Electric Flour Mills

[Veena]

I am considering the Wolfgang flour mill. It has gotten one good review on amazon.com from someone who seems knowledgeable. Then I also looked at the comparison chart here, which opened up several other options. The Wolfgang model seems to satisfy all my requirements (capable of grinding various textures, quiet, easy to clean, and relatively compact). However, I could not find information on how often the parts might need replacement. Having never used a flour mill before, I thought I should check with other experienced users for recommendations. If anyone here uses the Wolfgang model (or any other electric flour mill), please post your experience and suggestions here.

Thanks,

Veena

[andiesenji]

I've had several grain/flour mills, some hand-cranked, some powered. The results were all so-so. Okay, and they produced a usable product, but I wanted better.

I had a Whisper-Mill which was fair but I wanted greater capacity and more variable grinding.

Finally, I got a NutriMill, which is fairly expensive but it has so many advantages, not the least is the volume it will produce, that I feel that it is well worth the cost.

It also does not "burn" the flour - this is a problem with many powered mills and I absolutely do not like the bitter flavor that results. In fact, there were times when I went back to my old hand-cranked stone mill rather than settle for an inferior result. It works differently than the usual burr grinders.

The NutriMill produces a range from medium coarse to extra fine and while I do sieve the product when grinding extra fine, I rarely find any coarser grains in the sieve.

You can see the specs Here, at Pleasant Hill Grain I recommend this vendor and have purchased many appliances from them. If you have questions, phone them, they are exceptionally helpful.

Here is a photo of my NutriMill with dried white corn and the meal ground from it to "Medium"

Because the white corn is much harder than wheat, oats, etc., I do grind it twice - first on the coarsest setting, then on medium.

I also do this with beans, which are also very hard.

This is another advantage, some mills will not grind beans at all, and many will not grind hard corn.

I am unfamiliar with the Wolfgang mill. I note that the chart does not have an entry for temperature rise and it also notes limited capacity.

[RobertCollins]

I have the grain mill we had on the farm in the 60s and so I'm really not much help but; Here is a comparison of at least some. Hope it helps you get started with your search.

I'd tell you what our machine is but I'd have to dig it out of storage to find out as we will no longer eat the grain grown on our farms by our factory farmer tenant.

[fiftydollars]

I use the Kitchen Aid attachment and it works ok. Not awesome... and actually, I killed the mixer once trying to grind rice into flour and it cost me about $100 in repairs... so I guess I can't really recommend it.

It does, however, work great for cracking grain for beer brewing.

[Veena]

Thanks for the helpful pointers and comments, andiesenji, Robert, and fiftydollars.

I found some feedback on the Komo Fidibus (the European version of Wolfgang) on this blog post.

Veena

[andiesenji]

It has the same limitations as any stone burr mill, that is, it won't grind some things.

I opted for an impact mill because I wanted to be able to grind just about anything, oats, barley and corn, in particular. I have had stone burr mills in the past and glazing of the stones is a problem, cleaning and redressing the stones is a time-consuming chore on which I don't want to waste my time.

[earlgrey_44]

I've had a Champion Juicer for the last 25 years, and the grain master attachment for it for the last ten or so. While the juicer has been used sporadically, the mill attachment has been used for all our household whole grain flour and cornmeal for our bread, pancakes etc. No repairs or problems. MFger's site:

http://www.championjuicer.com/

It uses steel burr discs similar to those on the old Corona hand mills if anybody remembers them, which means it will do grains but not oily seeds and doesn't do so great with some beans. If beans and seeds are a must, andiesenji's suggestion is a good one.

The flour doesn't get particularly hot, grinding speed is OK, dust not a problem. Noise level between the dishwasher and the vac.

For the same $$ as some of the grain mills, you get a mill plus a versatile and heavy-duty juicer/homogenizer too. Not a bad deal.

I am considering the Wolfgang flour mill.  It has gotten one good review on amazon.com from someone who seems knowledgeable.  Then I also looked at the comparison chart here, which opened up several other options.  The Wolfgang model seems to satisfy all my requirements (capable of grinding various textures, quiet, easy to clean, and relatively compact).  However, I could not find information on how often the parts might need replacement.  Having never used a flour mill before, I thought I should check  with other experienced users for recommendations.  If anyone here uses the Wolfgang model (or any other electric flour mill), please post your experience and suggestions here.

Thanks,

Veena

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[JoNorvelleWalker]

I too have been considering the Komo. I was thinking about the Komo last winter as well but I realized then that it was beyond my means. This year I should be on a pension and in a little better financial shape for such a major purchase. It's been going on seven years since this Komo thread was updated, and while I've seen mention of the Komo in the bread topic, I wonder if anyone could share their experiences?

