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Monday, February 28, 2011

New Oat Flaker/Roller

My Marga Mulino wanna-be, the Shule Grain Roller/Flaker, decided to go haywire.  The reseller from whom I bought it, assured me it was European made, and not made in China, like its Norpro look-alike, but many of them available on-line are listed as Norpro-Shule, so I still have questions about its origins.  Its durability and subsequent performance says "cheaply made" to me.  After only a few months of fairly light use, the rollers won't roll right and something in the works is grinding itself, leaving fine metal dust underneath--Thankfully, not in the oats, but it still really bothered me.  Hubby took it all apart, couldn't really find a problem, put it back together, and it still won't work properly.  I'd pursue a replacement if I had any interest in having another one of these, but I don't.  Prince Inventive is itching to see what he can do with it.   Meanwhile, I need something that works.                                                                                                                                   
Many internet searches and a conversation or three with another grain-milling mom later, I decided to buy the other flaker-roller I'd been drawn to in the first place...The Family Grain Mill version.  I chose the manual model.   I could have chosen a motorized base, or an attachment that would enable me to run the flaker using my Bosch Universal Mixer, but I like the direct involvement of using the hand-crank, and with the number of power outages we've had this winter, appreciate a way to prepare food for the family without the use of electricity.  I can always get the other base, or the Bosch connector attachment later, since they are available separately.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
Pleasanthillgrain.com and ForYourKitchen.com both offered the Family Grain Mill 'family of milling tools' for similar prices and with free shipping.  Both also offered some baking supplies I needed.  Neither indicated availability or expected shipping time.  I had reasonable service from Pleasant Hill Grain for other items, but For Your Kitchen was closer and just a tiny bit less expensive for my whole order, so I chose them this time.  I received it a week after ordering, with the holiday included, which I thought was perfectly acceptable.
Initial impressions:  It seems simple and clean...No exposed nooks and crannies, and the 5-cup hopper is huge compared to the one on the Shule, which held approximately 1 cup of grain.  I am going to wash the hopper, allow it to thoroughly dry, since moisture and grain-milling do not go well together, then try it out and report back.

2 comments:

  1. I love that your son is wanting to tinker with the old machinery. Watching curiosity burgeon into innovation is one of the great things about raising children. Can't wait to see your review of the roller.

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