Who can resist the smell of bread fresh from the oven? Or whole wheat pancakes heavy with butter and maple syrup? What about tortillas, soft and warm, right off the griddle? These are staple foods in our home—made with flour freshly ground with our Country Living Grain Mill.
We really enjoy our grain mill and did a little bit of research before deciding which one to purchase. The Country Living Mill has features that were important to us that the others did not have. For you, however, the Country Living Mill might not be the best choice. Let’s take a look at several of the top-selling grain mills and compare different features so that you can make the best decision for your household.
Country Living Hand Grain Mill
The first thing you will notice about this mill is that it requires muscles to operate. Although, with the large flywheel and long extension bar, the Country Living mill is easier to turn than other hand-operated mills. However, you can purchase a motor kit from Country Living to mechanize this mill; or you can attach it to your own motor following their easy to follow instructions. After a full year of grinding our wheat by hand, my husband used an old washing machine motor that we already had and attached it to our mill for more ease of use.
We chose this mill because if we ever lose power for an extended period of time, we can still grind our grains. Also, the Country Living mill has a large auger that you can purchase to use for grinding corn or beans. But my favorite feature is that while most mills produce a flour texture suitable for bread, I can set the Country Living mill to produce flour fine enough for cakes to course enough for grits.
Weighing in at 15 pounds, this mill sports stainless steel grinding burrs, a four cup hopper, and a limited lifetime warranty. Also, the Country Living Grain Mill is made in the USA and sells for around $400.
The Diamont Grain Mill
The other most popular hand-operated mill is the Diamont. Made of solid cast iron construction, it is the work horse of mills. Like the Country Living, you can also attach the Diamont to a peripheral motor and grind “virtually anything without need of additional augers.â€
Fran Deren, of Fort Valley, Virginia, describes her Diamont as the “Cadillac of hand-cranked mills.†She loves hers. In fact, she used to own an impact mill and, because of the loud noise, replaced it with the Diamont.
The Diamont is very similar to the Country Living mill, except for the price. Lehman’s Catalog sells the Diamont for $1,299. Their website states: “Due to the current exchange rate with Poland, we have been forced to raise the price on the Diamant Grain Mills.â€
The WonderMill
The most popular electric, impact mill is the WonderMill. This type of mill goes from whole grain to fine flour in a matter of seconds; however, the noise resembles that of a jet engine. The Wonder Mill ranks as the quietest of the impact mills with a decibel rating of 49. However, Eunice Slabaugh, of Virginia, has owned both the WonderMill and the NutriMill and cannot tell the difference in the noise level.
As the most reasonably priced impact mill, the Korean made WonderMill mills flour fine enough for a cake but not course enough for grits. It is rated to grind 90 pounds in an hour and weighs about 8 pounds.
The WonderMill has a hopper capacity of six cups and the flour is dispensed into a bin that sits next to the mill. This mill generally sells for around $240 and is the only one that is UL, CSA and CE approved.
The NutriMill
Slabaugh says that she likes both the WonderMill and the NutriMill equally. However, she appreciates the more compact construction of the NutriMill. The collection bowl of this mill is underneath the mill, not next to it as in the WonderMill. She also says that the hopper holds more grain.
Although they both have about the same output, another feature that sells the NutriMill is that you can stop the mill in the middle of processing. Turning off the WonderMill before it is finished will damage the internal mechanisms of the machine.
The Nutrimill weighs about 11 pounds, has a flour canister capacity of 20 cups, and comes with a lifetime warranty. Both of these mills are similarly priced. However, the NutriMill is manufactured in China.
Photo by Photography_Gal
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