# A grain mill?



## Firethorn (Nov 1, 2004)

I know this is likely to have been asked before. But I realy need some experienced advice. 
DH has agreed to let me buy a grain mill. He asked how much? And what kind. I just dont have a clue at all. 
If we went with the assumption that price did not matter. What would you suggest.
If i said I wanted it to do everything and last us through our life time (at least) what would you suggest? 
If I said I wanted to be able to use it even if SHTF and we had no electricity but wanted to have the option of useing electricity. What would you suggest? 
Can one machine do all this? 
Will I have to sell a kid to get it? (LOL, of course Im kidding LOL)


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## avandris (Jun 8, 2007)

If money did not matter then I would get a Country Living grain mill if you want it to last past your life time. 

If money does matter the Family Grain mill is good. It can be both hand powered and electric. Will it last your lifetime? I don't know. I own that one now hoping that I can save for the Country Living.


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## joseph97297 (Nov 20, 2007)

We have a Country Living mill and would recommend it to anyone and everyone.

Durable, made in the US of A and able to be hand or motor driven.

Would recommend that a little tinkering can motorize it for you for a lot less than the kit that comes with it, especially using various pulleys.

Search around, you can usually find ones that come with free shipping or about 40 dollars off, enough to buy a bean/corn auger for it.

Take it easy

Joseph


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## sgl42 (Jan 20, 2004)

i just ordered a retsel mill-rite, (www.retsel.com) including the hand crank to use if there's no electricity. haven't gotten it yet (probably another week or two), so i can't personally recommend it, but several other people on this board have them and recommended them in past posts, so you can search the archives for their comments. There's also a review I saw on someone's blog on the web that I found informative: 
http://gardenplotter.com/rospo/blog/2006/04/mill-rite-grain-mill-from-retsel.html

It's rather pricy. However, I figured if I bought a manual grinder, realistically I wouldn't use it much due to the time to gind the flour for 4 loaves of bread at a time that I bake. (If I lived in a cooler climate, I'd probably bake fewer loaves more often, but here in TX, you don't turn on the oven without thinking about it!). So money spent on a manual grinder I wouldn't use much would be wasted, but I'm quite sure I'll use the electric. 

Also, my understanding is the retsel is built like a tank, so it should run fine for a few decades. Amortizing the cost across all those years, the price is much more reasonable. (plus the savings on cheap wheat berries purchased in bulk, vs flour, plus the better nutrition, etc.)

I also considered getting one of the manual grinders and adding a motor. However, realistically evaluating the amount of time I'd spend doing that, it just wouldn't happen, or wouldn't happen very fast. Other people who have better junk-heaps and more shop equipment and more time and may well come to a different conclusion for their situation.

--sgl


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## seedspreader (Oct 18, 2004)

That blog belongs to turtlehead right here from HT.


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## Firethorn (Nov 1, 2004)

I ordered the retsel mill rite! :banana02::sing: Im so excited!!! i hope its all they claim.


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## AmyG (Mar 30, 2008)

Has anyone tried using the manual handle on the retsel mill rite? I've been wanting to get a mill for awhile now, but I can't seem to make up my mind - I lean toward the mill rite, but looking at pictures I've seen with the manual handle, a couple questions keep coming to mind, and I haven't found answers to them anywhere, so far. 

From what I've seen, it looks like the handle connects to the front side of the mill - is that correct? And if so, do you have to keep the mill to the front edge of a surface so that the handle can turn/not run into the (countertop, table, wherever you have it placed, etc.)? And is there, then, anywhere to put a container to catch the milled flour, in that case?

I would mainly be using it with the motor, but if it comes down to it, I want the manual use to be practical. I like what I've seen and heard about the Country Living Grain Mill, too, but I lean toward the retsel, except for wondering about these questions.

Thanks, if anyone has answers!


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## Space Cowboy (Apr 26, 2008)

Howdy,

I ended up buying a country grain mill also. There is a pretty good site that compares most brands of mills.

http://www.waltonfeed.com/self/grinders.html

The cheapest I found it was at 

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/country_living_mill.aspx

Good luck!

