I was thinking about how it seems like it would be cheaper to buy dry beans and grind them into a flour than to buy the gluten free flours. Where I live in NE Alabama the only choices I have for gluten free flours are at an expensive health food store or to order them online. Soooooooooooooo, I was thinking I should just get a grinder.

The only info I can find is for coffee grinders, and I found one for sesame seeds.

So not only do I want to know suggestions for a grinder with the best quality at the lowest cost-even if that means making one-but I'd also like to know if coffee bean grinders work well on other dried beans (chickpeas, black beans, ets.).

I currently have a small stone mortar and pestle, but I'd like something less time consuming as I do have to work a full time job currently.

So if anyone owns a good one that they got at a good price (I'm even willing to splurge a little just as long as I get one that isn't going to wear out quickly) please let me know.

Usually it is easy to do a search for the cheapest price, but I'm afraid that-sort of like a food processor-if I get a cheap one I would have been better off not even getting one.

So, please, stories, experiences, links, anthing you can throw at me.

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnd............GO!

Country living grain mill. NOT CHEAP. But inexpensive over the long haul. It will grind beans, wheat, corn to any consistency from grits to cake flour. It is on my list to buy.

We have a whispermill, or whatever they used to call it. It is awesome for making flour, but can't do coarse and is a loud power hog. Jet engine spinning up loud.

Coffee grinders just don't have the capacity. They are made to do a few tablespoons at a time.

Cheap flour grinders can't handle the size or hardness of the beans.

You can also use a vitamix or blendtec--plus have a tool that will juice, too.

Thanks a bunch for that:) Also, I wonder the same sort of thing about a good dehydrator. Is getting the materials to make a solar dehydrator cheaper than buy a nice electric one? And if the electric is the way that I have to go for now, same question-best qualit y for best price.

I have one, but it isn't amazing by any means. Doesn't really dehydrate evenly, the plastic trays are falling apart, and it takes a really long time for most things-like longer than the suggested times.

Just as a side note-I am not yet living in a situation where I own my own land yet. I have to get by with what I can :)

Are you looking for a fine flour or just good enough. I have a stone mill I use for grains and do legumes in my Victoria corn mill, reason being is they don't need to be super fine for what I use them for. It costs around 30 dollars on amazon so it's cheap.

I've found that hand-turned coffee grinders can grind hard things like corn pretty well....you just need to set the plates at first to crack it coarsely, then pass it through again with them set tighter, etc. until you get the stuff as fine as you want. For small amounts, such as one person might use, it doesn't really take that much more time than an electric grinder....and certainly way less than a mortar!
Usually when I want to dry something I can find somewhere to do it without setting up anything special. Again it depends on quantity, and being a two-person homestead most of our quantities are small. A tray or screen set out in the sun. Put it up on a metal roof. If you are scared of flies, put a second screen on top of it....though that will shade the stuff and prolong the time somewhat. Inside your car sitting out in the sun is a great place, especially if it's cool or partly cloudy. In the solar cooker with the lid propped open a bit. In wet cold weather, tucked up next to a woodstove, in an oven with pilot light on....etc....

Somewhere on the net, (and I can't find it again ) there are plans for a grain mill made from concrete cones. One is solid and the other hollow with the solid one suspended inside it. To adjust the grind the solid one is raised or lowered to suit. They are promoted as a build it local/human powered answer to high cost imported mills in third world countries. Does this ring any bells? I had it bookmarked at one time, but lost it in a hard drive crash....
I believe the foundation that promotes it is based here in NC, but web searches don't bring up anything.

Ok, I found it!
They designed it to shell nuts, but I can see it grinding grain or beans without much/any modification.

Here is the Instructables page for it.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Universal-Nut-Sheller/?ALLSTEPS

Thoughts?

Awesome link Joe!

Alder, thanks for the DIY dehydrating info. I don't guess that a dehydrator is one of my top priorities after all I did start thinking about just using mesh screens and also hang drying.

Joe, that link was amazing! It might be a while before I can afford that stuff as I am still in the stages of saving up just to buy some land. However, I believe what they call that sort of thing is "appropriate technology" and if you search that phrase you can find some pretty amazing things.

We have used the same hand crank Corona(sp?) Mill since the seventies, at times daily. For finer flours we sometimes ran the grain hrough twice. Ours badly needs a new grinding surface ...steel teeth..which are replacable. I think they are available with stones also. The price for parts seems reasonable.
It is the economy grinder, at the time $20 to 25 , I think.

