I can't tell you anything helpful, but I will be watching the comments, as I am in the market for one, too!

I don't own my own grain mill. But the lady who writes on of the websites/blogs I read grinds all her own grains. She has talked a lot about her grain mills.

Her website is:
http://www.thefamilyhomestead.com

Her blog is:
http://www.homesteadblogger.com/quiverfull/

I hope you can find some information on there that will help you.

I have an old magic mill that's needing a little work but nothing major. (Needs a new seal-starting to blow out some dust.)

The mill has been a blessing, but I would love to have a newbie some day- this one sounds like an airplane!

But, what I wanted to share was that I grind flour every 3 or 4 days and freeze what I don't use right then. Over the next couple of days, I don't have to drag out the mill and fool with all the clean-up and noise. I also make several recipes with 4 loaves of bread, they're on my site BTW;-). ......I have yet to see a mill that I wouldn't care to drag out every day. But I hope that you do!

I would also look into getting one that would grind all sorts of things. You might would want to use bean flour, like soy flour one day. Mine is not supposed to do that.

Best wishes in your search!
-Donna-
momsfrugal.blogspot.com

Hi Tammy!
Loving your blog! I have a NutriMill. I Love it! It is my second grain mill. My first was a K-Tech Kitchen Mill and I dropped the top and it broke off where it snaps together. I could still use it but flour sprayed everywhere, also it was VERY loud, it scared my daughter who was a baby at the time and difficult to clean. My Nutrimill is much, much quieter, not small, but it is much easier to clean and remove the flour once it is complete. It's base holds 20 cups, also it is "dust free". Since I have allergies this is a plus for me. Although it is on the large side it is easy to store & I have a friend who keeps hers right on her counter. I did much research and for my money & needs this was the best. The first one I had my husband actually bought off ebay- it was in an estate sale & even though I broke a part it did still run, with trouble and was pretty reasonable. I would however, suggest you purchase new, so you get a warranty with it. Be prayerful, I know you will & the Lord will provide all the information for you to make a good decision.
God Bless!
SuzeQ

We have a Nutrimill and LOVE it! It's quick and pretty quiet. We got it as a gift over a year ago and I haven't had any problems with it. We use it for our wheat, corn and mesquite beans and it works perfectly!

Hugs & Blessings!
Susan
http://www.susangodfrey.blogspot.com

I have the Bosch grain mill and love it. It's slightly noisy but I'm sure they all are to an extent. It does grind quickly and it's not dusty or messy at all. I can grind enough for four loaves of whole wheat bread at one time. I then grind another four loaves worth and store it in the freezer until I need it for pizza, bread or whatever.

We have the WhisperMill by Nutrimill. I love it. It makes quite a bit of flour (never really measured) in a relatively short time. While I wouldn't call it a "whisper" it is quieter than most mills. The company says it is comparable to a vacuum cleaner...and I suppose it is. It does a great job of containing the dust too. And is super easy to clean. I don't leave my grinder out like some do (lack of counter space) so I grind a lot at one time. We freeze it in gallon sized bags, and truthfully we never have noticed a difference. Hope that helps!
Mrs. S

My 2 cents...

Wow, it sounds like the Nutrimill wins hands down with the people that commented so far. I kind of happened upon a mill when I bought a Vita-Mix about 7-8 years ago.

I didn't look much into the grain mills on the market at the time. I actually had heard about the Vita-Mix for it's powerful blending action. The dry container to mill grains and beans was a nice side benefit to getting one. I like having something that does more than one thing, so that's how I happen to use it to grind my grains.

It's noisey at first but then gets a little quieter. Corn is the loudest grain I've done, but it sure makes good cormeal. You can grind 2 cups at a time (but I've done about 3 2-cup batches, that is 6 cups in a sitting) and because the Vita-Mix grinds by the speed of the steel blades, you need to use frozen grain. That's not usually a problem for me since I store it in the freezer anyway. It does heat it a bit, by default, so although you can get a finer grind by leaving it grind longer, it will be warmer the longer you do it.
It is enclosed, so dust is very minimal. Just letting it settle before opening up the container helps to keep the fine flour dust minimal. I sift it with a sieve into a mixing bowl right out of the container, because it can "pack" into the bottom a little. It easily comes out of the container with a little tap or two.

