Grinder? Mill? Berry? Kernel?

Options abound when talking about what a whole grain is actually called. Some people call them berries, other folks call them kernels and still some of the whole grain foods are actually seeds. Not unlike the tiny jewel being called different names, what people call the apparatus that turns it in to whole grain flour also differs greatly yet means the same thing.

Terms used to describe a mill are often confusing. An electric grain mill is also called an electric grain grinder. An electric grain mill or electric grain grinder uses a steel burr rather than stone grind. A manual mill or a hand grinder is the same thing. It is one that requires no electricity but manual power to grind grain.

If you are interested in the freshest whole wheat flour (and other whole grain flours) you can get then you are likely looking in to home milling. No matter which one you call it, mill or grinder, investing in a home mill is the surest and more economical means to adding whole grain foods to your family’s diet.

For more information in comparison and grain mill reviews and finding grain mills for sale go to: http://www.comparegrainmills.com

You can also give us a call at Millers Grain House at 828.536.4988 and someone will be happy to answer your questions.

Nutrimill Grain Mill

In 2004, I bought our very first grain mill  and began a lifelong passion for freshly milled grains! Given my current state of domestic dysfunction, I was very unsure of what I was getting into and  doubted that I could even accomplish this task of home milling, but the features of the Nutrmill soon gave me the confidence to home mill our grains fresh and daily right in my kitchen. As a beginner, I chose the Nutrimill for a few very specific features.

The Nutrimill is very user friendly. It is compact in form and (thankfully) quite idiot proof. The grain hopper extender (which allows for a large quantities to be loaded without refilling) proved a step saver. The flour hopper can be removed with ease and the  indicators of YES or NO help me to avoid making a huge mess (when I read them as I should). The design of the machine keeps it from being an eye-soar if I leave it out of the cupboard.  After learning some of the particulars of the Nutrimill I learned to dust the rim inside with flour for easy lid removal and to listen for the change in motor sound to hear when the milling process was almost finished. The lifetime warranty and company support are both very impressive.

I highly recommend the Nutrimill for anyone who considers him/herself a novice in this journey in home milling.  If you’re starting to learn the skills needed for whole grain, fresh flour baking  the Nutrimill gives you the ease and convenience that is just about as easy as buying unhealthy, bags of flour. It gives you the benefits of the freshly milled whole grain in minutes. The speed and consistent outcome helps to make this a stable addition for a healthy kitchen.

1. The spouted grain is easier to digest.

2. The sprouted grain has a lower impact on the glycemic index scale, thus not quite the insulin spike.

3. The sprouted grain is sweet to the taste and gives a very good flavor twist on typical flours – even freshly milled flours.

Let’s take a closer look. Below is a photo of some organic soft white wheat, first dry and then sprouted:

When you take a look at the compared photos, you’ll notice tiny, white ‘tails’ on the wheat that is sprouted. That’s all it takes! Once they start to sprout, you’re done…they don’t have to grow in to what looks like typical bean sprouts.

Once sprouted, the grain has released much of it’s white, starchy inner ‘food source’ of the endo-sperm to feed the ‘embryo’ of the grain shoot and thus you have now virtually got an-almost vegetable.

By the way, this only takes about 2 days!

Well – now what do we do with it?

There are a few options at this point. Let me give you two:

Mill it now while it’s moist and use right away or dehydrate it at a low temperature to mill later into a fine flour.

With both options, you will not want to mill in an electric mill. The moisture from the sprouted grain will clog the motor of an electric mill (if you are milling it moist right away) and simply due to manufacturer warranty and the risk factor, I would avoid milling it after it has been home deydrated as well – just in case.

The best mill for this job is the Wondermill Jr. Deluxe:

The versatility of this mill makes it a must for milling moist and oily grains and seeds and nuts as well as the real stone heads for milling dried, or dehydrated grains into a fine flour.

If you choose to dehydrate your sprouted grain for using as a flour, there are a multitude of dehydrator options to fit almost every budget.  Here are just a few:

Whichever option you choose, the choice to sprout grains and add them into your healthy diet is a good choice.

Look for more information coming up about the steps and uses of sprouted grains visit our YouTube Chanel – The Wheat Guy.

Click this icon to go see and subscribe:

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is having a

Day Class at Miller’s Creek Baptist Church !!

in Miller’s Creek, NC

10:00AM -7:00PM – Saturday - October 9, 2010

We’d LOVE to have YOU join us !!

