if you grind your own grain, can I ask a couple questions?

[ProudGrandma]

I own a second hand Nutrimill and so I don't have any directions or anything. I just bought my first 5 pounds of hard white wheat berrries and I am grinding them now. It seems to take a long time, is that true...or is my machine not very good. Also, my machine is spewing flour dust out of the machine is that normal? should I get one cup of flour for each cup of berries?

 

thanks.

[In The Great White North]

I use a Kitchenaid, so I can't answer the Nutrimill questions, but you should get the same weight of flour as you had of wheat berries (minus what spewed around the kitchen) not the same volume.

 

Freshly ground flour is light and fluffy like sifted flour, not packed like flour in the bag.

[Faline]

I have a Nutrimill and it does seem to take some time to grind the berries. I use about a 2/3 cup of berries to get a cup of flour. And mine doesn't spew flour unless the canister is getting too full or the little black spongy thing needs cleaned.

[ProudGrandma]

so it's normal then for the flour to spew around the kitchen a little bit? Does it take a good little while for several cups of berries to grind....

[ProudGrandma]

I have a Nutrimill and it does seem to take some time to grind the berries. I use about a 2/3 cup of berries to get a cup of flour. And mine doesn't spew flour unless the canister is getting too full or the little black spongy thing needs cleaned.

 

how often does the little black spongy thing need to be cleaned??

[stripe]

I have a Nutrimill. It takes a while, but not forever. But I once had it going for a while and finally peeked and it hadn't done anything, so I started again.

 

You can download a manual from here:

http://www.lequip.com/product.php?prod_id=31&title=Nutrimill

 

I don't have much flour flying around the kitchen. Do you have that little cup in there??

 

I had a question about the flour that comes in the little cup, and I emailed King Arthur Flour (where I purchased it) and they did not know, so I emailed Nutrimill, and they told me it's fine to eat/use that flour.

 

Anyway on that page I just gave, they have this FAQ

 

How long should it take to mill a batch of flour?Time will vary depending upon the grain used and the setting of the control valve (on/off knob). Turning the knob further to the right allows the grain to flow faster and milling to be done more quickly, however flour will be coarser. For bread flour the mill should normally be set between 12:00 – 1:00. The Nutrimill is designed to give you complete control of your milling so you can get desired results.

 

A level hopper of wheat = 12 cups.

At the 11:00 setting

12 cups takes approximately 22 minutes

6 cups takes approximately 9 ½ minutes

3 cups takes approximately 4 ¾ minutes

At the 1:00 setting

12 cups takes approximately 6 minutes

6 cups takes approximately 3 ½ minutes

3 cups takes approximately 1 ½ minutes

At the 3:00

[cjzimmer1]

When I first got mine, I have flour spewing problems. Then I discovered, I hadn't pushed the bucket that holds the ground flour in far enough. Mine has two little ring guides and I had pushed it in but they weren't visible. When it's in correctly I can see both of those guides.

 

So while there is a little bit of powder, it's a fine dust and doesn't spread much more than an inch or so around the base. It's light enough that you don't necessarily even see it on the counter until you wash it and can see streaks in it.

 

As far as how long it takes, the level of coarseness you select really affects how fast it run through. For bread I run it somewhere between the 12 and 1 o'clock positions and it will run 10 cups of berries through in significantly less than 5 minutes (but I've never timed it) however if I select a finer grind it will take double the time.

[ProudGrandma]

THANKS this was VERY helpful....I didn't know I didn't need it at the finest setting which is where I had it...I will try it at a courser setting next time.

[Faline]

how often does the little black spongy thing need to be cleaned??

 

I take it out (outside!) and snap it with my finger to make the flour dust fly out. If I'm grinding large amounts, like 15 cups or so, I do this every time. Once in a great while I rinse it with cold water, but not often.

 

I think I get flying flour from overfilling the canister more than anything.

[Melanie in WI]

When I first got mine, I have flour spewing problems. Then I discovered, I hadn't pushed the bucket that holds the ground flour in far enough. Mine has two little ring guides and I had pushed it in but they weren't visible. When it's in correctly I can see both of those guides.

 

:iagree:

[Forget-Me-Not]

I have a Nutrimill and mine always gives off a little dust no matter what. I usually grind a bunch all at once and keep a bag of flour in the fridge so I don't have to pull it out too often. It does take a while. I set it on a towel on my washing machine or bathroom counter so I can close the door and just let it run.

 

Mine was spewing a lot of flour and I called NutriMill. They said the square rubber gasket on the top of the lid might need to be replaced, and they sent me that plus an extra filter or two FOR FREE. They have awesome customer service (801.383.1920 if you need the number). They'd probably send you a copy of the manual too.

[kewb]

The only time my nutrimill spews flour is when I don't have the bowl pushed all the way in. The first time I used it-flour everywhere. So not pretty. 1 cup of wheat berries yields a bit more than a cup of flour.