There are two main types of home mills; Burr and Impact. Below I will breakdown the differences between the two so you can get an idea of what would work best for you. I will only be going into electric mills as I do not have experience with a hand mill but would not wish to grind as much flour as I use by hand!
Burr grain mills are made up of two discs. One is fixed while the other spins, crushing the wheat in between. This allows for a wide variety of textures. Burr mills are cool grinding, preventing the wheat from overheating and breaking down the nutrients.
Pros: Cool grinding allows for the flour to retain as much of the nutrients as possible. The stones can be separated to allow for a wide variety of coarseness settings. They are typically compact and fit well on your counter and many come with decorative wood casings. Burr mills are quieter than impact mills.
Cons: Burr mills tend to have a smaller hopper and take longer to grind large quantities of wheat, although KoMo does make a large capacity mill. Burr mills tend to be more expensive, especially if you are looking for a decorative casing.
There are so many good stone mills currently on the market but I have found Mockmill and KoMo tend to be the top two. I will not be going into every mill they make but here is a good article breaking down many of the leading mills as well as a good breakdown of burr vs impact. I have also added links below to bring you to Mockmill and KoMo's websites where you can view all of their available mills.
I personally bought the Mockmill 200 and I absolutely love it.
Impact Mills use chambers with stainless-steel teeth that do not touch but spin incredibly fast, crushing the grain as it passes through the chamber. Impact mills only produce flour but can adjust the coarseness of the flour. Impact mills can grind more flour in a shorter amount of time but do produce more heat due to the high speed and friction that is produced. They are not supposed to exceed unsafe temperatures for the nutrients in the flour though.
Pros: More flour in a shorter amount of time which may be good for commercial/home bakery use. Impact mills are a more affordable option for most people.
Cons: Impact mills are louder then burr mills typically. Impact mills tend to be more bulky and may not be ideal for keeping on your countertop so storage is necessary. Cereal or very coarse grinding is not possible with an impact mill.
I chose a stone mill over an impact for the wider variety of grind settings but the Wondermill and Nutrimill impact mills have good reviews and are very well loved by those that own them. This article does a very good comparison of the two mills as well as a good breakdown of burr vs impact.
Once you have a mill what should you put in it? Read here to learn about the different types of grain and common uses for each
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