This is part 4 of 4. Want all 4 parts of the “Home Grain Milling 101” series combined into a FREE all-in-one eBook you can refer to offline?
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As if milling your own flour wasn’t exciting enough, let’s really have some fun!
We covered the basics – why mill your own flour and how mills work — plus how to mill gluten-free flours and how to bake with fresh-ground flour.
So now it’s time to show you what else your grain mill can do!!!
Ready, set, go!
Check out the 4 more things (actually, 5!) your grain mill can do in today’s #AskWardee in print, podcast, or video below!
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Q: What Other Things Can A Grain Mill Do?
Kristy H. asked:
What other things you can do with a flour mill? For instance, can you grind nuts and seeds or do other things with it?
Besides the obvious, your grain mill can do many other things. I’m showing you 4 today. Actually, 5, because I have a bonus tip for you, too!
(We talked about nuts and seeds in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.)
Be sure to check your mill’s manual or check with the manufacturer before doing any of these things. Mills differ in what they can and can’t do. I went through the major mill types (impact, stone, steel, etc.) and what they can do here in Part 1.
#1 — Sprouted Flour
Aubree K. asks:
Making sprouted flour (we have an excalibur dehydrator)… some mills don’t do well with that?
You can absolutely make sprouted flour in your grain mill. It might be true that some mills don’t allow it. However, all the mills I have used do.
Provided the sprouted grain is very, very dry. (You soak it, let it sprout, then dehydrate it.)
If the grain is fully dry, most mills should do it fine. (Again, double check your with your manufacturer to be sure!)
How to make sprouted flour in the Mockmill:
- Soak grains.
- Sprout grains.
- Dry grains (all the way).
- Adjust Mockmill to desired fineness.
- Turn on Mockmill.
- Add sprouted grain to the hopper, and flour will come out the spout into your bowl.
Check out the video recording above to see how the Mockmill — my favorite mill — handles sprouted grain.
#2 — Cracking Grains
If you have a stone or steel burr mill, or a Vitamix, you can crack grains. Cracked grains are awesome to soak and then add to your bread dough. Or to soak and then boil into a homemade cream-of-wheat, but more versatile and arguably healthier because you can use any grain(s) you’d like instead! See below for a recipe…
How to crack grains in the Mockmill:
- Adjust Mockmill to desired coarseness.
- Turn on Mockmill.
- Add grain to the hopper and your cracked grains will come out the spout into your bowl.
- Adjust coarseness as needed.
- Crack different grains if you want a mixed grain mix.
Check out the video recording above to see how the Mockmill — my favorite mill — cracks grain. And look below for a delicious soaked einkorn porridge recipe using cracked einkorn!
Soaked Einkorn Porridge
Here's an easy, nourishing breakfast porridge made with einkorn cracked in the Mockmill and also soaked to make it extra digestible!
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole einkorn berries cracked in the Mockmill or other grain mill
- 3 1/2 cups pure water
- 1 tablespoon sourdough starter or raw apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon optional
- 2 dropperfuls liquid stevia extract optional; to balance sour
- toppings *
Instructions
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The evening before you want to enjoy this dish, crack the einkorn berries in the Mockmill.
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Put cracked einkorn in a small to medium pot.
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Add warm water and sourdough starter (or apple cider vinegar). Stir briefly. Cover and let soak overnight, or 7 to 8 hours.
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The next morning, add cinnamon and stevia (if using).
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Mix while heating over medium heat.
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Stir constantly as it thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
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Scoop into bowls, and top as desired. Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Notes
*Dried fruit, chopped nuts, shredded coconut, maple syrup or raw honey, raw milk, butter, sour cream, etc.
#3 — Bean Flour & Other Flours
You can mill other hard items besides grains… like bean flours or corn flour!
See the video above where I show you how to make pea flour. (It’s tasty to add to breads or savory loaves in small amounts.) You can do this with dried black beans, garbanzo beans, and even field corn.
How to make bean flour in the Mockmill:
- Adjust Mockmill to desired fineness/coarseness.
- Turn on Mockmill.
- Add beans to the hopper a little at a time and your bean flour will come out the spout into your bowl.
- Adjust coarseness as needed.
- Add different kinds of beans/grains if you want to create a mixed flour.
- Change containers and run cheap white rice through the mill to clean it out.
Check out the video recording above to see how the Mockmill — my favorite mill — grinds split peas into bean flour!
#4 — Fresh-Ground Pepper & Other Spices
You can save money and increase the quality and flavor of your spices if you grind them fresh… and if you store them in air-tight, light-proof glass herb storage jars like these.
Please note that you should check your manual or manufacturer to find out what spices are ok to use. With the Mockmill, grind only non-oily spices such as black pepper.
How to grind spices in the Mockmill:
- Adjust Mockmill to desired fineness/coarseness.
- Turn on Mockmill.
