It was a rough beginning. The kiddos gathered ’round as I plugged in my parent’s grinder (that they are letting us use…thx mom!). The spelt berries came from a 50 lbs bag that I barely got into the house and onto the counter. Pouring some out was very tricky. But soon the berries were in the grinder. Now to turn it on…
I turned the switch. A very loud boom, some smoke, and nothing. Not entirely sure what had happened, I figured that I must have done something wrong. There was a lot of dust on the outside of the motor. Could that be it? Maybe I put in too many spelt berries?
I thought I’d call for help, but the phone wouldn’t work. Weird. Finally, I realized that nothing was working. Out to the garage, I inspected the circuit breaker. Sure enough, the whole circuit was down. We needed to find a circuit in the house that is rarely used.
So off to the toy room. Voila! This is one noisy grinder. The kiddos loved helping, and were very impressed with the flour that came out of the magic drawer. I put in approximately 4 cups of spelt berries and received a little more than 6 cups of spelt flour. Not bad.
Next we made a fresh loaf of spelt bread. While it was rising, we ground some more spelt flour. About 5 cups into it, the grinder smoked and went ca-put again. We’ll try again later. I think there might be enough in there for the rest of the week. During nap-time, the builder told me that when the dancer woke, that he wanted to make bread and then cookies. Luv you my lil’ builder baker!
the daily delights by katrina berg 
I noticed the grain mill in the photo and was pleased to see that it is the same mill we got a few days ago at a rummage sale. Our “Grain Country Mill” was made in American Fork, Utah, however I can’t find any information about it on-line.
These mills are heavy, noisy, and have an imprecise adjusting mechanism, however I feel that the robust motor and grinding stones might make them excellent mills if you know how to use them.
If delightsgal (or anybody else who has experience with these) reads this, I’d be pleased to receive tips and links on using the Grain Country Mill sent to: noellikATgmailDOTcom
Thanks!
Hi Noel 🙂
The Grain Country Mill was my parent’s that they found abandoned in one of the homes they bought. So it must be almost 30 years old. You’re right about the imprecise adjustment, though after some monkeying, it does work. 🙂 After a few uses, the motor on the grinder died. Smoked, and that was it. I was sad to say the least…though I was the third to use it, so who knew how long it would last. These days we borrow one from my husband’s aunt, and it looks and works the same. It was made in Spanish Fork I think. I’ll let you know what else I learn, but I love using the motorized grinders so far. take care, trina
Where did you find the spelt? I hauled mine up from Arizona, but have since run out. Clearly buying online is out, because of shipping prices. Emergency Essentials has it in a superpail, but I’d like to have more options than just them!
We buy ours in bulk at Blue Chip in Salt Lake: http://shop.bluechipgroup.net/ They are located on the frontage road W of I-15 and 34th. Call before you go to make sure they have a big bag for you. I have bought beans of all kinds, oat grouts, rolled oats, and brown rice in bulk there as well.