I heard that there are some people who grind their own flour because it saves them money. I dismissed the money-saving method as ridiculous because I thought grain mills are expensive and forgot about it until I saw one of them grain mills on sale on Amazon. One called Wondermill, costs about $219. Not that expensive if it will save you a lot of money in the long run. Do any of grind your own flour at home? Does it actually save you money or is buying flour from stores cheaper?
Much as I would agree that considerable savings can be made from grinding you own flours - I'm not altogether sure that investing in a grain grinder would actually result in savings - especially as - even though grains are ridiculously cheap - you would in reality have to be using huge quantities of flour - meaning replacing all the store made goods that you usually bought which contain flour - with home-made versions - just to get anywhere near - off setting the initial outlay - let alone making savings. To be honest - as I do grind my own flours quite regularly - grain, oat, rice, nut and chickpea and usually do that very successfully in a blender - I think there are way cheaper alternatives to buying a grain grinder and especially - if only wanting to grind smallish quantities occasionally. Particularly as - not only are there are many high powered blenders, coffee/spice grinders and food processors - that grind flour just as well as any grain grinder - they would in my mind be the more cost effective option - especially as - apart from all being multi-function appliances that can be used for more than one thing - but many also come with the option of buying extra attachments - including grain-grinders - that generally cost way less than what you would pay for a grain grinding machine with limited use.
No for I wouldn't be able to afford the grinder at all. We have a small family that really doesn't use too much flour, so I thing that buying flour and other baked goods is cheaper for us.
I wouldn't grind my own flour because it is so cheap to buy in bulk and I would think that grinding would be so much work, messy and just boring. I buy whole wheat because the health benefits are so much better than bleached, white flour. I also buy it in bulk at Sprouts Farmers Market so it's affordable.
I am all about doing things at home to save money. But flour is so darn cheap, that it's one thing that I don't think I would do at home. Plus we use different flour for different applications, I don't think I want to spend the time using that machine and learnng how to make different flours. Seems some posters here agree with me. Neat idea though.
I think this might of interest to some people, but I'm willing to bet the majority would rather just get it ready made from a store and cut out all that hassle. I'm one of those people who'd rather not buy one of those grinders for the sake of saving a couple of $$; because in the grand scheme of things, how much can you really save? I mean, like BrandonScooterman says, flour doesn't put much of a dent in your pocket, so I just wouldn't bother. Plus I barely use flour in my cooking.
That sounds like a huge expense to buy something that is not very expensive in the store. where would you get the grains to make flour in the first place? I mean cornmeal is obviously from corn, but you would have to get some raw wheat to make wheat four. How much flour does one person need? Almond flours and coconuts are pricey in the store, but again you would have to get the raw materials before you ground it.
I was thinking about this a little more and talking to some friends about it. I don't think it's a great "money-saver" idea BUT it could be a half decent "survival" idea. If you knew how to grow the raw materials and you knew how to operate the grinder, this would be an excellent skill to have if you ever found yourself in a sort of "apocalypse predicament." I think I have been watching too much zombie shows on TV though....
Its very prudent to grind your own flour. First, I buy maize during the harvesting reason when it is cheap and the final cost is lower. This maize is more nutritious than store bought due to the fact that the shell is present and contains healthy minerals as well as fiber.
Flour is very cheap so I don't mind purchasing it at all already grounded for me. The machine is too expensive just for and individual or family. I would consider buying the machine if I had a flour selling business now that way I will be generating income and will be well worth having.
If you have a dehydrator and a food processor, You will be able to make cheap gluten free flours from the following: Coconut Sweet potato Pumpkin Avocado seed Rice Potato Yam Corn Any kind of beans I think this advice might be helpful to people who don't have wheat on their area. My advice I think will be helpful to people with gluten allergy because most gluten free products are expensive.
This is so interesting. I never knew there are lots of edible products that can actually be made into a flour. I am only familiar with cassava hence the cassava flour is made of and the wheat flour. And the avocado seed, this is my first time hearing that the seed of the avocado fruit is edible. We were used to throwing away the seed after eating the avocado flesh. Nice info.
