Country Living Mill Review

I used to think the United-States-made Country Living Mill (CLM) was over-priced. Our tests have proven to me that the Country Living Mill is the best manual grinder you can get anywhere and well worth the money. Being a burr grinder (carbon steel grinding plates*), it gives quite a nice, fine grind the first time through. It is an easy grinder to turn and grinds fast. It will grind wheat to a nice flour twice as fast as the other grinders in the study. The Diamant is the one exception-- however, the CLM's performance is roughly equivalent to the Diamant but $900.00 cheaper! The CLM is a wonderfully durable grinder. It actually uses ball bearings, at one time the only grinder that didn't use bushings (Recognizing a good thing, recently the Diamant and at least one other grinder has adopted the use of ball bearings). This grinder will last a lifetime, maybe several.

The CLM is light, being made of an aircraft grade aluminum. For those of you with aluminum concerns, the CLM has what is called a 'powder coating' which is baked into an extremely hard protective coating. With the powder coating, you never have to worry about your grain coming into contact with the aluminum. The burrs are made of carbon steel. In my tests, only the Family Grain Mill beat the CLM's efficiency. But because that grinder is such a light duty machine, grinding efficiency is the only comparison that can be made between the two grinders.

I ground 10 cups of wheat in 22 minutes with the CLM**. It was not hard work. That extra-long seven-inch wooden handle was especially nice. The handle alone made the job so much nicer as I could easily use both hands on it. As much as I liked the handle, I'd have liked it even more if it was just one inch longer. For the first 5 cups of wheat ground, I used the power bar extension. For the second 5 cups I took the extension off. Because of the shorter radius I was able to turn the grinder even faster as it still wasn't that hard for me to turn. Women and children may need the extension, but should not find it a difficult grinder to operate. I personally own several different grinders. If times ever get tough, I'm certain the CLM will be the very last grinder I'll give away when helping my neighbors. I just love this thing, and as a bonus, I think it's the prettiest grinder made.

Peanut Butter Update: As of early 2015, Country Living introduced a patented accessory called the Peanut Butter Plus, which swaps out the grain grinding plates in exchange for a steel sleeve which inserts into the throat of the mill. A specially designed auger with very close tolerances slides into this sleeve, and a rotating grinding plate locks onto the end of the shaft.

At first, changing out these parts is a bit slow but after a bit of practice it goes fairly quickly. It also helps that clear instructions (which include photographs) come with the Peanut Butter Plus accessory. Additionally, it turns out that there are video instructions on the manufacturer's website and this clears up any lingering questions one might have about the installation.

A number of other grain mills claim to grind peanut butter, and anyone who has tried grinding with these other mills might be forgiven for being skeptical about the Country Living Mill's claims, as well. Once the peanuts are poured into the hopper it takes about thirty seconds of grinding for the auger to load up and for peanut butter to start extruding from the grinding plates. The auger has a hook on it which breaks up the nuts as they are dragged toward the grinding plates.

Though a wooden pestel is included with the Peanut Butter Plus accessory, I found it wasn't necessary to use it with peanuts at all--and the mill grinds peanut butter at a faster rate than any of the other mills I've tried. The front hub is adjustable and locks in with an Allen wrench when you find the desired setting. Those who like crunchy peanut butter can adjust the mill accordingly, and those who like medium crunchy or smooth peanut butter can easily do those as well with just a little bit of experimenting in order to find the right setting.

At $185.00 for the Peanut Butter Plus accessory the price is fairly steep, but the performance is light years ahead of any other hand mill I've tried. There's no plastic and every part is a machined steel casting.

For those interested in grinding other nuts you might be interested to know that it handles cashews, macadamia, walnuts, and pecans, though some of these must be broken up with the pestel to accommodate feeding. Almonds don't handle as well, as they are harder nuts and don't have the oil content of these others, though I discovered that a mixed nut blend which includes almonds grinds without any difficulties. 

Coarse coffee grinds are managed facilely with the Country Living Peanut Butter accessory and I find that very fine (Turkish or espresso grinds) can be accomplished quickly and easily if one dribbles smaller quantities through while grinding. If one attempts a fine coffee grind with a full hopper the grinding becomes very difficult as the auger loads up. 

