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Turning back the hands of time
Jeremy and Cindy Hickman are bringing back old techniques with their new grist mill operation
| Story and photos by Morgan Graham |
12/23/2020 |
In the small town of Lynnville, Jeremy and Cindy Hickman are turning back the hands of time with their new milling operation that utilizes vintage belt-driven grist mills that have been altered to run off diesel engines. What started as a hobby for Jeremy has turned into a full-time milling business for both him and Cindy.
“We started out just milling corn mill and grits for fun,” says Jeremy, a customer of Giles County Co-op in Lynnville. “I never would have thought it would turn into a business.”
The couple found their way into the milling business when Jeremy asked his friend, Tim Hobbs, for help redoing an old mill. It wasn’t long after Jeremy bought his first mill that the friends remodeled and started grinding their own corn meal and grits.
Once a dairy farmer, Jeremy traded his cows for row crops in 2009 and now plants around 120 acres of open-pollinated corn comprising three varieties — Trucker’s Favorite, Jimmy Red, and Blue Clarage. What the Hickmans don’t mill for corn and grits, they mill and sell to nearby Big Machine Distillery. In addition to the open-pollinated corn, Jeremy also plants 150 acres of soybeans and manages an 80-head commercial beef operation.
The Hickman’s began milling for distilleries in 2016 after they received their inspection license. With four mills, Jeremy can mill about 4,000 pounds in about 45 minutes. He produces a total of 250,000 pounds a year.
In addition to providing Big Machine with milled grains, the Hickmans also mill special blends for Asgard Brewing Company and provide Loretta Lynn’s Ranch events and Grist Mill Museum with stone-ground meal and grits to help educate people about how our ancestors lived.
“The use of the mill was the most practical way to grind grains in the early years,” explains Cindy. “Tennessee once had hundreds of mills that were mainly located alongside waterways for the use of power.”
Early grist meals date back to the 10th century and were powered by the swift current rivers or creeks. Grain would be fed through a hopper onto the base grinding stone while the grooved runner stone above it turns and grinds the grain.
Jeremy takes pride in restoring old mills instead of simply purchasing new ones. One of his mills dates to the late 1800’s while others are from the 1950’s.
“I love fixing things, so if I can fix it instead of buying it new, that’s what I’m going to do,” says the Giles County native, who notes the restoration process helps him understand the machine better.
“If we do break something, we have the molds, and can have parts custom built to repair the mills,” he says.
He even has a mill that utilizes a flint stone to grind corn, but he rarely uses it because of the sparks it creates and the accompanying liabilities.
In 2020, the Hickmans decided to branch out with another crop and tried three acres of sorghum.
“It’s a lot more hands on than corn, especially the harvesting,” Cindy says. “Pressing the sorghum is the hardest part.”
Together, Cindy and Jeremy discovered that mixing different varieties of sorghum allowed them to create a product with their own proprietary flavor. Cindy particularly enjoyed cooking and boiling down the sorghum.
“It’s a great stress reliever,” she says with a laugh.
Jeremy constructed a preheater that heats the juices to 160 degrees overnight so Cindy can begin cooking early. As she cooks the sorghum, Cindy is constantly skimming off the chlorophyl foam that rises to the top to remove the bitter taste. After the chlorophyl is removed, Cindy continues to boil the syrup in the continuous flow cooker until it reaches the desired thickness. She then strains it through cheese cloth twice to remove impurities before bottling.
“Many people get sorghum syrup and molasses confused,” says Cindy. “Molasses comes from sugar cane. Sorghum syrup, on the other hand, comes from sorghum cane and is what people spread on biscuits. Big difference.”
While their farming activities and the milling venture keeps them busy, the Hickmans are quick to emphasize they would have it no other way. The couple has been married for 28 years, and the farm provided them with a comfortable setting where they raised their 22-year-old triplet boys, Codie, Lane, and Wyatt.
“Working together as a family is awesome,” says Cindy. “I couldn’t image working with anyone besides my husband.”
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