SC


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## sgl42 (Jan 20, 2004)

Firethorn said:


> I ordered the retsel mill rite! :banana02::sing: Im so excited!!! i hope its all they claim.


congrats & good luck! 

my CC was charged a week ago, and their website says they charge the day before it ships, so hopefully my retsel will be arriving sometime this week. 



AmyG said:


> Has anyone tried using the manual handle on the retsel mill rite? [....]
> 
> From what I've seen, it looks like the handle connects to the front side of the mill - is that correct?


don't know, as my mill hasn't arrive yet, but hopefully this week. My assumption was the manual hand-crank would go in the back, but I don't really know.

I had some questions about the retsel, so I either phoned and left a message, or used their email contact form on the their web site. They returned my call the next day, and a nice lady answered all my questions. 

So, I'd suggest you contact retsel and ask them your questions about the handle and such. 

--sgl


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## CJ (May 10, 2002)

I also have the country living grain mill (with the motor kit, I'm a pansy). It's fantastic! We grind the Prairie gold (white) wheat, and I never buy white flour at all now.

Another vote for Pleasant Hill Grains, awesome company to do business with.


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## hintonlady (Apr 22, 2007)

Told my DH I wanted a grain mill. He was not excited about cost. I mentioned I wanted a hand crank but it would cost more than the electric kitchen aide one. Told him I wanted one anyway if the power ever went out.

He shrugged and said between my DS bike, man power, and alternator and..?? he could generate me electricity for at least one appliance anytime. I made a joke about gilligans island and a coconut radio.

Then I realized I am glad I married this man because he is very resourceful, just wish he didn't have that thrifty farm boy streak. *shrug*

I want so many homesteady things; a grain mill, a berky, cream separator, my milking equip fixed. Anyone else feel like they are keeping up with the homestead Joneses? A lot of us have expensive, albeit useful tastes. LOL


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## Firethorn (Nov 1, 2004)

I dont feel like Im trying to keep up. I tend to have very expensive taste but I also tend to have a frugal streak. I justify expensive with the fact that what I do buy that is high in price is made to last a long time and has long warranties. So Im getting what I pay for. 
Like I dont mind one bit buying all our clothes from a garage sale but I like to get $50 jeans at those garage sales (for just $1) because they hold up so well. But I can also get walmart jeans for the same $1 at a garage sale and dont mind when they fall apart. 
I can spend $600 on a grain mill and know its covered for for at the least 10 years (thats a long time!) and know its bilt well. Knowing a DF bought a "great" mill for $200 and got two years out of it. Not much use and an engine that often over heated and was useless in a power outage. 
We are not very handy in rigging thigs up and I have so much to do that I count on things working as they should so that my day runs as close to efficient as possible.


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## LynninTX (Jun 23, 2004)

I own the Whisper Mill... warranty is gone because the company closed and reopened under a new name grr. We use it and it overheats. Can do 4 batches then it has to cool then 3 batches at a time after that. 

I just ordered my CLGM this AM! With just in case kit, corn/bean auger, power bar extension... I am excited! I knew I wanted a workhorse manual one. Right now we bake 4-5 times a week...


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## Fryegirl (Sep 16, 2006)

I'm in the market for a grinder, too. The Kitchen Aid just doesn't grind fine enough to suit me. I'm deliberating between the CLGM and the Nutrimill, which requires electricity.

Doesn't the CLGM have to be mounted to something? My kitchen is on the small side. I don't even have any free wall space.

I've heard nothing but good about both models (although I've read reports that state the Nutrimill's impact grinding produces a finer flour). I like the idea of being able to grind even with no power but I don't guess I'd be able to use my oven anyway, if that was the case.


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## MOgal (Jul 27, 2002)

We bought a Retsel Mill-Rite in the early 80's. It's still going strong with no problems to date.


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## Guest (Jun 26, 2008)

If money really were no object I'd get a Diamant for a manual mill with all three sets of burrs (coarse, regular, extra fine) plus whatever spare parts I could get. With the extras it'll run you in the neighborhood of a thousand bucks but your grandkids will use it to mill flour with if you take care of it.

If money is somewhat of an object but not a big one then I'd get the Country Living grain mill with the spare plates and the "just in case" parts kit. That'll run you in the neighborhood of five to six hundred dollars. With regular use and proper care your grandkids will use that one too.

Both can be motorized.

