Wheat grinders?

[wizardwatson]

Originally Posted by wizardwatson

My copy of Nuclear War Survival Skills - Cresson Kearny (available free online) has instructions and diagrams for making a rudimentary one out of common materials available in your house/garage.

Improvised Grain Mill

The grain mill described can efficiently pound whole-grain wheat, corn, etc., into meal and flour thereby greatly improving digestibility and avoiding the diarrhea and sore mouths that would result from eating large quantities of unground grain.

TO BUILD:

(1) Cut 3 lengths of pipe, each 30 inches long; 3/4-inch-diameter steel pipe (such as ordinary water pipe) is best.

(2) Cut the working ends of the pipe off squarely. Remove all roughness, leaving the full-wall thickness. Each working end should have the full diameter of the pipe.

(3) In preparation for binding the three pieces of pipe together into a firm bundle, encircle each piece of pipe with cushioning, slip-preventing tape, string or cloth in the locations illustrated.

(4) Tape or otherwise bind the 3 pipes into a secure bundle so that their working ends are as even as possible and are in the same plane resting evenly on a flat surface.

(5) Cut the top smoothly out of a large can. A 4-inch-diameter, 7-inch-high fruit-juice can is ideal. If you do not have a can, improvise something to keep grain together while pounding it.

Fig. ORNL-DWO 73-11449 (Illustration)

Book Page: 78

TO MAKE MEAL AND FLOUR:

(1) Put clean, dry grain ONE INCH DEEP in the can.

(2) To prevent blistering your hands, wear gloves, or wrap cloth around the upper part of the bundle of pipes.

(3) Place the can (or open-ended cylinder) on a hard, smooth, solid surface, such as concrete.

(4) To pound the grain, sit with the can held between your feet. Move the bundle of pipes straight up and down about 3 inches, with a rapid stroke.

(5) If the can is 4 inches in diameter, in 4 minutes you should be able to pound 1-1/2 lb. (one cup) of whole-kernel wheat into 1/5 lb. of fine meal and flour, and 3/10 lb. of coarse meal and fine-cracked wheat.

(6) To separate the pounded grain into fine meal, flour, coarse meal, and fine-cracked wheat, use a sieve made of window screen.

(7) To separate flour for feeding small children, place some pounded grain in an 18 X 18-inch piece of fine nylon net, gather the edges of the net together so as to hold the grain, and shake this bag-like container.

(8) To make flour fine enough for babies, pound fine meal and coarse flour still finer, and sieve it through a piece of cheesecloth or similar material.

[moostraks]

Originally Posted by Elwar

Ok, so I made my first loaf of bread in the breadmaker. Last week I tried doing it by hand and the thing never rose...

I used some hard red wheat berries to grind into flour. I used that for the bread. The bread is ok and all but it's a bit too thick...more of the consistency of banana bread than regular bread. I used a recipe that came with the breadmaker using eggs, milk, molasses and honey along with the flour.

Any suggestions on how I can make some better tasting bread?

How's the bread going? I used to make a good bit by hand and it can be persnickety. It does not like to get chilled so if your mix worked well in the breadmaker, might be that you had a draft when you were letting it rise? I had great luck when I was letting it rise in the oven (when it was off) to keep it from getting too cool and covering it with a hot damp cloth.

I use 50/50 for whole wheat recipes like Dr.3D suggests. Flavor is good, the children like it, and it rises well. Might try some of the old recipes out as we live in an old house and warm ovens are a welcome addition this time of year! Will pass on any recipes that are working especially well as I run across them. It has been about 2 years since I have made bread. My old brain can't recall which were working best until I go through them again!

I do know I had a really good book for recipes: More With Less http://www.amazon.com/More-Less-Cook.../dp/083619103X
If I am only to have one cookbook, it would be the one. Anyways they have a good recipe for Pilgrim Bread the children LOVE!

Good luck on your bread baking adventures...

[moostraks]

Originally Posted by wizardwatson

Improvised Grain Mill

The grain mill described can efficiently pound whole-grain wheat, corn, etc., into meal and flour thereby greatly improving digestibility and avoiding the diarrhea and sore mouths that would result from eating large quantities of unground grain.

TO BUILD:

(1) Cut 3 lengths of pipe, each 30 inches long; 3/4-inch-diameter steel pipe (such as ordinary water pipe) is best.

(2) Cut the working ends of the pipe off squarely. Remove all roughness, leaving the full-wall thickness. Each working end should have the full diameter of the pipe.

(3) In preparation for binding the three pieces of pipe together into a firm bundle, encircle each piece of pipe with cushioning, slip-preventing tape, string or cloth in the locations illustrated.

(4) Tape or otherwise bind the 3 pipes into a secure bundle so that their working ends are as even as possible and are in the same plane resting evenly on a flat surface.

(5) Cut the top smoothly out of a large can. A 4-inch-diameter, 7-inch-high fruit-juice can is ideal. If you do not have a can, improvise something to keep grain together while pounding it.

Fig. ORNL-DWO 73-11449 (Illustration)

Book Page: 78

TO MAKE MEAL AND FLOUR:

(1) Put clean, dry grain ONE INCH DEEP in the can.

(2) To prevent blistering your hands, wear gloves, or wrap cloth around the upper part of the bundle of pipes.

(3) Place the can (or open-ended cylinder) on a hard, smooth, solid surface, such as concrete.

(4) To pound the grain, sit with the can held between your feet. Move the bundle of pipes straight up and down about 3 inches, with a rapid stroke.

(5) If the can is 4 inches in diameter, in 4 minutes you should be able to pound 1-1/2 lb. (one cup) of whole-kernel wheat into 1/5 lb. of fine meal and flour, and 3/10 lb. of coarse meal and fine-cracked wheat.

(6) To separate the pounded grain into fine meal, flour, coarse meal, and fine-cracked wheat, use a sieve made of window screen.

(7) To separate flour for feeding small children, place some pounded grain in an 18 X 18-inch piece of fine nylon net, gather the edges of the net together so as to hold the grain, and shake this bag-like container.

(8) To make flour fine enough for babies, pound fine meal and coarse flour still finer, and sieve it through a piece of cheesecloth or similar material.

Would it work any better if the pipes had the caps on them? Or is there a purpose to having the open pipe? Making it more like a giant pestle...