Quaker City Grain Mill Review
January 18th, 2012
I have been using this huge hand powered grain mill for a few months now, and I continue to be impressed. It is large enough to quickly grind a pint and a half of corn. The handle turns more easily than any of my much smaller hand cranked mills. With smaller mills, I usually make more than one pass to keep the effort low. First I crack the kernels, then I grind it again, adjusted finer and finer. The total time and effort are less when you do that with any of my smaller mills. See my Grain Mill article listed in the Related Articles section to the right side of this page. This much larger hand mill will grind a slightly coarse corn meal in one easy pass. It is much faster than my Kitchenaid mixer grain mill attachment, but you do have to crank it.
I would never recommend grinding any type of grain until just before you use it. The natural oils inside the grain will be fresh providing nutrition and excellent flavor. Commercial mills remove those oils so flour will not go rancid sitting on a shelf some where. When you bake with freshly ground grains your foods will taste better and be better for you.
This mill is not cheap, but it is well made and does not require a strong young man to turn it. This is fast enough to cook for a family of hard workers. It always troubled me that my hand powered mills were too slow to grind enough for several loaves of bread. I do not know of an electric mill in this price range which is built to last and is fast enough for all the grains a family would eat. With a small mill it is easy to grind enough grain for a couple bowls of hot cereal, but it does get a little tedious for the one quart loaves of bread I make in a crock pot. Fresh bread made from freshly ground grain is a nutritious treat! The Quaker City Mill is fast enough to do this without electricity.
