Saturday, April 4, 2009

Country Living Grain Mill Review and Sale

I am so excited to let you all know that I am now a dealer for Country Living Grain Mills! If you have not heard of this particular grain grinder, you are gonna hear all about them by the end of this post! What? You already know about them and have just been waiting for me to become a dealer for you to purchase one? (How sweet of you!) Well, you can click the button on my sidebar, or head right over here and get busy. The rest of you that need convincing, read on.We'll cover technical details first. Country Living Grain Mills are manufactured in Stanwood, Washington--yes, that's right here in the good ol' USA. Tough to find much made around here these days. These industrial quality mills are made of high quality, long lasting materials--no plastic--and are designed to last many lifetimes. The grinding plates are steel, so there's no bits of stone in your flour, but they grind flour from a variety of grains as fine as any stone wheel can and with 30% LESS effort than other hand grain mills. You can set the coarseness from fine flour to cracked grains (can't do that with an electric impact grinder). AND it will work when the electricity doesn't. Here's flour coming out of my mill last night (I wasn't the one cranking the handle--can you guess who was?)The body is hand cast solid aluminum. The large flywheel is designed to attach easily to a motor or exercise bike--the designer of the mill hooks his mill to his exercise bike and calls it his "well-being machine." (I would love to do that with mine . . . I just need an exercise bike and my little room in the shop finished.) The shaft runs on sealed bearings for easy turning, and with a steady crank, the mill can put out more than 7 cups of flour in 19 minutes. And did I mention how easy to crank this mill is?

AND, the hopper holds 2 lbs of wheat so you won't be getting off your exercise bike and refilling the grain every half block!

I'm sure I left something out--check out Country Living's site if I didn't discuss something you want to know--they probably have the answer there!

And Click here for testimonials on the Country Living Grain Mill. Ready to purchase one yet?
Now, here's my story. I own this grain mill and have had mine for 7 or so years and it works as well now as the day I bought it. It is fantastic. I will admit that I have not used it as much as I could have. I have primarily ground beans and wheat in it. It has never been hard to grind, but it is more workout than pushing a button on an electric mill for sure!

In planning our food storage, we plan for the worst case scenario, which for us includes no electricity. So when we went looking for a grain mill, we did not want an electric grinder that wouldn't work when we needed it to. We did A LOT of research into different hand grinders, and found that many of the lower priced mills were unreliable (some didn't work right out of the box) or didn't last very long under regular use--again, not what we wanted to have around when our lives depended on it. After much research and deliberation, we decided on the Country Living Mill. We purchased the nut/bean auger and the power bar with it (I'll cover all the options in a little bit), and have never regretted the purchase.

This is NOT a cheap grain mill--they retail for between $395 and $409, but the comfort of knowing you have a quality mill that will last and serve your family when it will matter most is worth that to me.

Last night, we ground some wheat and made cookies with it. In the videos, I have the power bar on my mill (which makes turning even easier) and do not have it set on the finest setting (but pretty close). We ran the wheat/flour through twice to get the fineness I wanted and make it easy enough for my 4 and 7 year old to turn without any trouble. I DID NOT GRIND ANY OF THE FLOUR LAST NIGHT. Hey, if my 4 year old can do it, I bet you could crank this mill. (Oh yeah, they did their own hair.)




And here's our amazing cookies: Dad's favorite oatmeal cookies--yummy!

Ready to buy one yet? Head on over!

Did I mention I can take Visa and Mastercard securely when you purchase through my link?

And your mill will ship to your door absolutely free!

Here is a fine comparison to a few of the other hand crank grain mills on the market done by Walton Feed.

Now, a bit about the accessories that are available for the mill in no particular order and with descriptions copied from Country Living's website (my comments in parentheses).

