speed and flour dustiness of impact vs stone mills (ie nutrimill vs fidibus)
currently, i have an absolutely beautiful grain mill. its a vintage model called an all-grain mill 33x, all stainless steel.
gorgeous but also heavy, kinda slow and dusts flour (b/c of my diy setup). i have to drag it outside to mill and take it apart to brush out all the nooks and crannies. takes about 40-50 minutes to mill about 3-4 pounds. i mill once every 2 weeks to make 4 loaves of bread and to have extra flour between milling.
i love my first mill, but i'm looking for another mill that is easier, cleaner, easier to clean/minimal cleaning, and faster but smaller in size. max price $400.
i keep going around and around between the nutrimill-impact and the german-stone kind.
needs:
1. ability to mill 3-4 or more pounds at one time to make 4-6 8x4 loaves of bread.
2. grind faster and cleaner. want to be able to mill inside my kitchen.
3. minimal cleaning/dust during and after milling.
4. compact or light enough to store elsewhere.
5. loud i can deal with.
nutrimill- big, lightweight, plastic, loud, fast and dustless. some reviews complained the nutrimill isn't as fast as advertised (advertised-20 cups in 5 minutes) and gets dusty(gasket not sealing/sitting well) and hot.
fidibus 21 and medium- these are the only ones in my price range- love their looks, not dusty, minimal clean, compact. my biggest concern is if they can handle milling 3-4 pounds or more at a time faster than my currrent mill. the 21 is rated for 1-2 persons and the medium is only slightly larger, both mill 3.5 oz per minute roughly equals about 20 minutes for 7 cups. worried about it getting too hot and taking too long to mill at one time.
want to avoid a slow dusty mill.
No experience wth Fidibus so can't speak about it.
Own a Nutrimill. Except for size (though it is light and easy to carry) it would fit your requirements.
I think owners who reported dust when milling didn't assemble it correctly; I get no dust (except for the time I forgot to snap on the seperator cup & put the sponge thingy on the bowl lid). The gasket on the bowl lid seals the flour receptacle tightly; dust it lightly with flour so the bowl lid is snug on the flour receptacle. Make sure the bowl & lid are pushed all the way back on the base.
I mill less at a time than you do (more like 1 - 2 pounds) but it is fast and certainly will be faster than your current mill. Flour is warm to the touch but certainly not hot.
Mike Avery gave a good review of the Nutrimill - http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/3793/kernals-or-berries#comment-24400
my impressions were posted to http://www.thefreshloaf.com/node/3793/kernals-or-berries#comment-24425
...also use the search on TFL - there are many Nutrimill owners on the site.
Would love to see a photo of your current mill. Can you post it?
well, i went ahead and ordered the nutrimill. not too happy about all the plastic, but its going to be stored away, plus speed, self cleaning and nearly dustlessness is key.
the fidibus is kind of like the one i have already, only smaller and housed in wood.
here is a picture of the old beauty (not mine but same model) http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/all-grain-flour-mill-wheat-corn-oat-stone-grain-1
i do not want to be a hoarder, but may have to find a space to keep my hunk of metal.
ok, i got the nutrimill yesterday. i milled 2 cups to clean per instructions. i notice when i twist the lid to bowl, there isn't a complete closed seal between the lid and bowl. when i press the top of the lid on one side, the other side of the lid opens slightly. sponge and cup in place, pushed bowl until i felt it latch and saw the yes line.
my counters are white so it was hard to see the dust, but i could feel the flour when i was cleaning up.
i assume the the lid and bowl should be sealed completely around? i did not try to dust the gasket as it seemed snug. might this be the problem.
it is quicker than my old stone mill though.
See this You Tube video. this presenter has quite a few videos posted on various grain mills. start here then look for others by the same presenter. He compares noise on another you tube video between this and several other mills including Nutrimill.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwTZgUWVEb8&feature=related
The Wondermill was improved over the past few years and is as good or better than anything out there. It does take less space and is slightly (not by much) quiteter than the Nutrimill. I have the old generation Wondermill (i.e. the WhisperMill)- same machine without the improvements that were implemented about 5 years ago. I have been using mine for almost 20 years with no problems- 10 lbs ground every two weeks. It only takes a few minutes to grind all of this. When this one dies, I will get The Wondermill.
They both get good reviews so good luck either way!!