Unfortunately, I've zapped the older digest with Uma's original question,
but would just like to add to Dale's response by singing the praises of my
20-years-young Kitchenetics Grain Mill. It is a micronizer mill which can
make much finer whole grain flours than most of those on the market, but
although it does have an adjustable fineness setting, its coarsest grind is
still quite fine--it will only pulverize to slightly varying fineness,
never crack or roll the grain.
It does heat the flour a bit; after grinding a few batches in a row, it may
get up to 140-150 Fs. It has a hopper holding 3 cups of grain at a time,
but you can mill up to 4-5 cups at a time if you refill while it's milling
(more than that and the base unit fills up). I love to tailor my flours to
each recipe, so usually set it up and mill flour for a batch of cookies,
then some muffins, perhaps some cornbread, then maybe a batch or two of
bread, varying the proportion of soft, hard, and durum wheat berries, and
including 10-20% rice for crisper cookies or a 25-30% oats for more
delicate cakes (including chiffon and angelfood types). I mostly use white
wheats and the durum, and most people who eat my baked treats don't know
they're whole wheat unless I tell them.
The mill accepts all grains and most beans, and does wonderfully with most
spices when added as a small amount to season the grain (e.g., a teaspoon
of pepper to 300 grams of durum for a savory flatbread, or a tablespoon of
anise seeds to a 300 grams of wheat and oats for anise cake). I keep
mostly whole spices and when freshly ground with the flour, the flavor is
much better than powdered spices in the tins.
(Can you tell I love love love this mill?)
It's only fault, and it is significant, is that it is loud: the blades
rotate at 28,000 rpm and I call it my "baby jet plane" for obvious reasons.
But I just keep a set of ear plugs handy, and am careful not to mill before
9am and after 9pm because I live in an apartment and don't want to be
evicted for milling after midnight!
I paid $200 for it 20 years ago, and I've had to had it repaired only once.
The manufacturer changed hands but as recently as 3-4 years ago I saw the
same basic mill advertised by King Arthur Flour, so although they no
longer carry it, I think it's still available somewhere. Otherwise I'm
going to be utterly bereft when it eventually dies.
Diane Brown in St. Louis