*Some cast iron or steel burrs can produce as fine as flour as stone burrs. The fineness of the grind is a function of the design of the burrs and not just the material from which they are constructed.

**The manufacturer's estimate for the speed of flour production is more conservative than the results of this test. They suggest setting aside 20 to 25 minutes to grind 7 cups of bread flour.

Comparing Flours

We start out with the coarsest grinds on the left and progress to ever finer flours as we move to the right. The finer the grind, the better the gluten will develop - the better the flour for bread making.

1. This is wheat after the first pass through the Corona or Victoria grinder. The wheat is just cracked. Some whole kernels of wheat make it through.
2. Wheat after a second pass through the Corona or Victoria grinder. It's finer than the first grind, but still has the coarseness of cracked wheat. The Corona and Victoria mills are not good grinders for bread making.
3. This is Germade, which is included as a reference point to give you some idea where the surrounding flours are on the scale.
4. This flour is from the Back to Basics or Family Grain Grinder after the first grind. In my opinion this flour is still too coarse to make good bread.
5. This flour is from the Back to Basics or Family Grain Grinder after the second grind.
6. Flour from the Diamant, Little Ark with burrs, and Silver Nugget with burrs. This is not a super fine flour but good enough for bread making.
7. The Silver Nugget with Stones.
8. The Little Ark with Stones.
9. Flour ground with an impact grinder - almost the consistency of white, processed flour. This sample, coming from an electric grinder, was also a reference point to compare the other flours to. It's a little darker in color than white flour because of the wheat bran but if you conduct a 'Pinch Test' you will feel very little difference between the two flours. The Silver Nugget, The Little Ark, and the Country Living Grain Mill are capable of producing flour as fine as this on a tighter setting--though production of flour is measurably slower.
   
10. White, processed flour --bleached and nutritionless--included only as a reference point.

Grind Test Chart

From top to bottom: The Country Living, The Nugget, The Little Ark, The Back to Basics, The Family Grain Mill, The Corona and the Diamant.

Click on the chart to view a larger version

[1] With power bar extension handle

[2] Minutes and seconds required to grind one cup of flour at 60 RPM with stones or burrs set at .005 inch. The Family Grain Mill and Back to Basics Grinder burrs were set tight.

[3] Minutes required to grind 10 cups of flour. This time included putting wheat through twice with the Family Grain Mill and Back to Basics Grinders because of their coarse grind on the first pass.

[4] The Country Living Mill will produce a talcum-powder fineness of pastry flour on one pass, but the speed of production is greatly reduced.

[5]The Diamant will make a fine grind with only one pass, but the Diamant test administrator chose to grind the wheat in two passes as he feels it easier to grind this way.

[6] There will be some variation in cost from vendor to vendor

Manual Grain Mill Basics or Grinder 101

When you buy a hand grain mill there are a number of factors to take into consideration. When choosing a grain mill consider your needs and requirements as well as the quality of the mill.

The Three Most Important Things About A Grinder:

1. Flour Fineness: The most important thing about a grinder is how finely it grinds. If it doesn't grind at least a little bit fine, you are never going to get a good loaf of bread out of it.
2. Grinding Speed: There is a huge difference in how fast the different grinders process wheat into flour. Of course, the shorter the time, the better.
3. Pressure Required To Crank The Grinder: There is also a huge difference between the grinders in how hard or easily they are turned. Logic would seem to say that it takes a given amount of energy to grind a cup of wheat to a certain fineness. The easier a grinder turns, the slower one would think it grinds--and vice versa. However, because of the different stone and burr designs, this is not the case. There is a great difference, between various grinders, in how much work must be expended to create the same texture of flour.

Unimportant Considerations:

1. The Hopper Size: People with little or no experience with manual grain grinders incorrectly assume the hopper size is very important, thinking that if the grinder has a small hopper they are going to have to stop and fill the hopper more frequently. This is faulty thinking because it takes such a long time to grind a cup of wheat, even with the very best grinders. The time it takes to stop and throw another cup or two in the hopper amounts to nothing. Interestingly enough, one of the best grinders and the very worst grinder have the same hopper size. Don't be fooled by this. Hopper size doesn't matter.
2. The Way It Looks: There are pretty grinders and there are ugly grinders. I'd a thousand times rather have an ugly, efficient grinder than a pretty piece of junk.

