, and any successive loaves. And let us know how hard it was to turn: do you think you could whip through 6 cups of finished flour without your arm falling off?
Emily said,
March 1, 2008 at 7:09 pm
El- The bread came out really well! Will post in more detail later. And I *did* whip through 6c of flour and no, my arm didn’t fall off. I got pretty bored, though.
I’m also experimenting now with sifting the finished flour, but it doesn’t need it as much as I’d feared it might. FYI, I think you have to buy the meat attachment AND the sausage attachment to stuff sausages, but I’m not 100% sure.
A New Old-fashioned Gal said,
March 5, 2008 at 3:14 pm
That’s so cool! I wish we had the room to grow our own flour, but alas, we are urban bound for some time.
Heather said,
March 10, 2008 at 8:24 am
Huh. Now THAT is very cool. I was just wondering what we’d do in a worst case scenario about flour and such. I was thinking about Pa and Laura grinding wheat in the coffee grinder. This seems much more efficient. Thanks for the info!
Emily said,
March 10, 2008 at 9:11 am
Heather-
YES! Laura was my hero! I’ve had similar thoughts…but really, I’ve just always wanted to be Laura Ingalls Wilder when I grow up.
I used soft white wheat berries to make flour for pumpkin bread this weekend, and it was fabulous – better flour than the local flour I can buy (for $3/lb…)
Oldnovice said,
March 10, 2008 at 3:06 pm
I read somewhere that the price of flour is exploding, so I want to get a grain mill SOON. Thanks for the testimonial on a brand/type I’d not thought to consider.
candace said,
May 28, 2008 at 4:28 pm
I have this grain mill as well. I cranked it for a year by hand and just recently purchased the motor. I love its versatility.
karl said,
September 20, 2008 at 4:32 am
we have been wanting a grain mill for quite a while
Nicole said,
February 17, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Oh thank you! I came across this on accident doing a search for this mill. I was planning to buy from Lehmans but your link got me a MUCH better deal!
Richard said,
February 23, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Greetings!
My wife and I are looking for a mill to purchase, and I came across your helpful review. Thanks!
Any thoughts after a year of use? Have you ever wished you had a Wonder Mill, or something similar?
Emily said,
February 23, 2009 at 8:59 pm
Richard –
I’m enjoying my mill greatly. I’m glad I have the electric and hand-crank bases, and I use the vegetable attachment enough to make it worthwhile. Our local food group, Preserving Traditions, is going to compare a few mills March 8th and I’ll be posting the results. If you can wait that long, it’ll be an actual comparison you can take into account.
Emily
Brooke said,
March 19, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Hi, I’m just curious if you’ve done the mill comparison yet. Thanks!
Emily said,
March 20, 2009 at 10:40 am
We had fewer mills than expected, but the results are at http://preservingtraditions.wordpress.com/2009/03/13/wheat-event-wrap-up/
julie myers said,
July 2, 2009 at 11:58 am
Electric Wonder Mill Grain Mill
Last winter we purchased a Wonder Mill electric mill from a Canadian dealer affiliated with KodiakHealth.com web site. It’s Korean electric motor burned up in less than two weeks. The dealer told me that recently it’s been an ongoing problem. So, because the company advertised that it’s warranteed for 10 years I was under the impression that they will replace it free of charge. Boy was I wrong. They lied to me. The only part that’s waranteed are the steel heads on the mill. They “burned” me big time. I got ripped off and I can’t get my money back now. I’m going to contact some people soon. Just a warning to you all.
Julie , Ontario Canada.
elisabeth brower said,
July 10, 2009 at 9:36 pm
We had a similar experience with another Indian made hand grinder (Wonder mill junior) purchased through Kodiak Health .com
I tried to send it back to their dealer but they would not accept it. Such a poor quality product. The dealer told me that they are going out of grain mill business, to many problems, and going into storage business instead. Big John’s storage in Pocatello, Idaho , telephone 208-232-5155, the dealer gave me this number to get a refund. Elisabeth, Virgina
Emily said,
July 11, 2009 at 9:34 pm
Wow, Julie and Elisabeth – I hope you can get your money back. I’ve been quite pleased with the Family Grain Mill (sometimes called the Jupiter) with both the hand-crank and electric bases. Anyone else have good or bad experiences with particular mills?
Emily
Rebekah said,
August 4, 2009 at 9:16 am
Thanks for this review. I was wondering which kind of mill to get and this has helped me narrow it down!