January 14, 2009 - 8:02am
Flour MillS
I have been considering buying a flour mill does anybody have any suggestions on which on is the best to buy for a home baker? I don't have too much money to spend.
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I have been considering buying a flour mill does anybody have any suggestions on which on is the best to buy for a home baker? I don't have too much money to spend.
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If you want a no-fuss, self-cleaning mill, I'd recommend either the WonderMill (which is what I have) or the NutriMill. They're both micronizing mills, meaning that they explode the grain with tiny, interlocking wheels that rotate at high speeds. They're about as loud as a vaccum cleaner and essentially produce only fine flour. I've heard that the NutriMill can produce coarser flours, but I've no personal experience with them.
They're not cheap, as they run about $240. But if you bake all your own bread and you want to bake whole grain breads most of the time, it'll ultimately pay for itself. Personally, I like the taste of fresh flour better, and it's much cheaper to buy the grains in 50lb bags, since they keep for years before being ground.
Good luck!
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JMonkey
Jmonkey, cool that you now grind your own ww flour, no wonder you make such nice WW hearth loaves. My sister in VT has been milling her own ww flour for a long time with a Nutrimill and I've had her ww panckakes and rolls on a family camping trip - fabulous taste. I'll have to ask her about if it does coarser grinds or not. I know there is tons of home milling info now on TFL and makes me really want to try it. If freshly ground wW flour is that tasty in a miche, I wouldn't even worry about sifting any of the bran out to make high extraction flour.
Thanks so much for your response. I will look into both of those. And I will keep you all updated on which one I purchase!
I have the KoMo Fidibus 21 (also known as the Wolfgang Tribest mill), which I bought at http://www.naturaleurope.com/ne/KM-001.html. Unfortunately, at the current price of $319, it will run you a bit more than JMonkey's recommendations. This is an "old-fashioned" stone mill (technically a ceramic composite in this case), which has the advantage of being able to grind in any coarseness you want. I wanted this capability for cracked wheat, coarse cornmeal, etc.
I just thought that I'd mention it as another option - sort of the opposite end of the spectrum from micronizing mills.