Country Living Hand Grain Mill

Great Mill, well built, easy to use and mounts to the table outside pretty easily with the table attachment. It's not really noisy. It's dusty so I do it outside and it would be nice if the grinding setting had some general numbers so I can remember what one I used before. It's pretty large so hard to store but that's not really an issue.

I bought this since I was looking for a manual mill. Some years ago I purchased a different, smaller, less expensive mill and it just didn’t get the job done and there was only a single setting for the coarseness of the grind. I also have an electric mill that works well but is as loud as a jet engine and disperses flour dust into the air when in use, making it necessary to use only outdoors when it’s dry to prevent coating your entire kitchen in flour dust. That isn’t an issue with this mill. This mill is simple to adjust the grind and grinds as finely as any pastry flour you could purchase. This mill is built to last a lifetime and works quite well. We mounted it to a double layer of 1x10s cut to the length of my island and then clamped the boards to the lip of the island to keep it stable for use. We just store the mill and boards away when we’re finished. This saved us from having to purchase the separate clamp that attaches the mill to your counter top or table. It works well.

We have been grinding our own grains to make bread for about 5-years. We normally use an electric mill. But we thought it might be good to have a backup in case the power goes out. We are very impressed at the quality and fineness of the milled grain through this mill. We cannot tell the difference between bread flour from the electric mill and this one for the finished loaf. Plus it provides a great workout at the same time that it produces flour! You won't need to work out with weights to get great arms and shoulders if you use this mill to grind all your grain. I'm thinking about purchasing the extension arm to make it a little easier.

I bought mine about a year ago and have been completely happy with it. You really do have to have a place to firmly, permanently bolt it down, and you have to be ready for a little work when you mill your flour, but other than that I've been completely satisfied with it. Solid, heavy, reliable and tough. What more could you ask? BTW, A good way to reduce the work of milling flour, if you don't want to buy the motor or extender arm, is to run your grain through two or three times, going from the coarse cracking stage to the flour stage. It's not necessary to do this, and the Country Living Mill will take a couple cups of hard red wheat berries down to the flour stage in one shot with no problem, but it might be a little easier to do it the three (or four or five) step way for some folks. Two things to remember: 1. Clean it after every use, like any other piece of kitchen equipment. It comes apart easily and as long as you aren't using it to make something like peanut butter, which you shouldn't, a small, $2.00 vegetable cleaning brush will clean the burrs and get them ready for the next use. 2. There is a small, square, steel piece in the front of the mill that keeps both the spring and the moving burr in place. It is easy to lose track of it. Be careful not to lose it or drop it into your flour when you take the machine apart for cleaning. I did this once, and it took quite a while to find it (It was in the flour. It's not something you would want to bite down on).

I bought this grain mill because you can either mill manually or by motor. I have both. It does well grinding my hard wheat berries BUT it will not mill soft wheat berries - much to my dismay. I did not know this beforehand but when I investigated why I was having trouble milling soft wheat berries, I found many reviews stating that it just won't. It clogs it up. One customer was told by a rep that it did not do well with soft berries as the moisture content is higher than hard wheat berries. Ugh. Now I have to buy another grain mill specifically for soft berries. Defeats the purpose. If I just had known prior to purchasing this one...

It's an investment for sure, but well worth the money. If you want to grind your own flour/meal/grits, this thing will get it done and will probably last many years. It's sturdy, heavy, and it works. It's a workout, though, if you intend to grind everything by hand.

Built a good heavy table to mount it to, mounted it, and started making corn meal from some old time white corn I have acquired the seed to. Works as advertised. Some effort required if you're going to grind it by hand.

Yes this mill is expensive when compared to other products and YES you have to turn it with your hand, but this is how much goods should cost if they are made in a country where people are paid a fair wage just like yourself. You are able to hook up a motor to speed up the process and make it easier, my wife and I alternate and we can get about a cup grounded every 15 mins by just using our arms. It isn't hard to turn. Well made unit, you have to mount it to a table, so be ready to drill some holes or buy the accessory wall mount attachment.