Since we’ve moved I’ve got back into grinding wheat so we can make our own bread again. For some reason–laziness probably–I got out of the habit and just bought bread from the store. And, since we’re also trying to eat healthier too, you can’t go wrong making your own bread as a great place to start. The only problem is…
GRINDING WHEAT IS A LOT OF WORK!
Actually, grinding anything is a lot of work if done by hand. There’s a reason why electric grain mills were invented. But, unless you’ve got a serious off-grid solar setup going, they’re a bit hard to work if the power is out and, no doubt, won’t do you much good post-SHTF. 😉
The only answer I’m aware of is to purchase a manual grain mill. And, while you can purchase anything from an inexpensive hand grain mill such as this one (I’ve bought something similar in the past) to the granddaddy of the them all, the Country Living Hand Grain Mill, you’re either going to be sorely disappointed in the former or pay a small fortune for the latter.
There is a middle of the road solution, and that’s the Wonder Junior Deluxe Grain Mill:
At about half the price of the Country Living Hand Grain Mill the Wonder Junior is, in my opinion, a great trade-off between something that actually works and ridiculous cost. This is especially true for those of you who aren’t quite sure if you want to grind wheat into flour or not but realize you need something you can at least rely upon when the SHTF.
As much as I enjoy using this grain mill, you WILL get a workout from using it. Just grinding enough wheat for a single loaf of bread and I can feel it in my arms for sure. Grinding enough for two loaves or more and I’ve definitely had my exercise for the day. In fact, you can get a whole upper body workout from using one… whether you wanted one or not! Seems it’s time for the kids to take over… whether they like it or not.
Now, if you opted for one of the lesser expensive grain mills thinking you could get by if you had to, think again. Your arms will literally fall off after grinding enough wheat to make a single loaf. The cost-savings just isn’t worth it. Now that’s a workout I don’t recommend. 😉
Of course, there are other ways to use this grain grinder besides the attached handle and your muscle power. You can purchase a Wonder Junior Drill Bit Adapter to which you can connect a power drill to turn the mill. I choose to purchase a universal bit adapter from the local hardware store a while back to try my own corded drill. Hah! It was a joke. If you expect to try this idea then you’re going to need a serious corded power drill… if you not sure then you probably don’t have a good enough drill.
There is one other way to “power” this grain mill–something I have yet to try–and that’s to connect it to a bicycle using a Motorizing Pulley, like this (skip to the 2:12 mark to see the setup):
This is probably the best overall setup if can make it happen. Regardless, the Wonder Junior Deluxe Grain Mill is probably the best trade-off for cost and quality. Either way you’ll get a workout, I guarantee it.
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