- Add spices to the hopper a little at a time and your ground spices will come out the spout into your bowl. (With large pieces of spices like cinnamon sticks, you’ll need to chop them up into smaller pieces first.)
- Adjust coarseness as needed.
- For best results, store air-tight, light-proof glass herb storage jars like these.
- Run cheap white rice through the mill to clean it out.
Check out the video recording above to see how the Mockmill — my favorite mill — grinds peppercorns into fresh-ground black pepper!
Here’s a recipe for Chinese five spice powder… ground in the Mockmill!
So, there you have it… 4 not-so-obvious uses for your grain mill! But, I have one more for you, so keep reading…
Bonus #5 — Confectioner’s Sugar
As Paul from Mockmill shared in this webclass we did together, if you have the Mockmill Stand Mixer Attachment that fits KithenAid and Kenmore, you can run a dry sweetener through it to create fine confectioner’s sugar! How cool is that?
Click here for the webclass replay where he explains this. If you don’t have time to watch it, click the link at the bottom to download the transcript and read along!
My Favorite Grain Mill: The Mockmill
As you can tell from this series, the Mockmill is my favorite grain mill and the one I recommend!
The Mockmill is a home stone grain mill, and it’s engineered and manufactured in Germany by Wolfgang Mock. He started making home grain mills back in the 1970s, so he’s been doing it for over 40 years. It’s estimated that nearly 70% of the stone mills out there are made by him.
This mill is super exciting because it contains the best features of Wolfgang Mock’s milling career, yet it’s much more affordable. The reason it’s more affordable is because this mill comes in a durable recycled material housing (instead of expensive wood).
I love the flour it produces because it’s super healthy and nutritious (being fresh ground), and it has a really fine texture. So, it makes wonderful, light bread, and it’s cool to the touch instead of being warmed up as some mills will do.
Furthermore, this mill will grind all grains, even gluten-free. It can even crack grains for porridge, and it has many other uses (like spices, nuts, and seeds).
You can see how it works in this video:
All the details — including the very affordable price and FREE SHIPPING — are on this page. By the way, it also comes as a KitchenAid attachment — very exciting for those who don’t want another appliance to take up any more room!Also with your purchase of the Mockmill, you’ll get two fantastic eBooks from the Mockmill team: The Mockmill Farm Directory & Grain Milling Guide and The Mockmill Recipe Guide. Both of these eBooks are fabulous!
And, for a limited time… if you decide to purchase the Mockmill, I’m throwing in complimentary copies of both my Sourdough A to Z and Einkorn Baking eBook and Video Packages. They’re each worth $64 for a total of $128 in additional bonuses from me.
To claim your extra free bonuses from me after purchasing the Mockmill, just go to tradcookschool.com/millbonus. Have your order # handy, because you’ll need it to claim the two free eBook packages!
This part 4 of 4. Want all 4 parts of the “Home Grain Milling 101” series combined into a FREE all-in-one eBook you can refer to offline?
Click here to download the “Home Grain Milling 101” eBook for FREE!
Helpful Links
- The Mockmill — my favorite and recommended (affordable) home stone grain mill — Hurry! The limited time offer to get my eBook packages valued at $128 won’t last long!
- Claim your FREE ($128 value) bonuses with your purchase of the Mockmill here!
- Nutrimill
- Vitamix
- Free “Home Grain Milling 101” eBook — it’s all 4 parts of this series combined into a single, FREE download from me!
- Home Grain Milling 101, Part 1: The Basics
- Home Grain Milling 101, Part 2: Milling Gluten-Free Grains Into Flour
- Home Grain Milling 101, Part 3: Baking With Fresh-Ground Flour
- FREE Webclass: Baking With Fresh-Ground Flour
- FREE No-knead Sourdough Einkorn Bread Recipe
- Why I <3 Einkorn — in case you want to know why we bake with the healthier 5,000 year-old wheat called einkorn!
- Where To Buy Einkorn
- Air-tight, light-proof glass herb storage jars
By the way, I want to give credit to Vickilynn Haycraft, my dear friend and “milling mentor”, who introduced me to grain milling years ago and who contributed to some of these answers. I also want to thank Wolfgang Mock, whose stone grain mill — the Mockmill — I am using for demonstrating various milling tasks in this series. And finally, I want to thank Jade Koyle from Einkorn.com for his wonderful einkorn grain and help with using the Mockmill!
More Mockmill Related Articles from the #AskWardee Show:
- Unboxing The Mockmill (Affordable Home Stone Grain Mill)
- Differences Between Nutrimill And Mockmill #AskWardee 120
- How To Simply & Easily Clean Your Mockmill Grain Mill #AskWardee 119
- Where To Buy Whole Wheat Berries, Grains, and Flour #AskWardee 148
- How to Store Flour and Grains#AskWardee 149
- Buckwheat Flour 101: Choosing, Milling Flour, Sprouting, Recipes & More! #AskWardee 141
- Milling Soft Wheat In A Grain Mill {Homemade Pastry Flour} #AskWardee 131
- Is The New Ultragrain White Whole Wheat Healthy? #AskWardee 112
What not-so-obvious things do you do with your grain mill? Please share in the comments!
