HOW DOES ONE CHOOSE A MILL?
During Y2K, (*before I even knew what Y2K stood for), I had a phone call from a friend who was really into survivalist mode.
When I asked if shed built a fall-out shelter, she said, The backhoe is in the backyard, as we speak!
I listened with amazement as she rambled off a long list of foods she wanted to stock, then at the end of the list, she said she wanted to also buy a K-Tec mill.
Stunned, I asked, Didnt you mean a HAND-cranked mill? The K-Tec is ELECTRIC!
She laughed and said, Honey! I’m not hand cranking a mill! That’s when I’m cranking up the generator!"
I love all three of these mills, or I wouldn’t carry them in my work.I think each has it’s own niche in the market.
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HERE ARE SOME VERY "BASIC" GUIDELINES ON WHICH TO CHOOSE:
If you want an inexpensive HAND-CRANKED mill, try the Back-to-Basics.
If you want a simple, ELECTRIC mill that makes the finest pastry flour, definitely the Blendtec!(*formerly called the K-Tec)
If you want the most VERSATILE mill that can be either hand-cranked or electric, attachs to a motor or a mixer for power, with a wide variety of textures ranging from flour to cracked grains, check into the Family Grain Mill.
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HERE ARE MORE DETAILS ON ALL THREE!
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A HAND-CRANKED mill -
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BACK-TO-BASICS regularly $79.95 our price $74.95
ADVANTAGES.........
Hand Cranked - needs no electricity, just muscle, so you can even keep grinding even when the lights go out! Of course youll need a grill, fireplace or brick oven to bake it in since the stove wont work without electricity, but hey it could be done!
Inexpensive - only $74.95 through us
Handle turns easily - compared to more expensive hand cranked mills.
Sturdy - amazingly rugged for the price tag
Adjustable settings - which make it ideal for grinding "cracked" grains
Forced arm exercises! :o)
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BACK-TO-BASICS DISADVANTAGES -
Tiring - Hand grinding can be difficult, especially for those with sore joints, injuries, or arthritis.
Time consuming - It will take 20 minutes to grind the same amount of flour an electric K-Tec can do in probably 5 minutes! I don’t usually recommend it for large families, except for one mom who told her 10 children that they couldn’t go out and play until each had cranked the mill for 15 minutes!
Doesn’t do "ultrafine" flour - A mill must have something similar to K-Tec’s micronetic chamber to burst grain into flour that fine. Some say once a loaf of bread is baked, the coarseness of the flour isn’t noticeable, but others say it is. I guess its primary a matter of opinion.
Grain hopper doesn’t hold a lot of grain The hopper is the part that you pour the grain into. A small hopper means you have to constantly refill it as you grind, but it’s really not that big a deal to pour a little grain in.
Some grains are harder to grind that others For instance, popcorn can be a really hard grain so you may have difficulty grinding cornmeal from it with a hand mill.
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AN ELECTRIC MILL -
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BLENTEC KITCHEN MILL - I paid $279.95 back in 1991 and we now sell it for $179.95 in our shop (*and give away a packet of my "personal" recipes for FREE with each purchase!)
BLENDTEC ADVANTAGES -
Electric - does all the work for you. No sore muscles, as in hand grinding. Great for a fast paced lifestyle. If I had to hand-crank, we’d go without due to time constraints.
Easy - simple as using a blender. Pour the grain in, push a button, and the flour drops down into the flour pan.
Fast - grinds one and a half pounds wheat a minute!
Clear, Lexan flour pan - so you can see how fast your flour pan is filling up, thereby avoiding overfilling the machine and getting flour into the motor.
Large flour pan - saves you time by holding 24 cups flour thereby doesn’t have to be emptied often.
No stones Some say stones can be heavy, hard to clean, harbor bacteria, gum up, crack, chip, glaze, or leave grit in your flour.
Micronetic Milling Chamber - known in the pharmaceutical industry for it’s ability to create tiny, uniform, particles. The Micronetic (TM) Chamber consists of 2 stainless steel parts with concentric rows of stainless steel teeth. They spin within each other at high speeds. Centrifugal force forces the grain to hit the rows of milling teeth, bursting the grain into flour.