The US Importer of Komo is Pleasant Hill Grain who were highly recommended above. Having thought and read about grain mills for a year I can't see a reason to consider a different brand of mill other than Komo -- except for the cost. Perhaps a more relevant question is whether it is practical to grind flour at home that is as good as commercial flour. I do find it disturbing that I have to pay $1.40 a pound for King Arthur these days.

The Komo stones should last 15 years. Replacement stones and silicone liners are quite reasonable. The stones are supposedly self cleaning. The Komo grinds wheat, dried beans, rice, quinoa, field corn, oats, spices, coffee, rye and other grains -- pretty much anything that isn't oily.

Komo makes a hand-cranked grain mill but I am not a masochist.

[Barrytm]

Jo, if you do some research I think you will find that nearly any mill will do a much better job than store bought flour. For store for, they remove the ingredients that go rancid. While the komo is highly rated, you can usually find a stone mill on eBay for around $200. I have taken apart a few of them, and the better built ones, Lee, AllGrain, will last practically forever.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

If I do get a mill I'd rather get the one I want rather than one that is satisfactory. The Komo is not only functional but pretty, which is why it is my current choice. However I can't quite afford a Komo yet.

[andiesenji]

Sorry, but I still like the Nutrimill best. It has a 1 3/4 HP motor. I've had mine for ten years and used it a lot with no problems. And it is much more versatile for my needs. Not to mention it handles a larger capacity.

I also do not like the occasional "burnt" flavor that happens with power stone mills and I have tried the KoMo mill ( purchased by a friend who also bought a KoMo flaker at the same time - has since returned the mill because it took too long to mill sufficient amounts for his purposes).

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the Nutrimill is an IMPACT MILL and does not heat up as much as mills with stones.

The price is also more reasonable. Frankly, I prefer practicality to pretty.

[Barrytm]

Andie, I owned a Whisper mill, which is similar to a Nutrimill, and yes an impact mill is quicker than a stone mill. IMHO, a stone mill does not heat up the flour as much as an impact mill if it is set correctly. Also, most stone mills give a greater range of adjustment than an impact mill. I agree that it takes some time to adjust a stone mill correctly, and if set too fine, it will burn the flour - which is where the phrase came from " keep your nose to the grindstone" since the miller had to be careful to keep the stones close enough to make a fine flour, but no so close that the flour overheated and developed a burned smell. BTW, the makers of the Nutrimill now make a stone version which looks like the Komo and is called the Nutrimill Harvest Grain Mill - have not read any reviews on how it works http://www.breadtopia.com/store/nutrimill-harvest-stone-mill-250w.html but it is priced at around $400

[andiesenji]

I had a Whisper Mill before I got the Nutrimill - more than 10 years ago and it did not work for me. The new version "WonderMill" is supposed to be much better but in my opinion it is still underpowered and people complain that it heats up with prolonged use and there is often a problem connecting the output tube to the catch container.

I have also owned several stone mills, hand cranked (messy, threw flour everywhere and redressing the stones was a bitch).

When I was doing a lot of baking - in the late '80s and early '90s, I would rent time on a commercial impact mill at a local health food store to grind grains that were not then commercially available to consumers as flour (or grits).

Then I got one of the Lehman's hand cranked stone mills - very messy, gave it away - then got the Whisper Mill and used it for a couple of years or so, never satisfied, gave it away - then got the Nutrimill, which has fulfilled my needs perfectly.

If you saw my post about Cornbread, it shows how the Nutrimill handles dent corn - which the KoMo I tried did not do well or grind evenly.

I am extremely fussy about my cornmeal and will not settle for anything less than perfect.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

Which model of the Komo were you using for your corn? I want a mill mainly for wheat flour but I would like to be able to grind corn and oats as well. I was under the impression that a stone mill would grind both coarser and finer than an impact mill? The commercial cornmeal I use is stone ground and I like it. The Komo I'm looking at is 600 w. Speed is not that important to me. 1 3/4 horsepower would strain my power strip. The Komo is rated for 45 pounds of finely milled flour per hour. More than enough for me.

No one has ever accused me of being practical. As to pretty, I'm with Robert Pirsig: "The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn't any other test." But I admit, if a mill will not grind flour it wouldn't give much satisfaction.

[andiesenji]

Which model of the Komo were you using for your corn? I want a mill mainly for wheat flour but I would like to be able to grind corn and oats as well. I was under the impression that a stone mill would grind both coarser and finer than an impact mill? The commercial cornmeal I use is stone ground and I like it. The Komo I'm looking at is 600 w. Speed is not that important to me. 1 3/4 horsepower would strain my power strip. The Komo is rated for 45 pounds of finely milled flour per hour. More than enough for me.

