Grain Mills: Which one is best?

Picking a grain mill can be a hard task.  Today I will compare the Nutrimill Harvest with the Nutrimill Classic.  Share why you might consider a grain mill, how I use mine and which one I liked better!

In 2009 I made the choice to start making bread for my family.

I knew that I’d have more time at home (new baby) and wanted a way to save money, and feel useful to my family.

I had a few friends who baked bread, but I knew I didn’t want to go into debt to buy the equipment (or spend a ton of money).

At the time I bought the Nutrimill Classic and a Kitchen Aid Professional Mixer.

That Kitchenaid lasted about 6 years, and then died more and more frequently until we could barely get through cookies vs whole wheat bread.

I then replaced the Kitchenaid with a Bosch (which can pound through bread like nobody’s business.)

However, that grain mill was still going strong, when Nutrimill sent me a Harvest Grinder (yes, one of the perks to being a blogger).

So, I was brought back into the world of grain mills.

Btw, if you like this post — you might also be interested in some of my other posts that are similar like:

• 100% whole wheat bread
• Kitchenaid vs Bosch vs Nutrimill Artiste
• Bosch Mixer at Costco

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Why would you want a grain mill?

Most people use it to mill wheat, but you can mill many types of things.  I would guess that people who are gluten free would want to use it to mill other things like beans, rice or Quinoa.

Milling your own flours has a lot of benefits:

• It’s a lot cheaper — whole wheat flour at the store can cost quite a bit, but when you grind it from the wheat berries, it’s pennies on the dollar.  I think I can make a loaf of bread for about 20 cents, depending on what’s in it.
• It’s more nutritious.  The moment you break open that capsule and mill it — the vitamins and minerals in that flour are starting to break down.  If you can mill it, and immediately cook it — you save some great nutrients
• You know exactly what you’re getting.  I KNOW no white flour has come into my wheat flour — because I ground the berries!
• I no longer have to have many bags of flour on hand (which can go bad easier) because I keep a lot of wheat berries on hand.  In an emergency, we’ll have way more flour than we’d have if we were just storing flour (btw, you get a lot more FLOUR than you store in berries as it enlarges when you mill it).

What types of grain mills are there?

I only know much about in-home grain mills, so I won’t be discussing commercial mills.

Hand-cranked grain mills

As the name implies you can buy a mill that you crank by hand.  This might be handy in a natural disaster as it will be difficult to get.  I know a lot of people who keep this one on hand for just such an emergency.

If you plan to make a lot of bread, this not a great plan as it takes a LONG time to grind a large amount of wheat to make bread for your family.  I would certainly ocnsider…

Electric Grain Mills

I have exprience with two.  One is a

Metal burr grain mill

This means that the grain is milled by metal — like the Nutrimill Classic grain mill

I also have a

Stone grain mill

This uses stones to grind the grains — like the Nutrimill Harvest

I have poked around a bit.  A lot of people like the stone variety and believe it grinds at a lower speed and some places I’ve heard a lower temperature.

Perks of the Nutrimill Harvest

• Stones are easier to clean than the metal parts
• The outside casing is much prettier
• When not grinding it is much quieter
• You can grab the wheat as you grind it to add it to recipes

Perks of the Nutrimill Classic Grain Mill

• Much larger hopper, you add tons of wheat, and because it’s so large, you’re less likely to spill as you add it
• Flour is kept in a dedicated container (and frankly, you don’t have to clean it too frequently, as you only have flour in that)
• It mills quite quickly
• Flour is of a uniform consistency and can be ground very finely.

Both options have a lot to offer, but I felt like I should only keep one at our house, as it does take up room, and I was sure another family could find good use out of the other grain mill.

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Which Grain Mill did I like best?

We decided to keep the classic, as it mills so much wheat much quicker and I can dump all the wheat I need ground in all at once.

However, each family would have to pick their own grain mill that would work for them.  I think both would be a fine addition to anyone’s kitchen.

If you liked this post — grab my bread recipe — and check out some of my other cooking posts below that:

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