Nutrimill vs. Wondermill Grain Mill: the Head-to-Head Challenge (VLOG)

Look out, folks, it’s been a year since I got in front of the video camera for Kitchen Stewardship^®, and for good reason! Get ready to laugh at my amateur videotaping and lack of editing skills (i.e. I don’t edit at all, deal with it.)

My friend Shannon and I got together for some fun grain mill testing – we’re food nerds that way for sure! She dragged me to her house last year to show me how awesome the Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day method is, although apparently I wasn’t a very good student.

Last week her Wondermill took on my Nutrimill, and both grain mills made a fair showing. There were definitely a lot of differences, though.

I think I’ll just let you enjoy the videos of the grain mill challenge without any further introduction (and I’ll scribe them a bit afterward in case you hate watching online videos like I do).

Be sure to scroll all the way to the bottom for the final assessment…

By the way, did you know the average Internet user watches 183 online videos a month? Since I don’t watch any, that means other people are watching a LOT to compensate. Phew!

The Head-to-Head Challenge:

Video Notes:

• Both the Wondermill and Nutrimill (use code KS20 for $20 off!) grain mills take up a lot of space.
• The Wondermill supposedly is dust-free as long as the lid is on tight. You will not see this demonstrated correctly in the video! The Nutrimill has a tendency to blow out a little flour, especially right at the beginning.
• Apologies for the belly in the way of the Wondermill – she was two days overdue at the time!
• The Wondermill grain mill beat the Nutrimill on the fine grind with a 1/2 cup of grain by almost 5 seconds…but…
• EDIT: I am a techno-idiot and accidentally set my motor speed to “low” while showing Shannon that I didn’t really understand what that dial did. Turns out it slows things down c0nsiderably. I timed it at home, and 1/2 cup wheat berries on “high” with a fine grind took exactly 15 seconds, which looks to be even exactly with the Wondermill’s total. Whoops!
• They’re both really loud.

What’s the Mess? and Sifting the Bran:

Video Notes:

• The Wondermill definitely keeps the flour more contained, since the Nutrimill ends up with flour on the top of the lid, which usually gets on the counter when you flip the lid over to set it down.
• Sifting the bran was interesting – it totally came right out and was a much coarser grind than the rest of the flour!

Sifting the Flour – How Much is Left?

Video Notes: The Nutrimill ended up with slightly less bran overall vs. the Wondermill, so we theorized that the Nutrimill might grind a bit finer.

Coarse Grind Head-to-Head

Video Notes:

• Nutrimill = 8 seconds (on the “low” motor setting again, grrrr….)
• We blow flour out of the Wondermill like crazy again because the lid is not on tightly and laugh uncontrollably. We don’t really know who won as we were pretty distracted.
• We taped it again, but this one’s funnier! In the second try, the Wondermill took about 5 seconds and the Nutrimill took 6.

What You Can’t See in the Videos

• Both the Nutrimill and Wondermill are micronizing grain mills with stainless steel plates.
  • This means neither can grind flax seeds or any nut, which was a great disappointment to me as I was hoping to make inexpensive almond flour! You’d need something like a Wondermill Junior Deluxe, which can grind without power, to work with nuts and oily seeds. The obvious disadvantage is the whole hand crank thing, 80 cranks and 1 minute for 3/4 cup of flour. (The link is to Cookware’s Plus, one of KS’s February sponsors.)
• The Nutrimill has a very large capacity (21-cup) bowl, vs. the Wondermill’s 12-cup.
• The Wondermill must be on before grain is poured in, and if it is stopped mid-grind, it can jam up and break. That seems like a deal-breaker to me, since I would be the one blowing flour all over my kitchen (or downstairs bathroom) because of user error and unable to turn it off. I’ve also heard readers complain that their kids ended up breaking their Wondermill because they would turn it on or off at the wrong times.

No Monday Mission?

I know, I know…where’s the Monday Mission? It’s Nutrimill week, and I promise you’ll find plenty to challenge you the next two weeks, but I’m suspending the missions themselves to make room for whole grain goodness! Read all about the upcoming topics in Friday’s post (announcing an upcoming FREE eBook!).

Would you like to know what I do while waiting for my grain to grind?

I fold laundry. See the ol’ Nutrimill back there in the laundry room, next to the Excalibur dehydrator and my food processor? That pile of clothing on the floor gets a minute of attention every time I bake bread.

Other Resources:

• A nice quick breakdown of many grain mill reviews by Marilyn Moll of Urban Homemaker.
• If you’re in the GR, MI area, Shannon has one extra electric Wondermill for sale in her Etsy store for a wholesale price. (Or you could pay shipping if you’re out of town.)

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