blenders for pulverizing and soaking grains, rather than a grain mill

[FireWithin]

ok the title might not be clear. As of two days ago, I was planning on buying a grain mill. This was a big financial step for us. It was also a difficult decision because I was interested in putting my money elsewhere (high powered blender, or juicer). I decided that grinding my own gluten free grains would be cheaper and healthier, and a higher priority than the other choices, but certainly less fun.

Now I just made Sue Gregg's blender pancakes, using whole grain brown rice and rolled oats. They were soaked overnight, and very yummy.

http://www.suegregg.com/recipes/brea...erwafflesA.htm

Does anyone have her book? She said you can use the technique for quick breads, muffins, etc. If this works for us, then the only thing I would really need a grain mill is for bread. What if I adapted Sue Gregg's ideas into a sour dough idea, blending the whole grains and soaking overnight.

Any experiences?

I think I remember WuWei suggesting her before.
I would love to save my money and counter space, but I would need to be able to use whole grains. I just bought 25 lbs each of buckwheat and oat groats. I need to be able to use them.

[changingseasons]

I've been using my 15 year old Krups coffee grinder to grind my buckwheat groats every day, and it works GREAT!!! Takes about 10-15 seconds for a very fine flour, whereas my blender would take 2+ minutes and it would be a very course flour.

So that's my recommendation for a cheaper grain-grinding method.

[FireWithin]

thank you changing seasons. That's great to know. How do you think it is for oat groats??

Ok so no grain mill for me. It would be fun, but I would like something sexier. . . .like a high powered blender.

[Village Mama]

sexy blender! lol .... I feel the same way.
We could really really use a grain mill over thie way. Brown rice flour is 15 bucks for a 5 pound bag here. I could reduce that by more than a third if I ground my own. I tried to do mine in a small coffee grinder. I tried in the food processor and then sifting it too!
I am going to try your soaked grain method and see how it works.

In the ideal situation in my kitchen I would have both a grain grinder and a super duper blender. I can't afford either... but I think I would go for grain grinder first.... only because we are gluten free and it would make the biggest difference for us.

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by Mammo2Sammo

thank you changing seasons. That's great to know. How do you think it is for oat groats??

I've only used it for the buckwheat groats so far.

[Hibou]

Okay, seriously I don't work for K-tec, but I just posted about this in the other thread too!! I have a high power k-tec blender, and it is wonderful for grinding grains. 3 cups in 50 seconds. I also do batters sometimes for muffins or pancakes with whole grains in them, or things like whole dates, nuts, veggies, fruits, etc. We use it every day. Dh does lots of smoothies, and they are thick and fantastic. I buy bulk organic grains (right now i have bags of buckwheat, brown rice, red fife wheat, amaranth, etc.) and store them in the cold cellar in the basement until ready for use. It is a way more economical way to go, if you can afford to invest up front. Like I said in the other thread, it does the work of a food processor, grain mill, and blender.

It's my favorite appliance, hands down, and yes, it's very sexy!!

[WuWei]

I do have her book "An Introduction to Whole Grain Baking". It might have been $20. It is more of a "how to" than a "recipe book", imo. Most everything in it is on her site. You have to do a bit of searching and reading to find pizza and muffin recipes on the site, but iirc, they are there. Even so, the book is not straightforward, it explains the logic for how to do the adjustments based upon portions, ingredients, additions, product, etc. But, does not list out 99 different recipes, for example. You have to implement the information based upon your own goals and ingredients. So, not real user-friendly, sorta.

But, I LOVE that type of 'here is what works, give it a go' type experimentation.

I did a bit of experimentation. Not all of it turned out nearly as lovely as following her pancake recipe. I wanted to make bread with whole grains, so I soaked a portion of grains and liquid and then blenderized them. Unfortunately, I still had to ADD so much whole wheat flour, the process was just more cumbersome, all in all. The result was too "experimental", shall we say. The whole wheat cinnamon buns were vetoed by both of my guys.

So, I believe a grain mill would be fabulous. But, only if you are going to be grinding grains daily, imo. Otherwise, I'd just get whole wheat flour, soak it overnight and follow a real recipe for specific measurements.

The muffins and pancakes and quick breads are moist, that is where the blender batter process excells.

I have a coffee grinder. It has such a little cup, it'd take 30 minutes to grind enough flour to make bread, I think. Plus, the heat isn't optimal to the grain oils, iirc. Doing that occasionally doesn't sound like too much, to me. But, there is still the whole Making Bread process that follows.

Unfortunately, flour that has been ground more than 72 hours is very low in nutrients. So, if you are really wanting nutrients as the goal, then I'd read Sue Gregg's recommendations about selecting a grinder and ask the mamas here for recommendations. And fork over the $400. But, if I just want to make a yummy bread occasionally, I just soak pre-ground flour and follow a recipe.

That's what I do. Although, if anyone knows of a grinder with about a cup measure and costs less than $150, I'd buy it. And I might be disappointed?


Pat

[WuWei]

Hibou changed my mind! I want one of those!! Watch this video of making bread with the K-tec Blender. It is amazing. LOL :


http://www.blendtec.com/videoplayer....er+-+Dough.flv



Pat

[FireWithin]

Thanks maybe a K-tec blender will be a good match for us

[FireWithin]

Originally Posted by Village Mama

In the ideal situation in my kitchen I would have both a grain grinder and a super duper blender. I can't afford either... but I think I would go for grain grinder first.... only because we are gluten free and it would make the biggest difference for us.

yeah we are gluten free too. gluten free grains cost so much. Also, brown rice flour goes rancid rather quickly. that's why I am trying to figure out a solution. try the soaking. The first blend did not take away all of the grainy-ness, but the next morning when I blended it, it was really smooth. awesome. It felt great pouring in oats (gf, but we eat oats) and brown rice, rather than partially rancid flour.