...without giving up the foods you love or spending all day in the kitchen!
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maria says
Hi
I have a quick question. When you sprout the wheat berries and then put them in the dehydrator on 113F for about 12 hours, wont that affect the nutrition of the grain dramatically? How do you manage this?
Danielle says
Hi Maria,
The internal temperature of the grain, especially since it is wet, will take a good deal of time to 113-degrees if you keep your dehydrator at 113.
Even if the grain does reach 113-degrees internal temperature it is still considered raw. Some people say 110 degrees is the max temperature for raw so you could drop your dehydrator to 110 if you wanted. 🙂
~Danielle, TCS Customer Success Team
Brenna says
The link to the Mockmill website does not work. Every time I click on it, it tries to load and then immediately disappears as if it were never opened. Does anyone else have this problem?
Danielle says
Hi Brenna,
I’m sorry you’re having problems with the link. It seems to be working fine on our end.
You may want to try clearing your cache.
Here’s the link: http://tradcookschool.com/mockmill.
~Danielle, TCS Customer Success Team
Cheryl Benoit says
Hi Wardee, I hate to bother you at this super busy time ! But I was hoping to be able to make a sourdough bread for my Christmas gathering . I have made the easy Einkorn Artisanal and English muffins a few times with my own sourdough starter , having followed your instructions . They were so yummy ! BUT , last week I ground my own Einkorn berries ( from Jovial foods ) and have been making my starter , keeping it nice and snug /warm, feeding it etc. It’s been 5 days and not one bubble ! It does have a bit of a sour taste, but it looks like it just isn’t fermenting 🙁 First time this has happened to me ! ( I had used Einkorn flour for my other starters , with no problem ) Thanks so much and Merry Christmas !
Millie Copper says
Hi Cheryl,
Sometimes starters can rebel with even a slight change. 🙂 Be sure to keep it warm, you may need to find a warmer place for it such as in the oven wit the light on, then keep feeding it at least two times per day. Give it another couple of days to see if it bounces back.
Hope this helps! ~ Millie TCS Customer Success Team.
Marlene Kaim says
Can the cracked wheat milling for Einkorn be adjusted to produce a texture similar to bulgar to use in middle eastern foods such as tabouli and kibbie? Thank you, I am seriously considering this purchase for my Kitchenaid mixer. And excited to begin using Einkorn
Vicki Henry says
Hi Marlene,
Our friends over at MockMill say yes. However, with every setting there will be a wide range of particle sizes.
To produce a “bulgur” requires a strainer/sifter/screen to remove the smaller particles, which can be re-milled for flour.
This is how bulgur was traditionally made, before industrialization.
Hope this is helpful!
~ Vicki, TCS Customer Success Team
Marlene Kaim says
Yes, thank you Vicki. I’ll let you know my results when I try it.
Judy says
This looks fascinating. I am wondering if the Mockmill will grind nuts into flour, as they are oily. Am on the Keto diet and it would save money if I could grind my own almond flour, etc. Thank you.
Vicki Henry says
Hi Judy,
Sorry but you can not grind anything oily in the MockMill, such as nuts.
~ Vicki, TCS Customer Success Team
Cathy Katin-Grazzini says
Hi there! A question about milling beans, peas, lentils: Is it safe to cook with these flours if they have not been previously soaked and cooked in a fresh pot of water, or sprouted and boiled to reduce the content of natural lectins. I know red kidney beans are particularly problematic to consume raw and not sure if other drier cooking/baking methods that don’t eliminate lectins via soaking and boiling is safe. Can you shed light here?
Thanks!
Peggy says
Hi, Cathy,
That is a great question! We recommend using bean flours in soaked or sourdough recipes, just as we recommend for grains. If you do this, there is no concern because the beans get soaked and prepared for best digestion.
You can also soak, dehydrate, and THEN grind the beans. That would make a bean flour that can be used in recipes without soaking or sourdough.
~Peggy, TCS Customer Success Team
Lisa Harriger says
The links for the mockmill starts to open and then disappears
Vicki Henry says
Hi Lisa,
I just tested the link for the MockMill and it worked for me. Try closing your browser and reopen it. Your browser maybe stuck, they do that sometimes.
~ Vicki, TCS Customer Success Team
Raye says
Curious if the mockmill (not the kitchenaid attachment version, but the larger one) can grind sugar? Has anyone tried it? Hmmmm….
Vicki Henry says
Hi Raye,
Only the Kitchen Aid MockMill can grind sugar into powdered sugar.
~ Vicki, TCS Customer Success Team