If you are anything like me, the idea of buying, let alone actually USING a wheat grinder can be pretty intimidating. I am determined to accumulate a healthy-sized food storage and wheat is going to play a big role in that. I am also a fan of the mantra "store what you eat and eat what you store". Thus it quickly became apparent to me that I needed to do some heavy duty research in order to uncover all the mysteries surrounding "wheat grinders" or "grain mills" as they are officially called. With the help of internet research, some hands on research at several neighbors' houses, and multiple failed attempts in the kitchen, I have come up with a pretty good summary of what you need to know.

Types of Wheat Grinders

Manual Wheat Grinders

Pros

• Inexpensive
• Can be used with no power source
• Small to store

• SLOW to grind (mine took 6 minutes to grind one cup of flour)
• Except for the very high-end models, you cannot grind a fine flour
• Inconvenient (messy and hard to fit a large bowl underneath)

Pros

• Less expensive than an electric grinder
• Small to store
• Convenient to use and then mix bread in the same machine

• I have heard from multiple sources that these units will BREAK your KitchenAid mixer
• Not as fast at grinding as electric grinders

Pros

• Grinds very fast
• Useful for many types of grains, beans, nuts, etc.
• Easy to select how coarse or fine to grind, and has a large range

• Fairly expensive, even for the lower-end models
• Must have a generator or battery pack to use with no electricity (unless you buy a high end model that comes with a manual crank)
• A large appliance to store in your kitchen

Manual Wheat Grinders

• Low: $20-30 models will not grind flour, only coarse corn meal, etc. Not very useful.
• Medium: $75-$175 is a good price range. Back to Basics Grain Mill is $75. It can grind fine enough for bread flour but not for very fine cake flour. Wonder Junior is higher-priced at $169 but it can grind into cake flour.
• High: Up to $400 for the Country Living Grain Mill. It is quicker than other manual grinders and is able to grind a fine cake flour.

• $100-120, some may be used on any stand mixer.

• Low: Under $200 for grinders such as the Blendtec Grain Mill. Its drawbacks are it is very noisy and cannot do very coarse grinds.
• Medium: $200-$300 can get you a great grinder. The two most popular electric grinders are the WonderMill and the NutriMill. In my tests I found the WonderMill to be faster, quieter, cleaner, and easier to store. And priced at $239 it is even cheaper than the NutriMill which is $269.
• High: Over $300 is an unnecessary amount to spend in my opinion. There are heavy duty models out there but you can get the job done with the mid-range models.

Manual Wheat Grinders

• Attach wheat grinder to your counter top
• Place a bowl underneath
• Pour the wheat in the funnel
• Turn the crank (for a LONG time)
• Wheat will filter into the bowl below

• Select how fine or coarse you want to grind
• Turn on the machine
• Pour the wheat in the top
• Wait for it to grind into flour (super fast)
• Turn off the machine and pull out your canister of wheat

• Whole wheat bread can be delicious! I have gone through a lot of recipes trying to find the perfect balance of flavor, nutrition, texture, etc. for my wheat bread. Experiment with different recipes and types of wheat until you find what your family prefers. We liked using hard white wheat in a recipe that included gluten and oatmeal.
• Pancakes even your kids will love! I took an IHOP corn cakes recipe and simply swapped all-purpose flour for whole wheat flour and it was amazing. My kids ate 3 each at one meal. They are delicious drizzled with honey over top.
• Whole wheat oatmeal cookies you can't resist. I haven't tried any of these recipes yet but several of my friends said they prefer whole wheat cookies to regular cookies. Who wouldn't want an excuse to make cookies, hey it's rotating your food storage.
• Much much more. I grind up a large Tupperware full of hard white wheat flour and store it in my freezer (it retains the nutrients that way). Whenever I do any baking I replace half or all of the flour called for with my whole wheat flour. If it is as good or better I add that recipe to my food storage recipe binder. It's a great way to experiment until you find what works for you.

Emergency-Only Usage

• If you are planning to use your food storage and wheat grinder only if an emergency situation arises, it is not worth the expense and hassle of buying and storing an electric grinder. At a minimum you should get the Back to Basics Grain Mill but I would highly recommend splurging for the Wonder Junior.

• If you plan to "store what you eat and eat what you store" I highly recommend the WonderMill Grain Mill electric grinder. If you are not planning to find an alternative power source for an emergency situation, then eventually pick up a Back to Basics Grain Mill as well. The price of these two combined are still cheaper than high-end electric grinders that have a manual crank option, and the functionality of the WonderMill is better for frequent usage.