I’m often asked for advice on grain mills. Having stored wheat and corn necessitates having a good quality durable grain mill. Electric-only mills are not recommend because they will of course become useless ornaments once the power grid goes down. An inexpensive hand-cranked mill will such as the Back to Basics Mill or Corona Mill might suffice for a short term disaster, but in the event of TEOTWAWKI you will want something built to last.
I started out with a Corona mill in the early 1980s. It was a lot of work to use! It seemed like I burned as many calories cranking it as I got out of the flour that it produced. In 1998, we got a Country Living Grain Mill. It is a superior machine–much faster and easier to use. With just about any mill you will have to cycle the grain through several times to get fine flour. I recommend that if you are going to primarily hand-crank it that you get the “Power Bar” handle extension for extra leverage. Country Living Grain Mills are available through Ready Made Resources and several other vendors. Like any other quality tool that is built to last, they are expensive. But it is better to buy just one machine that you know will last you a lifetime, rather than a succession of “bargains” that turn into disappointments. (This same logic applies to other tools that you buy for preparedness.)
Because they have a V-belt wheels, Country Living Grain Mills are readily adaptable to an electric motor for use day-to-day, or in the event of a grid-up scenario.OBTW, for someone that has some mechanical acumen and some time of their hands, it is also possible to convert a bicycle frame or perhaps a piece of exercise equipment to power a Country Living Grain Mill. For any of you that have a background in welding, building such frames might make a nice “niche” home business.