• Learn how to stretch your food dollars using healthy, whole foods.
• Learn how to make healthy foods convenient.
• Learn to use both manual and electric grain mills and see the difference.
  
• Learn techniques for using freshly milled grain.
• Learn to use both machine and hand methods of bread baking.
• Learn ways to store your grains.
• Learn new skills.
• Eat great food.
• Make new friends!

Tentative Itinerary….

10:00AM: ~ WELCOME !!

10:30-11:00AM: ~ We jump right into Fresh Milled Loaf Bread Baking Basics! Learn to make hamburger buns, hoagie/sub rolls, hot dog buns and more fun with this Basic Fool Proof recipe!

10:00-11:30AM: ~ Let’s mix up some Whole Grain Breakfasts to make healthy convenience foods for those busy mornings! Make-a-head muffin options, pancake and waffles in a jiff and more! We’ll make a batch for snack too!

1:00PM-ish: ~ Let’s have Lunch on YOUR BREAD that just came out of the oven!  PBJs, Veggie Sandwiches or Turkey…and trimmings.

After lunch clean up – let’s take a little break and have a Q & A session!

• Why is home milling is both more economical and healthier?
• Trouble-shooting?
• Grain Storage?
• Your questions…just ask!
  

4:30PM: ~ Time to start making Whole Wheat PIZZA together! Then we can enjoy a Healthy Pizza Party!

6:30PM: ~ Sadly, it’s time to clean up then go home! But don’t forget to share emails and contact info with your new friends to help you keep baking and sharing tips together!

How to Register:

The earlier you register…the more you save!

Once you have registered by paying, we will send you more detailed information of what to expect from our day together!

$28.00 covers all your supplies, lunch, snack, dinner and instruction!

If you don’t have or like to use PayPal, that is FINE. You can pay via debit/credit card.

After you’ve clicked that yellow button above… just then click the next yellow button that says “Proceed to Checkout” and look for the option that looks like this below….

Don’t have a PayPal account?

Use your credit card or bank account (where available) Continue<input type="submit" name="new_user_button.x" value="Continue" class="transparentButton" alt="">

…on the next page, you can then use your debit/credit card and ‘tah-dah’ YOU’RE IN!

Be sure you are on the email Newsletter to be updated in case the class is filling up!!

I am so looking forward to meeting new friends and sharing great tips together!
Best Blessings!
Donna Miller

If you would like a class or retreat for a group of your own, please contact Donna and we will work with you to see how/when/where… the details to book your own group!

It is GREAT FUN!

It would be my pleasure to come visit and share with new friends!

This mill has options that you won’t find in an electric mill but is not at all hard to use. It is extremely sturdy and user friendly. With two milling head options, you can mill both a super fine pastry flour or almonds into nut butter. You can adjust the coarseness with the easy dial of a knob!

Take a look at this little short demo I made when I first got the mill and found out how very much I enjoyed it! Manual grain milling was never so easy…..

Meet my Wondermill Jr. Deluxe

Go watch the video!

The Millers own and operate Millers Grain House which offers Chemical Free and Organic Grains, Grain Mills, Bread Machines,Grain buckets, Bosch Mixers, the NutriMill, instructional tutorials, recipes and more.

It’s no secret that fruits and vegetables (in their most pure, unprocessed form) fall into the plant-based diet category (a blueberry pop tart is not a fruit). The issue gets a little cloudy with grains.

Grains are a plant and part of a plant-based diet if eaten WHOLE. Grains in the form of white, dead, processed flour are not the whole part of the plant that is meant to be consumed but only the endosperm (or starch) portion of the grain. White flour products do not qualify as part of a plant-based diet; whole grains do.

Much of the time the whole grain must be milled into flour for use, but the fact that the whole grain is being used means the entire plant is being consumed thus adding much needed nutrients to your plant-based diet. Grains used in this manner rather than white flour are the basis for the whole food pyramid.

For more information about why using the whole grain is best for your health as part of a plant-based diet, watch the following video: http://www.youtube.com/thewheatguy#p/u/42/y_GR4nLsLJs

The Wondermill (electric) Is down from $269.95 to $239.95 Save: 11% off and Shipping to the lower 48 US States is FREE

The Wonedermill Jr. Deluxe (manual) Is down from $219.95 to $199.95 Save: 9% off and Shipping to the lower 48 US States is FREE

Here’s a vide to see my favorite hand mill in action….