Adjustable flour texture - but only minor amount of adjustment possible because it only makes fine flour. You cannot make cracked grains with this mill.
No maintenance - milling chamber is self cleaning and permanently lubricated.
1 3/4 peak horse power motor
Low heat (temperature) grinding - thereby better preserving nutrients. No moving metal parts actually touch each other so the flour temperature won’t exceed 135 degrees.
Surfaces do not rub together to wear out, cause friction, or get hot.
Versatile grinding - grinds all dry grains - corn, wheat, rice, barley, oats, rice, millet, soy beans, even hard popcorn.
Lightweight - weighs just 8 lb.
Compact - when the flour pan is inverted for storage, measures just 10" x 8" x 6".
Warranty - 6-year warranty on motor and workmanship, lifetime warranty on milling chamber and mill pan
Made in the USA
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BLENDTEC HOME GRAIN MILL DISADVANTAGES -
Noise - The Blendtec may be a bit noisy, but my flour is ground so quick that it’s really never been that much of a hardship at all. I can have a pan of flour in probably 10 minutes or so. Use earplugs if it bothers you, or use it in another room of the house away from the family, or on the back porch! If I can use it in our store, which is located in an office complex, and not bother the tenants next door, then you know its not that loud!
Lack of variation in flour texture - you cannot do "cracked" grains, only a very fine flour.
Electric- without a generator, you can’t use this mill if the power goes out.
Price - excellent price, well worth the money but more than the Back-to-Basics. Mine is over 17 years old and still going strong.
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A VERSATILE MILL - ELECTRIC OR HAND CRANKED!
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FAMILY GRAIN MILL - this is a component system, so prices depend on what "pieces" of the system you want. Contact me for specifics.
To get a hand cranked Family Grain Mill runs about $150.
Electric is much higher, but you can also use the milling heads and other attachments on certain mixers so thats cool! For example, buy a Mix N Blend mixer, and you can purchase the Family Grain Mill attachments milling head, flaker, meat grinder, etc. and use the motor of the mixer to power them!
FAMILY GRAIN MILL ADVANTAGES -
VERSATILE This mill can be electric or hand operated.
Optional attachments can be purchased - such as a flaker for flaking oat groats into oatmeal; veggie/fruit processor; meat grinder
Attachments will also work off the base of a Mix N Blend mixer - or a competitor I’d rather not mention :o)
Frictionless milling - therefore, grain and flour is kept at a low temperature (105 degrees) & more nutrients remain intact
Does not produce dust
No flour pan to clean You can just place your bowl under the milling head to catch the flour, therefore one less bowl to wash.
Easy to clean and reassemble - I did have to take apart my milling head and flaker after our toddler decided to grind pecans in them! (*No, the Family Grain Mill does NOT grind pecans or anything else that’s soft and greasy!) Anyway, I did get it apart, cleaned it, let it dry in pieces, then put it back together and it works fine!
Large 5 cup hopper makes grinding faster due to less refilling it
Made of heavy duty plastic
Easily grinds all grains - wheat, oats, corn, rye, barley, spelt, buckwheat, millet, rice, kamut, spices, dried herbs, sesame, soya
Grinds coffee & "cracked" grains
One of the quietest mills
Longevity - made in Germany for over 25 years
Five year warranty against defects
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FAMILY GRAIN MILL DISADVANTAGES -
Attaches to table if hand operated so some assembly I use a rubber jar opener wrapped over the edge of the table to prevent it from marring up my table.
Flour won’t be as fine as with the Blendtec Micronetic Chamber
Will probably not grind hard popcorn
Not as easy to store as Blendtec because the shape isn’t "boxy"; but rather large funnel shaped grain hoppers
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Well, theres our WONDERFUL choices of mills!
If you see anything that interests you, get in touch with us, ok? Wed love to help!
If youre local, come in for a demonstration of all three!
Turn the handles and see for yourself which youd like better!
Cindy
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*I’ve taken great care to ensure my facts however companies change things all the time, such as warranties and prices so I will not be held responsible, nor liable, should any detail have slipped my attention.
Thank you for understanding.
Copyright 2008 My Favorite Things
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