Bread and pastry are some of our favorite dishes. They are yummy, comforting, and easy to make. If there is bread in the house, there is food in the house! To be able to make whole-grain bread that is not just yummy and comforting, but also healthy and nutritious, you need a grain mill.
Why whole grain
Whole grains are packed with nutrients, including antioxidants, B vitamins, protein, fiber, and trace minerals (copper, iron, magnesium, and zinc). Whole grains have been proven to be very healthy. We were introduced to whole grains by a medical Doctor who shared his healing story of using bread from a local bakery that baked all its bread with freshly ground flour.
Freshly ground whole-grain flour is also much superior in taste to anything you can buy off the shelf. The taste, however, really just shows you the quality. The benefits of whole grains do not last; it is not worth buying them in-store.
And we also like using ancient grains like Spelt and Kamut. You can find all these grains at Breadtopia. For beginners, we would recommend Hard White grain, it’s not as heavy and makes beautiful breads.
In order to grind whole grain at home, you have to have a grain mill. We bought the Fidibus 21 Grain Mill as a gift to ourselves 20+ years ago and have loved it ever since. In fact, we often ask ourselves why we hadn’t gotten it earlier, so we would have enjoyed the healthy, delicious taste even longer. The picture above shows the WonderMill that our daughter started with while still in college. There are many great grain mills on the market. In this blog post, we share why we would recommend the KoMo Fidibus grain mills.
Fidibus Grain Mills are high-quality stone mills
The KoMo Fidibus Grain Mill is a high-quality German engineering corundum/ceramic mill. Stone mills produce less heat than metal mills. Stone mills are also very long-lasting.
The Fidibus Grain Mill is easy to use
First, turn on the mill. If necessary, adjust the milling settings from fine flour to coarse meal or cracked grain by turning the hopper bowl until its index mark aligns with the graphic scale on the mill’s front. Next, fill the hopper; the Fidibus 21 holds up to 1 pound and 14 ounces of grain.
You can grind the flour directly into the bowl where the dough is mixed; no extra container to clean.
The mill produces 3.5 ounces of flour per minute at the finest setting and can run continuously, allowing you to refill it and keep grinding as much flour as you need. If you plan to grind larger quantities of grain, we recommend the KoMO Fidibus XL.
Cleanup is minimal and easy, and requires no tools. And it also creates minimal mess; you can mill directly in your kitchen.
The Fidibus Grain Mill looks good
It’s a beautiful piece of work, smooth, quiet, and fast. The mill is quite small, just over a foot tall, and made of attractive beechwood. It’s an eye-catcher in our kitchen and always a conversational topic. I like the fact that I can leave it on the counter if we use it several times a week.
Would we recommend a Fidibus Grain Mill?
Sure, in the blink of an eye. It is a good mill that has served us for many, many years, and we are looking forward to many more. The Fidibus grain mills are an early design by Wolfgang Mock. Be sure to also check out MocMills, which are less expensive.
A few of our favorite whole-grain recipes:
Simple Whole Grain, No-Knead Bread
Buns or Dinner Rolls
Yummy Whole Grain Kaiserschmarrn
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I have whisper mill. It doesn’t look as neat as yours (as it is plastic) but it has served us well for over 14 years with nearly daily grindings. I love having a grain grinder!
Thank you for the comment! Whisper mill is as far as I know the same as wonder mill. It sure is a good mill, too!
Awesome! I would just have to figure out where to get the grains around here… lol
The best way is to find an organic farmer who grows it.
I dream about a grain mill at night! I swear, I want one so bad, but can’t afford it at the moment. Do you buy your grains from Breadtopia as well? This is the first time I’ve heard about this company, thanks for sharing.
You would love the grain mill! Hope yo can have one very soon. I get the grain locally from a farmer.
We are off grid so all electric appliances are checked for power draw. Do you know the draw for this grain mill?
I only know that it has 250 Watts (1/3 HP) Motor Performance. Not sure if that is what you need. But Bredtopia also has hand mills, did you check that possibility out? He shows how they perform too.
Question: When I am making flour, I typically just use my Cuisinart food processor. I process the heck outta the grains and I have flour in seconds. Is there a benefit to having a grain mill over a Cuisinart? Is the flour finer? I haven’t had an issue with oat flour breads, pancakes, and the like… but I’m always curious about expanding into other grains. What’s been your experience??
What you do with your Cuisinart, I do with the Vitamix blender. For small batches, it works really great, grind and mix all in one container. But to grind enough for bread or buns would be a bit painful in the blender, not impossible though. I also like the fact that when I use the grinder, it is even flour, however fine I want it. In the blender, it is a bit of a guessing game. I use both all the time.