For electric mills if price were no object I'd get the Retsel Mill-Rite with both stone and steel burrs and any spare parts I could get such an extra crank handle and an extra of the gear that one removes to use the mill manually instead of with the motor. The one caveat here is that I have not yet collected many reports of people who have used the mill manually to determine ease of us. If ever my trusty old Whispermill gives it up the wife and I have decided we'll probably end up with a Mill-Rite ourselves.

Durability is very good with proper use. I've read of at least a half-dozen people so far that have been using theirs for more than twenty years and still going strong. Customer service is not so hot, but it's a very small company so they can be hard to contact at times. The mill itself is very good.

If price does matter but you want the best quality you can get in a manual mill that will make acceptable bread flour I'd go with a Family Grain Mill. I rate this one as a medium duty mill (plastic parts) but it will last for years and will mill acceptable flour, if not as fine as a Country Living can. It is also easily motorized and you can buy the motor made for it when you buy the mill or just get the hand crank base.

.....Alan.


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## Calico Katie (Sep 12, 2003)

After reading all the reviews and doing a lot of comparison shopping, I finally ordered the Family Grain Mill. It took me quite a while to go ahead and order it because it looks like nothing more than a bit of PVC bolted to a square of plywood. I'm not interested in an electric mill so I only ordered the manual.

From everything I read, it really is much stronger than it looks and it's one of the easiest to crank. Walton Feed gave it a very good review. I still hope to eventually buy a Country Living but didn't feel I could wait any longer.


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

seedspreader said:


> That blog belongs to turtlehead right here from HT.


Yes it does! Thanks for the shout-out, made my day 

We've never used the Retsel in manual mode, although we did get the hand crank. According to the manual you should (have to?) remove a piece or something so that when you turn the hand crank you are only turning the auger and burrs, and not having to expend the energy to also turn the motor.

We keep saying we'll try it in manual mode, then we just plug it in...

It is SOLID. I think it's made of cast iron (seriously). We like it a lot; haven't ever used another grain mill so can't compare it to others.


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## claytonpiano (Feb 3, 2005)

Another vote for the country living grain mill here. I also have the grain mill attachment for my Champion Juicer. It is much better than the one with my Kitchen Aid.


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## Ms.Lilly (Jun 23, 2008)

I have the Country Living Mill and it is great! It was bought dirrectly from the company. We did put the motor kit on ours because I am a weenie. I would reccomend this mill to anyone. I have to also tell you that the customer service that this company gives is fantastic!!!! You don't get that too often anymore.

Lillian


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## WisJim (Jan 14, 2004)

We have had a Diamant for almost 20 years, and it should last forever--but they have gotten VERY expensive. We also have a motorized mill that we got for $25 at a garage sale, sits on the counter all enclosed in a wooden enclosure with a pull out drawer for flour, that is noisy but works well, and is used almost daily. I never can recall the name of it, though.

Today, I would seriously consider the Country Living mill if I was buying a new one.


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## fretti (Jun 30, 2007)

A.T. Hagan said:


> If price does matter but you want the best quality you can get in a manual mill that will make acceptable bread flour I'd go with a Family Grain Mill. I rate this one as a medium duty mill (*plastic *parts) but it will last for years and will mill acceptable flour, if not as fine as a Country Living can. It is also easily motorized and you can buy the motor made for it when you buy the mill or just get the hand crank base.


Well, technically Lexan, and a high quality Lexan at that. It's not like it's going to be easily broken...


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## sgl42 (Jan 20, 2004)

turtlehead said:


> Yes it does! Thanks for the shout-out, made my day


Well, thanks for your review turtlehead. It was instrumental in convincing me to go ahead and get a retsel. 

I probably originally saw your review from a link somewhere on HT. However, not remembering where I originally saw it, to find it again I used google. If you put "retsel" into google, you're the 3rd hit. You're famous! Who else can boast being the 3rd hit for a single word google search? Perhaps that will make your day too. 

--sgl


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## sgl42 (Jan 20, 2004)

just got my retsel today, and just finished eating my first loaves of bread with freshly ground flour. hard to describe, but the bread is somehow "chewier", and has more flavor.

as for the retsel, it's quiet enough I think you could have a conversation without having to raise your voice much at all. Kind of a low pitched, slow warble sound, similar to a kitchenaid, not a high pitched high speed sound that makes you anxious.