When I do 2 cups (enough for one "run" to grind), it takes at most about 1 1/2 minutes. So multiply that by 3 would be under 5 minutes running time total, with it being warm towards the end. Total time might be around 10 minutes to get everything out and done unless you keep it on your counter.
Of course, 6 cups wheat grain will yield about 6 3/4 to 7 cups of flour approximately.
For my needs it works, but I probably wouldn't buy a Vita-Mix for the milling properties it has. In fact, although I don't know about the Nutrimill, I understand that the best mill (to keep your grain cooler, thus keeping most of it's nutrition longer) will be one that has a stones to grind instead of steel (which heats things up). I think I also remember that with steel, you can get a more uniform grind, but stones give you a more "authentic" feel to it. Does that make sense?
As far as the taste, I think most of those here would agree that we probably don't even remember what the store bought flours taste like. At least I don't. Yes, it's good.
From your photo, it looks like you are already using your blender to make do. Good for you. Let us know what you do decide if you get one. We only got the Vita-Mix when we had the money saved. We like to keep things debt-free around here (officially debt-free since April 2007!!!). =)

And yes, I brought it to Ghana...How do you think I make my tropical fruit smoothies? =)
Loretta at: http://veganfootprints.blogspot.com/

Vita-Mix brand of blenders are strong enough to effectively grind flour. The drawback is you can't make as much flour at one time as you can with a grain mill. The plus is that if you are limited on space, you can get rid of your regular blender and replace it with the Vita-Mix. You won't be increasing the number of appliances in your house.

We also have the Nutrimill and have had it for a little over a year. It works great! Noisewise, it's comparable to a vacuum cleaner. It grinds quickly and takes just maybe 3 minutes or so for enough grain for 2 loaves of bread. (Haven't actually timed it, I'm guesstimating here.) So far we've only done hard and soft wheat berries and popcorn (for cornmeal) but are very pleased with the results. I've never used the finest setting but even 2/3 of the way there is quite fine.

Catherine

Here is a page that talks about both mills you mentioned- it looks as if the Whisper Mill is no longer being made? So there would be no service available even if you already had one.....

http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/index.aspx#Nutrimill

It talks about the Nutrimill at the top, scroll down for the info on the Whispermill....
I have the one after it, the Family Grain mill and have been very happy with it! I like it because I can grind many different things - corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, rye, barley, rice, spelt, flax, buckwheat, millet, coffee, kamut, quinoa, and sesame (doesn't grind popcorn.) The grind is also adjustable- fine to coarse to steel cut oats! I don't think it grinds as fine as the others. And it's made by Messerschmidt in Germany so I'm hoping it will last a while!

I have a grain mill attachment that fits on my Bosch compact. It is very handy and was about $65.00. It doesn't grind quite as fine as the more expensive mills, but it is good enough for bread until I can afford a Cadillac model.

E-bay is a good place to look, as well as refurbished models (not new, but have a new motor--which is the most expensive part anyway).

We have a WonderMill and we love it! It very easy clean up and it's not as loud as some. I usually only have to do 4-6 cups at a time but I think it does more. I got mine brand new on Ebay (there's a store on there that sells them) for around $239, I think.

i recently purchased a used magic mill. if anyone knows where to buy a hand crank for it i would appreciate the info.

I bought a maxi 4000 vita mix. the other day I made flour from organic kamut. it didn't grind find enough and the pasta broke apart. how do you get the grain fine for pastry or pasta in a vita mix. i remember grinding the flour for 3 - 4 minutes. would letting it cool off and grinding longer work. i am a single person and buying a grain mill just doesn't seem justifiable for my small needs. thank you so much.

I just recently purchased a Magic Mill online. Like, the really old kind with the wooden box. I will get it in about two to three weeks. But, my question is I was wondering if it will grind beans??? Does anyone that has one grind beans? I want to put it in my bread.

I appreciate any suggestions.
Thank you!
Trina

I recently bought a Retsel Mil-Rite grain mill. It has the stone burrs. It is not pretty, but grinds well. You can do other things like corn, etc. in it. I just set mine up in the basement and cover it up inbetween uses. I have the reverseable switch on it, which means later on I can purchase the optional meat grinder for it. My hubby and sons hunt deer and we process them ourselves. I also have the optional hand crank for it. Haven't used it, but it's good to know I have it for emergencies. Last year Hurrican Ike came through and many homes in the area were out of power for almost 2 weeks. So you just never know when an emergency would be an issue. They have many models at Resel.com, I would check it out! One great thing is that these mills are totally made in the USA for over 40 years.

I bought a old Magic Mill on ebay, I'm rebuilding it.
Got some 3/4 inch plywood with a nice veneer on the outside, 20 bucks. Rebuilt the motor, two mbearings cost me six bucks. Ordered two new stone and a SS collection pan for the bottom........Daniel