No one has ever accused me of being practical. As to pretty, I'm with Robert Pirsig: "The test of the machine is the satisfaction it gives you. There isn't any other test." But I admit, if a mill will not grind flour it wouldn't give much satisfaction.

I had to call my friend after he got home from LAX today (shipping a young goat to the Bay area). The KoMo mill he bought and returned was the "Medium" mill. He likes the flaker and says that if the Duett mill and flaker combo had been available at the time would have purchased that. Instead he got the Nutrimill to replace the KoMo (after trying mine while I was trying his KoMo, which has worked well for him - they bake 6 to 10 loaves of bread every other day, flake their home grown oats, wheat and barley and grind several pounds of flour fresh for every batch of bread. They have 11 children, 5 of their own and 6 adopted so they go through a lot of bread and cereals.

Edited February 15, 2014 by andiesenji (log)

[rennit]

I have had a KOMO Fidibus grain mill since 2008. I love my grain mill.Mine is a model 2007 which was special model for that year comparable to the 21. I use it mostly to grind wheat flour [also spelt,kamut and any other grain I feel like tossing in ] and do not bake weekly anymore as my family is smaller but it more than serves my purposes .Grinds coarse to very fine.Easy to adjust and I have never had any burnt flour,the flour comes out quite cool.. Sometimes I do take corn meal that is too coarse and run it through to make it finer but never have run field corn through it though the instructions say I could. I just do not use that much cornmeal. I love to use my mill and it makes me happy to look at it. Silly but if I can't stand to look at it I probably will not use it much. I do not like plastic appliances and the wood case is very appealing to me.

[gfron1]

Curious if anyone's thoughts have changed on the matter since the last update on this thread. I've been thinking about sourcing a traditional Indian Ghantti but the ease of the NutriMill or KoMo has me intrigued.

On PHG's page the Nutri has this review which has me a bit concerned and seems to be at odds to Andiesenji's comments from a couple of years ago:

Quote

I've owned this grinder for over a year now and have put about 500 pounds of wheat through it. It works quite well as a wheat grinder as long as you can accept a slightly coarser than commercial flour texture. 

In general it has one design flaw, in that there is a screw holding one of the grind stones down that can back out. When it comes out, the adjustable grind knob refuses to stay in one position if you don't hold it. It took me a while to realize what was causing this annoying behavior. 

Another flaw is that the bottom stone does not actually come out of the grinder as it is supposed to. Not sure how I am going to be able to change stones as they wear out.

DO NOT buy this grinder if you expect to grind corn, beans, or basically anything larger than oats. It lacks a feed auger for large seeds so seeds slowly and irregularly drop into the stones, causing the machine to buck and jump around. I get through about 2 cups of corn before the machine overheats and shuts off completely. I've given up on grinding corn until I get a different mill. 

 

 

Edited January 1, 2017 by gfron1 (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I am again thinking about a KoMo but the cost is indeed significant.

 

[adey73]

Jo is the KoMo recommended in Modernist bread? (and did you ever find out about the homogeniser?)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

6 hours ago, adey73 said:

Jo is the KoMo recommended in Modernist bread? (and did you ever find out about the homogeniser?)

 

Yes, among others.  But no, as far as I can find, for the homogenizer!

 

[Barrytm]

If you are looking for a stone mill, in terms of pricing, most are quite expensive new, though you can find them used on ebay at fairly good prices $150 to $250 or so, and the latest arrival on the market is very attractively priced at around $260  https://breadtopia.com/store/mockmill-100-grain-mill/    I haven't used the Mockmill, or even seen it, but have read a few good reviews, and the price point is pretty attractive for a stone mill.   BTW, it would not surprise me if the Mockmill grinds flour more finely than the Komo Classic - I have a classic, and while the flour is fine for bread baking, it is coarser than the flour I get from my Lee Household Mill  .  I can't actually measure fineness,  but I have started sifting freshly milled flour the last few weeks, and far more is left in the sifter when I use the Komo than when I use the Lee.  

[adey73]

The Mockmill was designed by the guy who developed the KOMO? 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

9 hours ago, adey73 said:

The Mockmill was designed by the guy who developed the KOMO? 

 

Yes, I believe that is correct.

 

[JoNorvelleWalker]

But while the Mockmill is affordable it was all but excoriated by @nathanm and company.

 

I'd love to know the truth as to the fineness of the flour between KoMo and the Mockmill.  Mockmill is Mock's third grain mill company.  As I understand he sold his 50% interest in KoMo to found Mockmill.

 

[adey73]

what was the rub? ... or was it the lack of rub?