2 cups of hard red wheat made 3 cups of flour. Took about 15 minutes to make 4 cups of fine flour. Motor was warm/hot after making 11 cups of flour, but not so hot you had to withdraw your hand.

didn't try the manual handle yet. however, to answer someone's question above, it does in fact attach to the front. 

i'd have to agree with turtleheads comments in her review re: customer service, as it took a while to get it, and there wasn't any intermediate status info along the way. My experience:
1) I ordered mine on May 22, via the web site. 

2) About a week later (5/28), they called to ask me the security digits on the back of my credit card, and asked if I'd gotten a confirmation email from the web order (which I had). They said it would be a week or two, which is what they'd told me on the phone when I'd called pre-order to ask some questions. The status on their web site switched to "processing" the same day they called me.

3) My credit card was charged 6/14, 3.5 weeks after my online order. According to their web site: "The credit card information that you provide to us on this secure site will be processed one day prior of the actual shipment date." I recieved no confirmation email, and the status of my order online still said "processing". However, seemed like progress, so I waited hopefully every day for a delivery package to magically appear any day.

4) July 1, I called late afternoon (~4pm their time). It's 2 weeks after my credit card has been charged, and I haven't seen the package, or seen any change in the online status from "processing." Then one day the web site said something about "please call to check on the status of your order". Sounded like they might have had a computer problem or something. Anyway, I called, and reached an answering machine, so I left my name, number, date I ordered, date credit card was charged, etc, and asked when I could expect my order. They didn't return my call, but I didn't call again or email either. (Kept meaning to, but didn't quite get around to it.)

5) Was about to call again, when it arrived today, 7/10. (7 weeks after my initial order, and ~4 weeks after my credit card was charged.) The invoice lists the ship date as 7/1 (the same day I called to check the status of my order.) Putting the tracking number on the box into the UPS web site tracking system, it looks like UPS picked up the package on 7/7.

I ordered the optional switch to reverse the motor. I didn't understand exactly what that meant, but you cannot add it later, so I purchased it too. I'd suggest you order it, now that I understand better what it does. 

There are 2 disks that do the grinding. The one closest to the motor is held stationary, and the one farther away rotates, and is held in place by an adjustable knob. The tighter the knob, the finer the flour. However, there are no markings on the knob to know how "fine" the flour is. Once you start grinding, there's a bunch of partially ground wheat holding the grinding plates apart, so you can't tighten the knob to make finer flour at that point. But, with the switch reversal, it pulls the wheat back out from between the plates, and then you can tighten the knob and make finer flour. I presume it you didn't have the switch, maybe you could always make it really tight to start, and then loosen it if you wanted less fine flour, I don't know. However, once started if it's not tight enough without the reverasl switch, you have to let the current grain grind through before you could tighten it. Not sure I've made it clearer, but hopefully it makes a little sense.

Overall, the thing is heavy and all the parts seem to be built to last. A nice sturdy tank, not a fragile sports car. It has a 10 yr warranty. I expect it'll last for a few decades. 

While it would be nice if their customer service gave better updates along the way, I could have been more diligent in following up if it was critical to me to know the status. It's also possible that I was hit by a computer glitch too. You might have better luck ordering on the phone, I don't know. And a few years from now, I'll probably have forgotten the wait, and still have my tank grinder plugging away making nutritious flour.

Their web site also says "Our company also offers quantity discounts for church groups, communities and/or non-dealership accounts with competitive prices." Not sure whether Homesteading Today would quality as a group for a discount, or how much the discount is, but maybe someone is interested enough to contact them and find out. 

Anyway, now that it's here, I'm quite happy to have it. 
--sgl


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## Guest (Jul 11, 2008)

Thanks for keeping us updated on your Retsel order.

.....Alan.


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## nomifyle (Mar 26, 2008)

I've had the family grain mill and like it. It got ruined in a flood and I replaced it with a corona that I found on ebay a couple of years ago for around $50.

Judy


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## sbin (Sep 11, 2007)

Just wanted to thank everyone for the info on this thread.
After doing some reading here we found a great deal on a Retsel mil-master grain mill.The mill should arrive in a few days can't wait to start using it.


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