Ten cups of wheat makes approximately 14 cups of flour

The Controversy - Stones VS Burrs: Stones used to be made from natural rock but now are synthetically manufactured from aluminum oxide and various binders. Good burrs are made from carbon steel. You won't find much controversy over burrs, but you will concerning stones.

Stones: I like a stone grinder because they give a finer grind than many burr grinders (though the Country Living Mill is an exception-- a burr grinder that will mill an ultra-fine cake flour). Modern grinder stones are made from aluminum oxide. This includes the stones in the Little Ark, the Nugget, and the electric Golden Grain Grinder. Stones get a very bad rap for two reasons.

1. Grit In The Flour: The American Dental Association has made a statement that's often repeated by numerous dentists, "You shouldn't use stone ground flour because the grit the stones leave in the flour will wear your teeth down." This might be true of stone ground flour in the third world where native populations use two rocks to grind their meal, but it is not true of these modern grinders. Aluminum oxide stones are extremely hard. After the break in period, these stones wear down very slowly.
   
   I'm told stories all the time by people who have motorized their manual grinders and from people who own electric grinders with aluminum oxide stones. They have individually put tons of wheat through their grinders over many years and their stones are still serviceable. My mom is just one example. Forty years ago when I was a little kid, she got what is now called the Golden Grain Grinder and has used it every week for making bread since then. The stones are still like new. Through all my growing years of eating her bread, I have never felt one piece of grit between my teeth.
   
   I expect there have been people who pull their Little Ark or Nugget grinder out of the box, push the directions aside and grind up a cup of flour. Then they never use their grinder again because they found grit in the flour from this first grind. Both of these grinders need to be broken in by putting at least a quart of wheat through them, then discard the flour. After the stones are broken in, that's the end of the grit.
2. Health Concerns About The Stones' Composition; Aluminum Oxide: Some claim that the aluminum oxide can't be absorbed by our digestive systems, and many of us literally eat aluminum every day--as some baking powders are 1/3 alum, a form of aluminum. And many people use aluminum pots. There is valid reason for concern, however, as high amounts of aluminum have been found during autopsies of Alzheimer victims. There's a hot debate today concerning the effects of aluminum on our health.
   
   I've seen several people choose not to buy one of these grinders because of the aluminum oxide stones. There is a difference between aluminum and aluminum oxide. When these stones are made, the manufacturer starts out with the same material that aluminum is made from, bauxite. Bauxite is a red clay that's dug out of the earth, then heated up to over 2,000 degrees C for several days until all that's left is a cinder. This is what the stones are made from. See Treibacher Schleifmittel's web page for more information on how aluminum oxide is made. A standard aluminum goes through a completely different manufacturing process. The bottom line is you will have to make up your own minds about this issue and go with a burr or impact grinder if you still feel aluminum oxide poses a health risk to you.

Cost VS Use: You may wish to temper your decision by the quality of grinder you will be spending your hard earned cash on, and by how much you think you will be using it. There's got to be tons of people out there who have a manual grinder, have never used it, and depending on circumstances may never use it. Contrast this with the families who use a grinder every week to make bread, pancakes, rolls and other things with freshly ground flour.

Do you want a manual grinder that will only be used to get you through the tough scrapes or will you be using it all the time? Some people want the very best grinder made, whether they are going to use it a lot or not. Other people will purchase the least expensive grinder they can find--then learn that it won't meet their needs when they begin to use it. Perhaps some real thought should be put into getting a grinder that will nicely serve the expected needs of your family, whatever they may be.

The Testing Process

Why A Ten Cup Grind? Turning a grinder for 2 or 3 revolutions is one thing. Grinding a full cup of wheat is a very different thing, and grinding enough wheat to make a nice batch of bread is quite another thing. We did a 10 cup grind so you could get some idea what these different grinders were like if you needed to make lots of flour with them.

Grinding Wheat Is Work: The first thing people need to know is that grinding wheat is a LOT OF WORK! Wheat is very hard stuff and it takes a huge amount of energy to turn it into soft, powdery flour. As the tests show, some manual grinders require much less energy than others.