As an authorized dealer we are at the mercy of the timing of the manufacturers (can’t put items on sale until they do). I didn’t want to hesitate to get you all the word as soon as I knew….

These will be on sale unil August 31, 2010 or while supplies last.
Often suply runs out before sales end…so you may not want to wait.
Call during business hours if you have questions: 828.536.4988
M-Th 9-5, Fri 9-4 Eastern Time

Here are a few more little tips I have learned to show myself ‘why to bother’:

• It takes no more time than grabbing a bag of dead flour. Throw the grains in the Nutrimill, turn it on and by the time I’ve gathered the other ingredients for the recipe, the mill is done.

• Even the Nutrimill has saved us money! We eat pizza every Friday night. We used to order 3 Large pizzas from Papa Johns, Dominos or Little Caesars. At the tune of between $30-$40 any given Friday. Now I make pizza crusts ahead of time and use fresh ingredients (and I might add less fats/grease) and make 3 16 inch pizzas for $10.00 total! In less than three months, we had paid for the mill on pizza nights alone!

• Last but not least, you don’t have to start our as a purist. If you HAVE to add, change or substitute a pinch here and there to get your family to eat the freshly milled grains that are so packed with nutrients, then just do that until you have experimented enough to use only the grains you mill. Using even 3/4 of a cup of freshly milled wheat vs. the usual ‘dead bagged flour’ gives your family more fiber, E and other phyto nutrients than they can get from fast foods or frozen waffles.

Relax. EnJOY it!

Now not only are you convinced because of these little tips, but your friends and family will see the confidence in you and not worry that you will soon begin brushing your teeth with sugar or go back to believing the world is flat, just because you mill grains at home. Milling grains at home is not old fashioned, it just makes good sense.

Best Blessings!
Donna

http://www.millersgrainhouse.com/store

Go Green with the WonderMill Jr. Deluxe

The Mill I use.

One tip to answering those questions of ‘You do what?’ and ‘Why bother?’ is to know the two biggest benefits of milling at home. First are the health benefits and second are the storage/cost effect benefits. In this tip we will focus on the health reasons.

When grains are processed into flour for shelf storage, most of the grain ‘parts’ are removed to slow the spoilage time. When those things are removed, the flour is stripped of the Wheat Bran, Middlings, Wheat Germ and Wheat Germ oil. As we read that list – we see at least three things that are now sold in health food stores across the world. The Bran and Middlings provide the fiber (and more), the Germ and oil provide the vitamin E (and more), two things missing in the typical diet of the twentieth century.

The additives to ‘dead bagged flour’ can be just as bad or worse than what is missing. To make that white appearance, at first the manufacturers were actually using chlorine bleach! Now a new chemical has been approved., but chemicals are chemicals and not found IN the grain. Since the grain is stripped of so many nutrients in the processing – synthetic vitamins have been added. Personally, since I wouldn’t eat polyester, I also don’t want synthetic vitamins.

This is simply the tip of the health iceberg when it comes to the reason to mill grains at home. The list related to your families health goes on and on. Check out some of our other articles and studies for the healthy reasons to bother with milling at home. At least this is a tip to help you answer those questions when friends and family think you’ve slipped back into the dark ages.

Want more? Watch this vidoe:

Best Blessings!
Donna Miller, Owner of MILLERS GRAIN HOUSE

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The Wonder Mill

Here is a breakdown of wheat types and which recipe to use them:

~ HARD wheat is best for breads and items that require high rising.
~ SOFT wheat is best for pastries and flat breads such as pancakes, tortillas and biscuits.
~ Both types can be mixed equally to make a light texture for all purpose flour.

Color effects the flavor of the flour not the consistancy:

~ REDS will have a more ‘nutty’ (to me it’s almost a bitter) flavor.
~ WHITES are usually just lighter tan or almost golden and have a smoother taste.
~ Both can be mixed equally to make a deliciously light bread without a bitter result.

Muffins, pancakes, cookies and biscuits can all be made from blending types and colors.
Loaf breads have the best result by using a HARD (either color) type only. It contains the most gluten for the rise of yeast bread.

Happy Milling!!
Best Blessings,
Donna Miller, Owner of MILLERS GRAIN HOUSE