Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Before I decided to purchase this grain mill, I had been looking at a few different hand mills and some electric models. The Country Living hand mill was out because it was too expensive. I considered the Victorio for a long time because of its economical cost, but after reading many reviews, I concluded that it wouldn't necessarily grind flour as fine as I would like and that it was not as sturdy as others. I considered various electric models, as well, but was concerned about two things with those: the noise they make was a big concern, and the way they heat the flour when they grind it was also a concern (but not an especially significant one). I ultimately decided on this mill because I have long preferred human-powered to electrical devices when there is a good option available; I also liked the versatility this offered in having both the stone and the steel grinders. After about two months of almost weekly use, I would say that this mill is excellent at what it does, but the effort required to turn it when grinding grains means that it is not one everyone will appreciate. Before I bought this mill, I was a little perplexed by the widely divergent information here about how long it takes to grind a cup of flour. I didn't know whose review to believe, but I found a video review on the Breadtopia website which compared this mill to several electronic models. That video review said it took about 8 or 9 minutes to grind two cups of flour. In my experience, that is exactly right. After several weeks, I noticed that I usually grind about five cups of flour in between 20 and 25 minutes. I can grind a little faster with the steel grinders than the stone ones, but they don't grind as fine, so I prefer to use the stone for flour. The thing to remember, though, is that it can be serious exercise to grind that much flour at one time. It takes a certain amount of strength and aerobic fitness to get the right rhythm going. I'm sure that people in better shape can grind flour faster, but I have taken to grinding once a week while watching a half hour show on TV. The quality of the flour is good, it is fine and soft. Although I mostly grind spelt into flour, I have also experimented with hard winter wheat, rice, and even lentils and beans. I have also tried using the steel grinders to make peanut butter, and was quite pleasantly surprised by the quality of the peanut butter it produced, though it took much longer to make just a little peanut butter than it did to grind flour. Grinding the peanuts didn't require as much physical exertion as grinding grains, but it is a much slower process for the butter to feed through the machine. (I ended up grinding the rest of the peanuts in my food processor and then adding the little bit of peanut butter produced this way which provided enough oil to help process those into a nice butter.) A few final notes might be helpful. The first two times I used this, I had trouble getting the grinding plates properly attached and positioned to the mill: the trick is to lie the mill on a counter or table and then attach the plates before placing the mill upright. Second, the clamps work well for attaching the mill to a table or counter, but they must both be tightened very securely by hand. If either side is insufficiently tight, the force required to work the mill will gradually loosen that side. I also like to put an old towel between the clamps and the table for reduced friction (and to prevent any scratches should one side be slightly loose). Finally, when grinding nut butters, it works best to put something such as an empty glass jar on the nuts to help push them into the mill.