Stones have always been used to grind all kinds of grain. Today, in spite of new materials such as stainless steel and hard ceramics, natural stones are still deemed effective, efficient, and durable grinders.
The Samap Hand Grain Mill is proof of this. It is made only of natural stone. The grinding stone consist of basalt volcanic rock that is embedded in stabilized magnesite. Basalt is dense and hard thus there is no need to re-sharpen the millstones even after years of use.
This mill grinds all kinds of hard dry grain such as wheat, rice, oats, rye, buckwheat, and barley. Oily grain, however, should not be fed into the mill as they could fill the stones with compacted grounds. Oat flakes can be produced from de-husked or husk-less oats. You will need to set the mill on a coarse setting for this.
The upper rotatable millstone contains the grains. When the long handle attached to it is rotated, the grains in the hopper move between the millstones. The length of the handle and a running roller helps lighten the load of rotating the upper millstone.
Feeding speed can be adjusted according to the hardness of the grain. Harder grains, such as durum wheat, need to be ground more thoroughly. By slowing down the feeding of the grain from the hopper into the grinding stones, they are more thoroughly ground thus producing fine flour.
The mill’s grinding capacity ranges from 30 – 80 grams per minute depending on the grain and the strength of the operator. It is rather heavy at 9 kilograms, but in order to totally eliminate the possibility of its moving around when in use, it comes with clamps to secure it to your work table.