The one I used to covet was in Lehman's catalog...huge fly wheel but still hand cranked...for somewhere around $600!

Judith, is Corona Mill the brand? I looked up economy grinder and all I can find are meat grinders. I found some coffee bean grinders when searching Corona Mill. Do you think you could search and see what the modern equivalent of what you have is? I really want to make grinding my own flour a priority. Thanks so much!!!

Ashley, I can't post a link because I'm using a Kindle,but I just searched under "Corona Mill flour grinder" and found a place for replacement stones and sites with advice. Recently when looking for parts I thought we found the company...but maybe it was another business carrying the brand. I'll keep looking.

edited to add: there is a Mother Earth News article about the mill we have.

Ok, thanks Judith! If I found one that seemed reasonable, could I post a link and you would be able to click it to look and see?

Here's one that is from that brand you coveted before: http://www.lehmans.com/store/Kitchen___Grain_and_Grain_Mills___Economical_Corn_Mill___1079030?partnerid=googlebase&utm_medium=shoppingengine&utm_source=googlebase&utm_campaign=1079030



Then there is this one of the Corona brand: http://brewstock.enstore.com/item/victoria-corona-grain-mill

Do these look too small?

try searching "Corona Mill grain grinder". I can't open links...I have to go to google and type in to look. This kindle is better than no internet capabilities but is pretty limited.

I am looking at our mill and on the front it says corona and on the side near the hopper it says Landers &CIA.S.A
and the handle has LANDERS stamped on it.
I always thought Corona Mill was the brand name but now I am totally confused! All that grinding and those other names never registered in my brain. good luck.

Well I do thank you for all your help, all of you.

Judith, I appreciate your input because now I feel like I can buy one for under $100 dollars and it be a good quality. I mean if yours has lasted this long and the parts you need are affordable to replace, sounds good to me

Ashley Ross wrote:Well I do thank you for all your help, all of you.

Judith, I appreciate your input because now I feel like I can buy one for under $100 dollars and it be a good quality. I mean if yours has lasted this long and the parts you need are affordable to replace, sounds good to me

The model number is F 1 on our mill and It does have Corona stamped on the other side of the hopper in larger letters than Landers...When I searched with all of that info. a "vintage" one showed up on etsy for forty dollars...the grinding area looked smaller though but they said it was an F1 model.

Ashley, thanks for the link to Brewstock! I've been looking for replacement swingtops and I'm going to New Orleans in a couple of weeks so I can pick the things up at the store. (I'm actually interested in making fermented soft drinks versus beer or wine.)

Julia, glad I could help! And I didn't even know it My friend has a book on old fermenting techniques. Here is a recipe she sent me and she said you can even do this with your fruit and vegetable bits left over after juicing:

Fruit Kimchi
ingredients (for 1 quart):
1/4 pineapple
2 pplums, pitted
2 pears, cored
1 apple, cored
1 small bunch grapes, stemmed
1/2 c cashews (or other nuts)
2 tsp sea salt
juice of 1 lemon
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
1 - 2 fresh jalapeno peppers, finely chopped
1 - 2 hot red chilies or any form of hot red pepper, fresh or dried
1 leek or onion, finely chopped
3 - 4 cloves garlic (or more) finely chopped
3 TBSP grated ginger

PROCESS:
chop fruit into bite size pieces. peel if you wish. leave grapes whole. add in any other fruit you want to try. add nuts. mix fruit and nuts together in a bowl.
add salt, lemon juice, and spices, and mix well.
stuff kimchi mixture into a clean quart size jar. pack it tightly into the jar, pressing down until the brine rises. if necessary, add a little water. weight down the mixture with a smaller jar or a zip lock bag filled with some brine. or if you think you can remember to check the kimchi every day, you can just use your (clean!) fingers to push the fruits back under the brine. Cover the jar to keep dust & flies out.
ferment in your kitchen or other warm place. taste the kimchi every day. after about a week of fermentation, when i tastes ripe, move it to the refridgerator. an alternative and more traditional method is to ferment kimchi more slowly and with more salt in a cool spot, such as a hole in the ground or a cellar or other cool place.

wow--I haven't tried fruits. I made plain sauerkraut with just cabbage, and just a few weeks ago I made kraut with cabbage, shallots, chard stems and a lot of carrot. What's interesting is that the chard stems lost all their color, but the carrot did not.

I suppose I should go looking for a fermentation thread. . .