The Coupon Binder.com: The Great Grind-off

So, if you don't know it by now, I'm a Mormon. There are many things we are known for, and one of them is food storage. We are encouraged to buy whole wheat berries (among other things) and store them in our homes, and we own grinders so that we can turn that wheat into flour.

The ladies in my congregation were putting together an order for the K-tec grinder. I happen to own that grinder AND HATE IT! I said as much and before you know it the Great Grind-off was born. It was a very fun, informative night. To see pics of the actual grinders click on the title of this post (it is a link). I was busy running the event so I was only able to snap a few.

The results (winner stated first):

Coarse Grind: Hand grinder, church grinder, Nutrimill, Wondermill, K-tec
Fine Grind: Wondermill, Nutrimill, K-tec, church grinder, hand grinder
Noise (quietest): Hand grinder, Church grinder, Nutrimill and Wondermill tied, K-tec
Speed: Wondermill (this thing is FAST), Nutrimill, church grinder, K-tec, Hand grinder
Clean up: Nutrimill, Wondermill, Handgrinder, Church grinder, K-tec

It was a pretty close race between the Nutrimill and the Wondermill. However, I think I am going to buy the Nutrimill. The Wondermill is lightning fast, however, you CANNOT start with wheat berries in the grinder. Also, you can't stop it in mid grind. It also needs to be tended to during the grinding because you have to keep feeding it and emptying the flour holder. The Nutrimill will swallow a #10 can and you can walk away. Also you can turn it off mid grind and not have to worry about it jamming. Both of these run about $260.

So let's talk about my awful K-tec. There is really NO difference between the flour when on coarse or fine settings. It is the loudest and the biggest pain to operate. It was also the slowest by quite a bit. I DOUBLE HATE this grinder and can't wait to get rid of it. It was the cheapest of the electric grinders, $180, but in this case you get what you pay for. Save up the extra $80 and get something you'll love.

The hand grinder wasn't that hard to crank - however, it is hard to keep on the table and took two people to run it because of that. Also, it can't grind as finely as the other. But it won on the coarseness. It esencially broke the wheat kernels in half. It was also pretty messy because it was hard to load the wheat in the top. But it would be nice to have if you don't have power. ;) Cost $50.

The church grinder is a dinasour. It is old, HEAVY, and hard to clean. It is the same as the Wondermill in the fact that you can't put wheat into it unless it is on first, and you can't stop mid grind. There were a few times that it had technical difficulties and had to be tipped over and shook out. No small task given how heavy it is. You can buy these for about $300 on ebay, but it isn't worth it.

Here are some fun pics of the night.