Magic Mill II

**ShawnaRae** · 06-03-2008, 08:10 PM

Does anyone have a 'Magic Mill II' flour mill? I don't think they are in production anymore. I received a used one (free!), and used it. It does a great job, makes a great flour. But it came with 2 extra pieces I can't figure out what to do with, and I am unsure of any maintenance I need to do.

Anyhoo, if anyone has any experience with this mill, I would greatly appreciate a run down on how to take care of it, or anything else I should know.

I did e-mail the manufacturer but haven't received any useful info so far!

**wanderinggrandma** · 06-05-2008, 12:01 AM

I have a Magic Mill II. I'll try to help. BTW I love this mill!

**Judi Dial** · 03-05-2009, 08:41 PM

I know grainlady does, since she says so. I'm contemplating buying a grain mill. I've looked at several brands and still don't know if this would be a good purchase for us, or not.

I have a hand mill that I next to never use. (I have a bad shoulder.) So, I'm asking what made you decide to buy a mill, how much did you expect to use it, and was it worth the $?

I have an old Bosch universal mixer, that apparantly had (not made anymore) a grain mill attachment, but I don't have one, obviously! Also, I've looked at Kitchen Aid stand mixers and they don't seem to make the grain mill attachment anymore either.

I understand about the nutritional issues, that's why I'm thinking about doing this, but I have no idea how to sell it to DH unless I start milling flour with the hand mill I"ve got?

I have no idea what the pros and cons of various mills are beyond the data in the sales literature.

Any additional data or comments would be appreciated!

Thanks in advance --

Judi

**homesteadmamma** · 03-05-2009, 10:32 PM

I have a WhisperMill. I don't think they make them anymore though. I use it quite often. I purchase my grain from the health food store in 50 lb. bags.

**wanderinggrandma** · 03-06-2009, 12:02 AM

I have a Bosch Magic Mill. I've had it for 25 years. It does an amazing job of grinding wheat and other grains. It is out of production I understand, which is too bad. It grinds coarse or cracked grain all the way to very fine flour.

Fresh ground flour for bread is wonderful.

Maybe if you ask your DH to grind some flour for you he will better understand the need for an electric model.

**Thevail** · 03-06-2009, 01:32 AM

I've been thinking about it, but only looking at the hand crank ones since it would be in the nature of an experiment.

A note though..coffee grinders don't work unless you want to make really coarse ground flour..sort of like cereal grind. And it would take about a day just to grind enough to make 2 loaves of bread.

**thefrug** · 03-06-2009, 05:08 AM

I hope more chime in here because I've been thinking about this also. I was wondering about the hand crank ones in case the power is out and I need flour. I've found links for them, but I'd like hear about hands on experience.Pros and cons of every day living. Not what comes from the manufacturer.

**RaineyDaye** · 03-06-2009, 06:43 AM

Originally Posted by Thevail

A note though..coffee grinders don't work unless you want to make really coarse ground flour..sort of like cereal grind. And it would take about a day just to grind enough to make 2 loaves of bread.

Thanks for this information. I had been thinking of trying to use my electric coffee mill when I find somewhere to buy wheat. I wanted to try bread from home-ground wheat before I invested in a grain mill... guess that's not a good plan

**Pemberleyan** · 03-06-2009, 08:09 AM

A few years ago we bought a Country Living Mill. It's a hand-crank model, and it is really a work-out to use it. With my carpal tunnel and tendonitis, I really can't use it, so that falls to DH. An electric motor can be attached to it, which would make it a pretty expensive choice.

Here's a photo of our model: http://www.closertonature.com/emergency/grain-mill.htm

I just wanted to mention that if you're thinking about using a bread machine to make bread with your home-ground wheat flour, some models can't handle the flour because it's so heavy. The Zojirushi can handle it.

This next photo makes me wish I hadn't passed up those old exercise bikes at yard sales ;-):

http://www.survivalunlimited.com/gra...rymillbike.htm

**Grainlady** · 03-06-2009, 09:10 AM

There are good things and not-so-good things about all grain mills. These are some basics to consider when making your choice; or in my case, choices. I made two bad choices before I hit a ringer....

1. Whatever type of mill you choose, you must be able to mill flour into a very fine grind to get a fine crumb to your bread. Flour MUST be very fine for pastry, cakes, and other baked goods. Coarse flour equals coarse bread and heavy/coarse baked goods. When I judge baked goods at the fair in the wholegrain division, I can tell the difference in the types of mills that people use by the coarseness of the baked goods I judge. There's that much difference....

2. Electric VS Non-electric: Milling flour by hand is WORK - not just a romantic notion. What it takes an hour to mill by hand, I can mill with an electric mill in just a few minutes.

You want to mill and use the flour immediately for the best nutrition available from the grain. If you use a non-electric mill, be sure to plan ahead to add anywhere from 45-minutes to 2-hours to mill wheat - depending on how much you need and the mill you use. Or plan to mill the flour the day before and store it in the freezer.

You have to have a place where you can clamp or connect non-electric mills down to - a solid wood surface is best. Clamps will leave dents and marks and can damage some surfaces. I place rubber pads between the clamps and the wood for better grip, and to help prevent some scarring of the surface.

If you are going to mill flour by hand, make sure it's at the best height for using it. Hubby made a cart with a wood top where I can clamp all my various mills and grinders and it rolls out of the way when not in use. The two shelves hold some of the mills/grinders and another shelf holds user-friendly amounts of grain.

Many non-electric mills are heavy and large (Country Living Grain Mill - an excellent mill) and would require a permanent place, or one on wheels. Small grinders like the Back To Basics Mill is a waste of money. It was my first mill and only does very coarse flour and took two of us an hour to get enough flour for a loaf of bread.