1. The Power Bar. Reduce the effort of grinding grain by 40%! This steel extension attaches quickly and easily to the flywheel of your Country Living Grain Mill, creating more torque and making for an easier grind. (This is what makes it so easy for your kids to help!)2. Wall Mount Kit. (If you're real crafty, you can probably just make this yourself.) If you don't have any available counter space the Country Living Wall Mount Kit offers an easy and effective solution to your dilemma. Comes with pre-drilled holes and equipped with the necessary hardware to mount your mill and shelf to the wall. It is designed to be mounted to a single stud, or into two studs spaced at standard 16" centers. natural wood.3. Corn and Bean Auger. Now your Country Living Grain Mill can be even more versatile! Use the large auger to mill corn, beans, and coffee. To use, simply replace the standard spring auger with this larger auger. The large auger is cast from stainless steel. (You'll want this if you're planning on grinding cornmeal or bean flour.)4. Grinding Plates. With normal, one-family use, your plates should last 3-4 years. Is it time for you to order a replacement set? Your Country Living Grain Mill will be an essential, life-sustaining product during times of emergency. Having a spare set of grinding plates on hand will give you peace of mind. Be prepared and order a set today!5. High Impact Polymer Bin with Lid. This beautiful, clear bin with etched wheat pattern is designed to fit snugly underneath your Country Living Grain Mill hopper. After grinding, simply place the protective lid on the Country Living Bin for perfect storage of your freshly ground flour. This attractive bin has an 8-cup capacity! (I use a bread pan to catch my flour, but it doesn't hold as much as this bin does.)6. Motorization Kit. While there is still power, motorize! The motorization kit includes 1" wooden baseboard, motor with pulley, belt and belt guard, and miscellaneous hardware (washers, screws, Allen wrench).7. Country Living Case. This handsome hand-stained hardwood case is perfect for storing your Country Living Mill accessories. It will hold an extra set of Grinding Plates, the Corn & Bean Auger, the Power Bar Extension Handle, and the Just-in-Case Repair Kit. This case comes empty, and does not include any accessory parts.

or Complete Country Living Case (with all the stuff). Get the Country Living Grinding Plates, Corn & Bean Auger, the Just-in-Case Repair Kit, and Power Bar Extension Handle together in a handsome, hand-stained hardwood case at no additional charge.8. Just In Case Repair Kit. Includes 2 replacement bearings, proper size bolt, nut, 2 custom-cut washers to match bearings while pressing, 12 standard washers, stainless steel spring auger, snap ring, 2 long keys, and 2 short keys. (and instructions).9. Hopper Lid. Keep the hopper of your Country Living grain mill clear of dust and hungry rodents with this handsome lid constructed from natural wood. Designed to fit snugly inside the lip of the hopper. (Again, if you're crafty, you could probably make yourself one of these.)

There you have it. See why I'm so excited about being a dealer for these fantastic grain mills? Now, head over and get something to grind with!

8 comments:

Krystal said...

Wow! That is amazing! I'm seriously going to have to think about this. Is your grain mill mounted on the edge of your counter top? Or can it just sit there while you use it and then you can put it away somewhere else?

Angela said...

Krystal--I mount it to the counter with a couple of C-clamps and a kitchen towel around the base to protect the counter and the mill. Then I can take it off when we're not using it. I'm thinking maybe in my room that I'll eventually have in our shop I'll fix up something more permanent. Thanks for your comment!

Melonie said...

Count me in - at some point. I have to get in touch with Manly about this due to the dollar amount; I don't expect to hear from him for a day or so. How big is it? Does it ship UPS or can it go USPS? (Trying to figure out whether I could have it shipped here to use here, or whether I'd have to have it UPS'd to my folks and put in storage until we are back in the States again.)

But this is what I've been hoping to get, so I will definitely get it through you!!! Gotta give the self-reliant sistah some props. ;-) I feel really strongly about the electricity issue too. I've been told, oh, just buy one of each - elec and manual - but I don't want to go that route and then not be used to the manual or the final product from it... plus, well, I could use the workout. And the kids could "play" with it. Burn off some energy. WOOHOO.

Momnerd said...

This post turned out really good! I really wish I could get one! And I love the videos!!

marci357 said...

I already have one - but my problem is getting a grain plant to grow well here in soggy NW Coastal Oregon. Amaranth worked somewhat well here til it got rained on for the 50th time... Any suggestions on growing grain in a very very rainy area?

Blakery said...

Marci, Have you tried oats or rye? Those are two grains that are renowned for their hardiness, especially oats, which are the only grain that will grow in the Scottish Highlands. Barley might work as well. Also, if you have a lot of rain, but not too much cold(in other words, your main problem is sunlight or lack thereof, not frost) than you might want to try planting earlier. I'm really not familiar with the NW, so I'm just taking a stab in the dark here.

marci357 said...

Blakery - thanks. Will look into those! We usually have May 1 - Oct 15 frost free.

Grain Flaker said...

Country living grain mill is now rarely used by people at home but it's a very good product for grinding grains with settings to make the flour coarse or fine.

But I'm using now grain flaker which is available at http://www.grainflaker.com/ & is working nice for me.