Hello Everyone!
After several years of wanting to purchase a grain mill, my wife and I finally saved up
enough money and purchased the "Cadillac of Grain Mills" from Lehman's: The amazing. The stupendous. Diamant D 525! *crowd cheers*
It was a mell of a hess though. It was on backorder for six months and when I finally received it, the sticker barely adhered to the hopper, the paint felt cheap and flakes off anytime you open up the burrs, and it looked like they didn't do any finish grinding to the flywheel spokes and left rough edges from the casting process. I'm hoping Lehman's didn't send me a cheap Chinese knock-off during COVID, but who knows? If anyone has this mill and can verify the quality (or lack thereof) regarding the paint, stickers, and finish work, I'd sure appreciate it. We received it in October 2020, but have sadly been bouncing around living situations and haven't gotten a chance to really set it up and get some major use out of it.
Admittedly, this is my first mill (I know, I know, grain milling newbie who bought the best right off the bat but trust me, we saved and contemplated it for a looong time and wanted a good product we could pass down to the kids). Though I'm learning quickly I still have some questions.
First question:
I'm milling hard red wheat berries and have adjusted it as much as possible to get the finest flour without milling up the bran (which I understand is way too fine and can wear out the burrs). At the same time, it is difficult to turn even while still getting bran flakes. It is seriously a bit of a workout to grind up 3 cups of flour, and, trust me, I'm used to hard physical labor. I really don't understand how a small electric motor could do it, even with the gear ratio between a smaller drive pulley and the flywheel. I know it shouldn't turn super easy, but still, how does one know?
Second Question:
Is it worthwhile to get the extra fine burrs? Will this help with making better bread flour? This is another area I'm working on; baking whole grain bread that isn't dense and crumbly. It may be impossible, but if we could achieve something akin to Dave's Killer Bread, I'd be ecstatic. So I'm open to any tips or tricks.
Third Question:
Should I consider getting the extra
course burrs? It says that's they are good for cracking grains for animal
feed and cereal. Does anyone else have them, and what kinds of things do you do with them? Would they be necessary if we grow oatmeal and process it?
Final Question:
Speaking of oatmeal. We picked up some oat groats to try milling into flour. It does it, but it takes FOREVER compared to the wheat. Is there a trick to it, or is it just par for the course with oats?
Any help is greatly appreciated!
Nick