Many non-electric mills will require two passes to get a respectable grind of the flour. You mill the grain, then pour the flour back through and mill it again (messy at best). My back-up mill is a Family Grain Mill (it's both non-electric and electric - if you purchase the motor for it) and I have to use the double pass with this mill. This little mill also has other attachments for it, such as a flaker, meat grinder, etc. and is a very versitile little mill.

3. "Stone" mills - they use the 2 abrasive grit wheels to mash and grind the wheat into flour. They are effective, although they are slow and can leave grit in the flour. If your grain happens to be a little too moist, the stones can glaze over - so always have another pair of milling stones. You'll have to take the mill apart, remove the stones and clean them, and install another set of stones. Stones are often made from a composit material, some natural, some synthetic. They can chip and/or break so always have an extra set.

4. Cone-and-burr mills: These use a nested cone-shaped mechanism. The inner cone has a sharply ribbed texture and rotates, grinding the wheat against the smooth fixed outer cone. This process is slow and produces the coarsest flour. So for general baking needs, this type of mill is not a good choice. I have a burr mill (Corona Corn Mill) that I use ONLY for the coarsest grinding - such as coarse grind of corn meal - much coarser than commercial corn meal. Always keep an extra set of burrs because they can occasionally break off.

5. Micro-mills (aka impact mills) - These are high-speed mills using an impact principal rather than a grinding method. Grain or beans enter the milling chamber. Surgical stainless steel teeth, rotating up to 28,000 rpm collide with the wheat. The wheat explodes and is instantly refined to a very fine flour. There is less friction on the grain. When grain is pressed and ground with a stone, it heats the grain up and can damage some of the nutrients and germ oil in the wheat/flour.

These mills are lightweight and self-cleaning and don't require a place to clamp them down to. They sit on your counter for easy use.

I owned a Whisper Mill (now goes by the name Wonder Mill), and it was a great mill for 16 years. It recently went to "Mill Heaven" after a tragic accident and was used 1-3 times a week for that period of time. It wasn't until I got the Whisper Mill that I got serious about milling and started making all our breads and baked goods with freshly-milled flour. I had a small electric mill before getting the Whisper Mill - a Regal - and it only milled coarse flour - piece of junk #2.... I now use a Nutrimill. It has some benefits over the Wonder Mill (I can make a find grind of corn meal that I couldn't do with the Whisper Mill), but I'd suggest either of the mills.

I also have a non-electric Marga Mulino Flaker Mill for making flakes and coarsely chopped grain. Then for tiny and oily seeds (teff, amaranth, poppy, flax, sesame, etc.), I use a non-electric Porkert Poppy Seed Mill.

I have a friend who has used a Bosch Mill for many years, like Wanderinggrandma and it has been a workhorse in her kitchen. K-Tek mills are also supposed to be good (no experience with them). Would avoid the mill for the Kitchen Aid Mixer - they tend to not be able to mill very much at one time and can burn the motor out.

I wear ear plugs when I use any of my electric mills. I would make the kids leave the room with my first electric mill - Regal - it was so horribly loud.

For more information, check out Pleasant Hill Grain. Scroll down on this page to see mills and mill information.... http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/

**Judi Dial** · 03-06-2009, 10:05 AM

Originally Posted by wanderinggrandma

Maybe if you ask your DH to grind some flour for you he will better understand the need for an electric model.

I"ll try that...thanks!

Judi

P.S. He says he has 3 electric motors around, he'd likely adapt one, quickly!

**HomeschoolMom** · 03-06-2009, 12:44 PM

Grainlady - Thanks for the wonderful information. This was a question I was thinking of asking myself.

**old_lady_in_the_shoe** · 03-07-2009, 04:13 PM

I have had a k-tec and while it worked fine, I hated it!! I was like a jet airplane in my kitchen and after a while, the foam filter tires and will not "stay in place" and seems to blow very fine flour all over the place. Maybe I should have purchased new filters more often, but it seemed like a waste of good money, but other than that, it did work well and was easy to operate.

I have a regular hand mill...sort of like this one
http://www.goodmans.net/get_item_un-...grain-mill.htm
mine is shaped different and such, but you get the idea...
and any how, my hubby took off the handle and added a pulley wheel and attached it to a motor for me. The motor is plugged into an electric bar (power surge thingy) with a shut off switch that I use to turn it off and on. The "contraption" that my hubby made me is not small or attractive...it is like a partial wooden box, with the grinder clamped on, large pulley wheel behind it with the motor sitting down in the box with second small pulley and the belt that goes from 1st pulley to 2nd pulley moving round and round. It is not the quietest thing either, but more of a grinding/rotation type of noise, not jet airplane. I grind about 8-16 cups of hard whole wheat per week with it and make bread ,cookies, cakes and such, no problems. When I use the grinder by hand, it takes me about 40 minutes to get 6-8 cups of ground flour (depending on my mood and shoulder) it isn't easy to do, but it works and can work with no power.

I purchased my grinder about 10 years ago at a local health food store, but have never seen one the same since...I can't find one on line either (i would have posted a pic if i could have).

You might be able to find a used mill online cheaper than ordering it new. You may try craigs list, freecycle, barter boards, or homesteading boards.
You might also ask around to friends and nighbors to see if anyone has one, so you can "see it in action" to determine which ones you like and what you don't before you spend the money.

**Salinda** · 01-24-2012, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by wanderinggrandma

I have a Magic Mill II. I'll try to help. BTW I love this mill!

I am so excited to see this post. I too inherited a magic mill II. You wouldnt happen to have the owners manual would you and could I get a copy?? I know this is an old post but I would love the help I have tried everywhere.