Grain mill (wheat grinder)

A wheat grinder is a top priority for a whole foods lifestyle.

Ranking things that belong in a whole-foods kitchen, my priorities are as follows:

First, the best blender for a raw diet (BlendTec or VitaMix).

Second, a grain mill.

Third, a dehydrator.

Fourth, a water ionizer. (I would rank a water ionizer higher, but it is also the costliest thing in this list. (See the water ionizer in Robyn Recommends, and email us for wholesale pricing in our group buys.)

A wheat grinder is a MUST so that you can leave white flour behind forever. White flour is stripped of nutrition—it’s the grain with the germ (vitamins) and bran (fiber) removed. It acts like “glue” in your intestinal tract and will make you constipated faster than anything other food (animal protein being second place). I haven’t used white flour in 20 years except for homemade play-dough.

You can buy whole-wheat flour, but it oxidizes quickly after being ground, and the oils in the grains become rancid. Because of this, store-bought whole wheat flour often doesn’t taste good. (It’s also not good for you when it’s rancid.) I believe that when people say they don’t like whole-wheat foods, what they really mean is that they don’t like RANCID whole wheat, which they’ve experienced in many products. There’s nothing more wonderful than baked goods made with freshly milled flour!

I like the price of The Kitchen Mill, to grind grains. I like that it doesn’t make a big mess like my last two grain mills did. And I like that it’s warranted to mill oats, wheat, rice, barley, soybeans, and popcorn kernels. (That last one might seem strange, but that’s how you make unrefined cornmeal—grind popcorn!)

And this is pretty unusual: it’s also warranted to grind BEANS. This is a big deal to me because some of my 12 Steps to Whole Foods recipes call for bean flour. This is a little-known but highly effective way to increase protein in your diet, without compromising nutrition. It can also enhance flavor, and you can cook bean flour quickly (unlike whole beans).

The Kitchen Mill has no surfaces being rubbed to wear out or cause friction and get hot, so grains are not heated to high temperatures. Consequently more nutrition is retained.

It grinds 24 cups, which is fantastic! I like to make huge batches of my Oat-Coconut Cookie Mix for Christmas gifts. (You can, too—see Ch. 11 of 12 Steps to Whole Foods.) The Kitchen Mill lets me make more whole-grain flour, in a batch, than other wheat grinders.

Most mills use stones, but The Kitchen Mill uses a Micronetic chamber that grinds grains very finely (which makes lovely cookies/cakes) and very uniformly. I hated how the stone mill I had formerly was hard to clean, and flour remained in it that became rancid. I ended up with dead meal moths in the grinding chamber. The top also blew off and flour went everywhere, on my last mill. And the one before that was as loud as a jet engine.

The Kitchen Mill has a 6-year limited warranty (excluding filters and gaskets) and a lifetime warranty on the milling chamber and pan.

It’s made by BlendTec (subsidiary of KTec, with a long and excellent reputation). It’s a company whose executives I know personally and trust.

I think you’ll love yours.