I warned you I was going to talk about it.
Disclaimer: You are about to enter a very geeky and domestic realm. Get ready to put on your aprons, ladies.
So, remember what Stuart bought me for Christmas? Behold, the amazing…the terrific…the fantastic…the exquisite…okay, I think that's enough. Ahem. Behold.
There she is, in all her glory. I shall call her Fannie. Why? Because the grinder is old fashioned and homey and I like that name. It is a Golden Grain Grinder – a brand, come to find out, that is renowned for it's craftsmanship. It is actually a stone grinder (hello homestead!), designed by Johnnie Kuest, still made today in Filer, Idaho. The grinder is both electrical and manual, which is exactly what I was hoping for! That way, if we ever have a power outage, I will still be able to use it. These retail for waaaay more than we could ever afford, but God works in providential ways, and this grinder was brought to me out of the kindness of a giving heart. To whom, I shall always remain thankful.
You know me well enough by now to know that I couldn't WAIT to get my fifty pound bag of hard white wheat to grind in this bad boy. It took me a week to get it and I was so anxious I almost wet my pants when it arrived! (On second though, that sensation could have come from trying to haul the fifty pound bag into my car…hmmm…) If I was really cool, I would have grown it myself, but alas, I'm not that cool. Yet somehow, the world keeps turning. Imagine.
Hard white wheat is ideal for bread making. While you can get hard wheat in both red and white, I chose white to begin with because I'm wild and spontaneous like that. I can grind everything. Corn. Wheat. Quinoa. Millet. Oats. I can make bread flour, cake flour, cereal…. even grits!
So, now I can hear you asking:
Shaye, why the heck do you worry about grinding your own flour?
To which I reply:
My dearest, lovely, beautiful reader, it's because when you mill your own flour you get all the nutrients. And I want them nutrients because I'm greedy! Flour begins to loose nutrients as soon as it is ground, as the delicate insides of the kernel are exposed to oxygen. By grinding your flour fresh, you are able to obtain all the nutrients packed inside. In commercial grinding, the “germ” of the grain is removed. The germ of the grain is what holds all its nutrients and oils. It is removed to prolong shelf life of the flour, but in removing the germ all the nutrients are removed as well. I like to think of grinding my own wheat as a free lunch. I'm paying for the flour either way, but if I grind it myself, I get all the nutrients that would have been absent from commercially milled flour and there are tons of them in flour! I purchased a fifty pound bag of organic wheat berries for $21. That's less than .45 cents a pound for organic flour! Did you life just get better? Because mine did.
So, you can guess what happened next. I ground the life out of that wheat. I really let them kernels have it! Goodbye, dear kernels. Fulfill your destiny.
If I could only describe to you the wonderful aroma of this freshly made flour. It was so beautiful. I didn't even know that flour HAD a smell. But it does, oh friend, does it ever have a lovely fragrance. I wanted to just bury my face in it. But I didn't.
I might have licked the flour pan though. Twice.
For which, I expect not to be judged.
Because trust me, you would have too.
Oh my cow. I want that bread! Nice work Shaye. 🙂
the difference in taste is amazing!!!!!!!
Oh yay!! I’ve been hoping to see what kind of grinder you got. I’m totally jealous. Great job jumping into grinding your own wheat!! It’s a wonderful thing, my friend. 🙂
Please be warned!!! Do not order this grinder from Kuest Enterprizes or goldengraingrinder.com. I ordered and paid for one with hand grinder ($587.00) in November 2010. They never shipped it after multiple conversations with Dela Dorumas (owner) who kept saying they were waiting for blades. This was her explanation about they wait. She sounded honest…I believed…I got scammed. I’ve beed in touch with the police chief in Filer Idaho where the company is located and found out that I am not alone in this scam. I live in Arkansas so the only recourse I have is civil suit…too far to travel $$$.
Linda, that is horrible! Was it the particular company who was shipping the grain grinder that never sent it?
Hi there…The Mrs.,
The particular company, GoldenGrainGrinder.com(also known as Kuest Enterprises), is the manufacturer of the grinder. Sad isn’t it? The original owner, Johnnie Kuest, who is now deceased, ran the co for many years and was well known and respected in the community according to the Filer, ID police chief. They were surprised when I called and reported what had happened to me. Then they got more complaints of the same thing happening to others. The current owner, Dela Doramus, is the daughter of Johnnie Kuest…bet he is real proud of how his daughter is running the business now!
I was allowing her to string me along for so long because I really wanted the grinder and thought I had some protection from this type of thing since I paid for it on a CC. However, the CC company will not allow you to challenge charges after 60 days pass, which was just about the time Dela stopped returning phone calls or emails.
The Filer police will turn in all of my info the the city prosecutor but I will probably never get back the money Dela Doramus stole from me. Maybe they will shut this business down. Sad though…because it is a wonderful grinder and in these times you would think that someone could make that company work.
A follow up to my last post on the 3/20. I am pleasantly surprised that Dela Doramus from GoldenGrainGrinder.com has just given me a refund for the grinder that I did not receive. It has taken almost 5 months to resolve this issue and I am irritated that I had to pay a $17.00 Pay-pal fee to get this refund for $587.00, however, I never thought I would see this money or the grain grinder so I’m more relieved then irritated.
Linda, I am glad!! Was there any apology or explination? Why didn’t she just send the dang grinder?
Hi Shaye,
No, there was no apology or explanation except that she was still “waiting for blades.” But on Jan 31st she told me that the blades had come in and she would ship it that day. It never came and phone calls were never returned after that…until last week.
I don’t know why she never sent it…maybe financial problems? At one point last month she told the Filer police chief that she had sent it to me and called and gave me the tracking number. This was not true.
When I got the call from her last week she asked if I wanted a refund or the grinder but my husband had alreay gotten me a Nutramill so I took the refund. Now I need to get some other hand crank grain grinder…like maybe the Country Living grinder, for no power situations.
Would have loved to have gotten the golden grain grinder though but it would have reminded me of this bad experience.
Dear Shaye,
I really love your blog! I just bought this grinder on ebay! I am so excited. I didnt get really any instructions with it. I was wondering about the metal plate that goes over the stones. I am not sure exactly where it goes? If you could send me a pic of how yours goes that would help so much! My email is [email protected] Thank you!
Heather, are you talking about the metal plate that has the hole? That lays over the stones, with the hole towards the front of the grinder (that’s where the grain funnels through). Turn it on, dump some grain on top of the metal plate, and it will slowly go through the hole into the stones where it will be ground. Hope this helps!
Dear Shaye, I enjoyed reading your blog. Thank you! I bought a Golden Grain Grinder back in 1975 when our family lived in Miles City, Montana. It has been going strong all these years, and has ground a lot of wheat. In all our moves, I lost the hand crank for use when there is no power. I noticed the old comments on your blog about problems with the current manufacturer. Can I order a hand crank, and possibly new grinding stones? Address or link?
Thanks much.
Russ
Cedar Hills, UT
Hi Russ, unfortunately, I have no idea! I’m sorry!
Holy Cow. I want a grain grinder really bad now.
we have flour mill grinding wheel which could grind wheat into flour to make bread.