About Grain Grinders

There are many different grain grinders to choose from out there and I think it can get really confusing when trying to decide which one to purchase. After all, the good ones are usually $250 and up, so you don't want to enter into the purchase lightly.

First you have to decide if you want an electric grinder or a hand grinder. Each serve their own purpose.

Electric grinders are quick and easy to use - you can leave it on your countertop and therefore be more likely to use it daily. There are even attachments you can purchase to grind grain using your KitchenAid Mixer.

Hand grinders take a bit more to set up and are a bit more work to use, but if you had no electricity or were trying to limit the use of your electricity or generator, then this would be the way to go.

Our opinion is it is good to have both.

I don't make a habit of grinding grain daily for my baking, but I have a friend who freshly grinds her flour for her baking every day. And I can tell you from first-hand experience her baked goods are absolutely fabulous.

Since I wasn't grinding grain daily, I always just used the grain grinding attachment for my Vitamix whenever I needed small amounts ground for baking bread, etc.

But this year as part of my preparedness budget, an electric grain mill made it on the list. I want one that is dedicated to grain grinding that I can leave on the counter so I'll use it more frequently.

Electric Mill

I did my research and decided to go with a WonderMill. WonderMills are similar to the WhisperMills that are no longer made. It is supposed to be very quiet and very efficient. The makers of the mill say it will grind 100 pounds of flour in an hour. It has a 1.75 horsepower motor. It will grind wheat, rice, small grains, legumes and beans as large as garbanzos. It also has a lifetime warranty. Sounded good to me and came highly recommended from several of my friends.

And, as luck would have it, our friends at FunderFarm sell these and have been running them on sale recently from $239.95 (retail $269.95). I placed my order last week and my mill arrived late yesterday afternoon. I will definitely be posting again to let you know how well it works!

Hand Mill

There are just as many different kinds of hand mills out there too. You really have to look at what you want to grind and in what quantities, how much room you have, where you want to set your hand mill up, how fine will it grind the flour, etc.


Many people agree that the king of hand mills is the Country Living Hand Mill. I also have several friends who have this mill and say it is the best one they have ever had. I can't personally say, since I don't own one, but I can say that it is on my list for future preparedness purchases. You'll have to do your research to find a price on these that fits your budget, as you can sometimes find them on sale various places online. The website above for the mill has some good videos on their product as well.

These are the two mills that I've done the most research on and that come most highly recommended by friends of mine who use them on a daily basis. I'd love to hear from other readers who have used different mills that they really love!
------------------------------------------
Join the APN Forum at http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/
Visit the Tennessee Forum at http://www.tennesseepreppersnetwork.net/

Storing Grains

As we've mentioned before, grains will store for a much longer period of time than ground flours, if you store them properly.

There are many ways to store grains, depending on your needs and how you use them.

Many bakers I know keep some of the grain they are using often in their freezer to keep it fresh and to keep the grain at a cooler temperature when they grind it fresh from the freezer.

This works if you aren't storing a lot of grain or if you have a dedicated space in your freezer for keeping your grain.

We keep our grain in a couple of categories: immediate-use, short-term storage and long-term storage. The key is to keep your storage grains so they won't get bugs or rodents in them, and in a relatively temperature-stable condition in order to get a long storage life from your grains.

Our immediate-use grain is in a 5 gallon bucket with a gamma seal lid. I keep this grain handy so I can scoop out of it for use whenever I need it.

Our short-term storage grains are in sealed 5 gallon buckets. We put the grain into mylar bags with oxygen absorbers, sealed the bags (we use a hair straightening-iron for sealing our bags, you can pick one up at any discount retailer in the hair products section), then sealed the buckets. They are stored in an accessible area and are used to replenish my immediate use grain bucket when it gets low or runs out.

Our long-term storage grains are also in sealed 5 gallon buckets. Some we did ourselves using the mylar bag and oxygen absorber method mentioned above and some we purchased already sealed. These are stored in an out-of-the-way area that we only access about twice a year for rotation purposes and these grains are intended as part of our long-term food storage program.

You can purchase grains from many, many different places and it is best to research food co-ops in your local area as a starting point for purchasing your grains.

We have purchased many of our long-term storage buckets of grain from Emergency Preparedness - they will ship the 5 gallon buckets of grain to you with a minimum order of 6 buckets. They come via FedEx on a pallet delivered right to your door. This is one of the best ways we've found to get our long-term storage grains; shipping is only a flat $12.00 for any order over $120.01!!! This is an very cost-effective way to get heavy items like buckets of grain delivered to you.

Another option we have in West TN is a local farmer who places a bulk grain order twice each year for customers who pre-order. He does a spring and fall order and then you pick up your order from him in North Mississippi when it arrives. You can order in sealed food grade pails (not in mylar, but in sealed buckets) or in bags. We've known the Funderburk family for awhile now and they are fantastic to work with: FunderFarm is the link to their website. They also sell grains and mixes already ground and ready to use, as well as different grinders.

In another post we'll talk about the different grain grinders and what we've found that we like best.
------------------------------------------
Join the APN Forum at http://www.americanpreppersnetwork.net/
Visit the Tennessee Forum at http://www.tennesseepreppersnetwork.net/

Grain Basics

Grains are a basic staple for your preparedness pantry - but many people who aren't used to grinding their own grains get confused by the different types and how they are supposed to be used.

Grains when properly stored will last much, much longer than flour that is already ground. But how do you know which type of wheat you want?

The three most common types of wheat that we use in our home are:

Soft White Wheat, Hard White Wheat, and Hard Red Wheat

It's really not that hard to know how to use the different types.

A basic rule of thumb to remember is this:

If your recipe calls for flour and BAKING POWDER - use SOFT WHITE WHEAT. This would be items like cakes, cookies, muffins - most sweets or dessert type items you want to bake that are supposed to be light and fluffy.

If your recipe calls for flour and YEAST - use HARD WHITE WHEAT. This produces a wheat bread (or pizza dough or the like) that is lighter in texture and closer to what most people are used to from the grocery store when they think of wheat bread.

If you want a artisan-type bread that is heavier - you'll use HARD RED WHEAT. Most times that I've made bread using freshly ground hard red wheat, I mix the flour with a hard white wheat flour so the dough will rise properly and will be a little lighter.

If you have recipes for artisan-type breads that are hard and crusty - hard red wheat will usually work really well for you.

In addition to these wheat grains, I sometimes also mix in a little ground spelt or kamut when making bread just to give it a multi-grain texture.

You can experiment to see what you and your family like best and that is part of the fun of working with different grains - finding what you like!

------------------------------------------
Join the APN Forum at www.AmericanPreppersNetwork.net
Visit the Tennessee Forum at www.TennesseePreppersNetwork.net