Electric Wheat Grinder Comparisons
All of us at the Fun With Food Storage network frequently get asked which wheat grinder we recommend. Crystal @ EverydayFoodStorage.NET has and loves the KTec Grain Mill, while Jodi and Julie @ FoodStorageMadeEasy.NET both have and LOVE the WonderMill Grain Mill. Today I am going to outline the pros and cons of each of the popular wheat grinders on the market today and hopefully it will help you make the decision as to what is the right mill for you.
*Please note, I am only discussing stand-alone electric grinders in this post. I won’t be covering manual grain mills, or grinder attachments to other appliances.
As the foundation for my research I am using this fabulous chart I found online which looked at many different aspects of the grinders and compared them against each other.
Original image found at pgward.org, modified to reflect recent price changes. Click to enlarge.Higher-End Grain Mills
The WonderMill and NutriMill are both fantastic mills. If you plan to use your long term food storage frequently, it is well worth the money to invest in one of these higher-end electric mills. The speed, cleanliness, convenience, and quality of the mills is so much higher than other options on the market. After testing both of these, I opted to get the WonderMill although you can’t go wrong with either one. This summer both the WonderMill and NutriMill are on sale so for only $40 more than the KTec you can get a much better mill. I would highly recommend taking advantage of these sales!
Lower-End Grain Mills
The KTec and VitalMill are both less expensive mills. According to the chart you can see that they tend to be louder, messier, and slower than the higher end models. While I haven’t personally used a VitalMill, I have had experience with several KTec mills. As long as you use them properly they do an adequate job at grinding your grains/legumes without too much hassle. Since the VitalMill only has one level of coarseness I would definitely choose a KTec over the VitalMill if money is tight and you can’t afford one of the high end models.
Purchase Your Mill Today!
Most of these mills are on sale for the summer so make sure to pick one up before the prices raise! Here are some places they are available for sale:
Buy a WonderMill Grain Mill from FoodStorageMadeEasy.NET for $259.95 (free shipping)
Buy a NutriMill Grain Mill from Amazon.com for $239.99 (free supersaver shipping)
Buy a KTec Grain Mill from Blendtech.com for $199.95 + shipping
Buy a L’Equip VitalMill* from Amazon.com for $168.95 + shipping
*It appears that L’Equip now distributes NutriMills and I think they are phasing out the VitalMill. Many places are out of stock and/or selling at discount prices. I couldn’t find an official statement but the VitalMill is not listed on L’Equip’s website.
I have the VitalMill, but I purchased it year ago when it was called the Ultramill. I use it regularly and love it. Although I would love to be able to change the coarseness of the grind,but for flour it does well. I have used it now for going on 8 years with no problems.
I have a family grain mill hand grinder that I use daily for cracked wheat. It will also do flour, but I reserve the fun of hand grinding only if there is no electricity to help me out. I have use my hand mill almost daily for going on 9 years.
I love both of my mills. Someday I may get another electric one that can adjust the coarseness, but not until my Ultramill dies.
I don’t wish to be argumentative, but the dB statement on that site is waaaay off. I have used the WonderMill and it isn’t even CLOSE to 49dB - it was as loud as my vacuum cleaner! We had a dishwasher in our last home that was 55dB and it was nearly *silent*. The Wondermill (any impact grain mill, really) is anything BUT silent. It would be more accurate to say that the WonderMill is 149dB. 49dB isn’t even remotely accurate. I know you didn’t do the readings, Andrea, but when I was researching mills, I realized that the dB readings were way off. Unfortunately, I didn’t borrow a dB meter when I had the opportunity to gauge what the actual reading on the mill was, but comparison-wise, my dishwasher was WAY quieter and had a *higher* dB rating!
Thank you for this information. I’ve been wanting to buy a wheat grinder and unsure how to compare. Perfect timing
Thank you for your helpful website.
After looking at many options I bought the Family Grain Mill from Pleasant Hill Grain with both the electric and manual bases and the flaker attachment. The longer I’ve had it the happier I am with my decision. If all you are going to use your mill for is making flour I would go with the NutriMill or the WonderMill, but I like being able to crack grains or flake them (think oatmeal or other rolled grains). I use mine for making flour or cornmeal plus homemade oatmeal and granola and cracked cereal. It’s fast, though not quite as fast as the NutriMill, relatively quiet, and very versatile. It’s made in Germany and has a lifetime warranty. I can use either the electric base or the hand base so I don’t need to worry about power outages. The hand crank is actually one of the easiest and fastest ones out there, unless you want to spend $400 on the Country Living Grain Mill.
Hi, I have a K-tech I purchased this spring from Everythingkitchens.com. It was 179.99 with no shipping. It has been great. I grind about 20 cups when i do it because it is a little messy. But then I can go awhile. I make two loaves of ww bread every week… I use the fine setting and use white wheat. So far so good with the K-tech. It’s noisy but I always wear earplugs. no big deal. I also have the hand crank wonder junior hand mill. I don’t use it but have it as a backup. I have tried it out and it works nicely. I also got that through everythingkitchen. I just purchased it in November. It’s easy to use and I will go to them again for purchases.
I like the K-tech and Everythingkitchens.com. I just happened on them when looking for grain mills.
One more thing, I noticed you have the k-tech is dusty during milling. I don’t have dust during milling. I wonder if they forgot to put the F filter in before milling then it would be very dusty.
I purchased a NutriMill and I have loved it so far. The flour is perfectly fine and everything I cook with it turns out great. I also have ground popcorn seeds up and made cornbread with it. It was really good. I liked the Lifetime warranty that it had and the large flour pan capacity. I usually only do one loaf of bread at a time because I do not (yet) have a freezer to store extra bread in.
Can I just say that one thing I LOVE about grinding my wheat into flour is scooping up the warm wheat after it has been ground. I don’t know if you’ll find that weird but it is very calming to me to feel that soft warm flour. And in a house with 3 very active small children I try and find peaceful moments where ever I can lol.
Thanks for your reviews they were excellent.
Megan
I have owned and used both the Nutrimill and the Wondermill. Both are great. The only drawback to the Wondermill is that you cannot stop the mill if you have grain in the hopper. It will clog the mill & unclogging it is a pain. It is a workhorse and I could grind enough grain to fill a 6 gallon bucket - we modified it to blow the flour into a lidded bucket (It was at a bakery). The Nutrimill has been great too. I did have a head that died on me while grinding popcorn. They replaced it immediately and I have had no problems since. The Nutrimill is definitely quieter than the Wondermill but they are both loud so… If I had to choose between them I don’t think I could.