All About Grain Mills

Let's get real

The fact is that simple carbs, like white flour and sugar, were never full of the highest nutritional value. It's not that they're bad or good; it's just that whole grains have a higher nutritional content when they're put through a whole grain mill, the way everyone did 100 years ago.

Health benefits

A few reasons why using grain mills to mill flour is better for your health than store-bought flours or breads:

Whole grains freshly milled in a grain mill offer more and higher nutritional values, both vitamins and minerals

Higher fiber content

Variety of grains, such as nuts, beans, and corns, easily increased with a grain mill

Controls weight, encouraging possible weight loss

Cost efficient

Budgetary reasons to purchase a grain mill:

Long-lasting, with warranties of 20 years or more

Whole grain can be purchased cheaper than store-bought flour and yields more flour than whole grain in the end

Other benefits

Better taste

Abilityto adjust fineness or coarseness of flour

Types of grain mills

1. Electric grain mills

2. Hand grain mills

Within these grain mills, whether electric- or hand-powered, is one of the following grinding mechanisms:

1. Iron or steel plates

General milling

Good for oily grains, spices, and nuts

Negative: steel or tin material can easily rust

2. Stone plates

Closest to old-fashioned mills

Produce very fine grain

Best with dry grains

Negative: not very good with oily grains or nuts, can be difficult to clean

3. Spinning metal blades

Found in food processors and coffee mills

Negative: hard to control speed, so is best with pulse control

4. Burrs of steel, iron, or ceramic

Similar to the mechanism found in a pepper mill

Good with spices and nuts

Exact but difficult to clean

Negative: again composed of iron or steel so they are prone to rust

More information on grain mills