The Wondermill Junior Deluxe Hand Grain Mill

I've been wanting a grain mill for a while and this week my husband Jay bought me one: the Wondermill Junior Deluxe Hand Grain Mill. I love it! I've already set it up and, quite literally, given it a whirl.

Some specifics: It's very sturdy, with all metal working parts. It's got a heavy duty clamp to attach it temporarily to a table, or you can screw it down permanently. It comes with stone wheels, or burrs as they're called, for grinding grains, as well as stainless steel burrs, for grinding oilier things, like nuts. (Make you own peanut butter!)

After the easy set up, you pour grain in the hopper and set the tension for a course or fine grind. And you're off!

You're off, yes indeed. Some would say off your rocker. I mean I'll be honest, it's work. I had to take off my sweater after a minute. I had to switch arms several times. Just think about the size of windmill or a watermill. That's the kind of force people have harnessed throughout history to grind grain. And home grain mills do come in electric varieties. Why would Jay buy me this one?

He knows me, that's why.

See, even though it's work grinding the flour, for me, there's something pleasant and rewarding about it too. There's the feeling that you're earning the Faux-Reos that you're going to bake with that whole wheat. But there's also the feeling that you're earning a greater understanding of food and of what goes in your body.

Here's an example: I tried grinding both hard winter wheat and spelt. Before this, all I knew about spelt is that it's a variety more tolerable to those with wheat allergies. But now I've felt it. (So much softer than the winter wheat!) I've smelled it. It's like someone who up till now had only read that a flower is the reproductive part of a plant. And then they stroke a petal and inhale the perfume. Ahhh.... OK.... Now I know what spelt is.

And speaking of perfume, freshly ground flour has a smell. Flour? A smell? Yea. It's amazing. It's fresh. It's nutty. It smells like something you definitely want to eat!

Having said all this, there will be adjustments. The waffles I made this morning with the hand-ground wheat were so soft they were impossible to get on the plate in one piece. (I think I now need to reduce the butter in the recipe.) But they were delicious. There was that nuttiness again.

Yes, that nuttiness again. I know in this day and age when most people barely bother to slice up frozen cookie dough, it's insane to hand grind your own flour. Oh well. It may be loony but it sure tastes good.

Signed
Wren