December 14, 2014 - 5:53pm
Nutrimill Harvest Grain Mill.
In the last year or two, Nutrimill came out with a stone mill that looked somewhat like a Komo, though it had some functionality issues, IMHO. They have apparently redesigned it and are marketing the new model under the same name. Nutrimill Harvest Grain Mill http://breadtopia.com/store/nutrimill-harvest-grain-mill/ In the new model, you adjust the fineness of the grind by a knob in the center of the hopper. Just wondering if anyone has seen this one in action?
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I am buying mine this week. I hear very good things but haven't used it in person. I'll let you know what I think once I've had a chance to use it a bit.
Just curious, what functionality problems have you experienced with the Harvestmill? It actually was a KoMo mill, same thing, slightly different packaging. My understanding is L'equip had to stop selling them only because KoMo had violated an exclusive contract with Prairie Hill grains to be the only US dealer for KoMo.
I look forward to your review. On the video I saw for the older version of the Harvest Grain, to remove the stones, you had to turn the hopper several complete revolutions, and it just seemed a little clunky because it was not all that clear how many revolutions you had to turn it to get it back to where the adjustment readings lined up. The new one seems to have a much more straight forward adjustment. According to what I have read, the new one is a 450 watt motor, the old one was 250.
I think you're referring to taking the lid off to clean the stones, but you rarely need to actually remove the bottom stone. But, yes, that's correct about the old one. It's pretty easy to get the hang off. It's two or three total turns and then you just use the coarseness setting to know where you are. The calibration doesn't change once you open it to clean. So your courseness settings will always be the same. I think this is similar to other KoMo mills, but I'm not 100% sure. Honestly, I think this mill is exactly the same as the entry level KoMo classic, just with a Nutrimill nameplate on it. You can still find them on PleasantHill grain for sale.
So, the new mill is being manufactured in the US, by Lequip, I believe. As far as I understand, it's a totally new mill and not tied to KoMo. As you've noted, for the cost, the specs far exceed everything else on the market. We shall see if it's too good to believe. I do home demonstrations for Lequip and so that's the reason I feel the need to get the new mill - I need to know what I'm selling. Also, I love the KoMo, so it'll be interesting to compare the two. My experience with Lequip is that many of their products are super high quality for the price. Not everything, but most items. I'm trusting that they made this mill right, since their reputation stands on their mills. I'll let you know
I'm trying to decide. According to specs on Pleasanthillgrain.com:
http://pleasanthillgrain.com/nutrimill-harvest-mill
http://pleasanthillgrain.com/komo-fidibus-21-grain-mill-flour-grinder
Nutrimill's motor is 450 watts vs Fidibus 21's 250 watts, but the Nutrimill is rated at 3.4oz/min milling rate vs Fidibus' 5-6oz/min (go figure). Fidibus 12 year warranty 'made in Germany', Nutrimill 5 year warranty 'Chinese components, assembled in USA'. Sale price - Fidibus $329, Harvest $299. I'd like to know which produces the finer flour.
I read the same thing, but noted that the rating of oz per minute for the Fidibus was for "bread flour texture" - what ever that is. and the rating for the Nutrimill was " finely ground wheat" whatever that is. I also saw that the Nutrimill was a little over 1 1/2 pounds heavier. There is no way to tell how much of that weight is the motor, but in general, a heavier motor will be more powerful, and will be better able to handle grinding fine flour without slowing down. I think we need to wait to hear from Dreasbaking to see what she thinks about the Nutrimill. As she said, they generally make a nice product,
from sellers carrying both regarding the differences between the two. One was that the Komo stones are more porous which apparently give it the ability to grind rapidly, and that the flour output of the Komo was about 5 degrees cooler at 107 degrees after grinding 4 cups of flour (I'm assuming at comparable settings?). They are both noisy, with the Nutrimill slightly more so. I get the impression the flour output is about the same level of fineness, but I don't know how fine, or compared to what.
I'm not sure if my review will be up to your guys standards! ;). I've been procrastinating ordering. Should get on that. i should note that my understanding is the Nutrimill harvest will only be $299 until the end of the year, then you are back up to $349. I've heard from others that the Harvest has a finer grind and is quicker than the previous KoMo version that Nutrimill carried (still available on Pleasant Hill Grain). No one I know is measuring temperatures!
I usually don't measure temps, but a good review would give some idea about how fast it is, how solid it feels, and how loud - though it is pretty hard to express the last part except in pretty general terms.
is on sale for $259 (in black trim), so I ordered it. Internally, it's much the same as the Fidibus 21.
forgot the link
http://pleasanthillgrain.com/komo-grain-mill-flour-wheat-grinder-harvest-250
That's a great price on the KoMo. I'd jump on it too. hope you enjoy it!
i never ordered the new Nutrimill harvest, but I had a chance to use a friend's machine today. I think it seemed louder than than the KoMo, the flour seemed warm, but I didn't take any measurements. I didn't compare the two side by side, but I really didn't notice much of a difference between the two. The milling plates were smaller on the new machine, but I've heard that it mills faster than the KoMo, but again, I didn't compare them side by side. I honestly doubt that speed is a big deciding factor between the two if you are only doing a few cups of flour at a time. The adjustment in the center of the hopper was different from the KoMo because of the location, but it was pretty straight forward on how to use it - very similar to the komo, in how it adjusts. Taking the hopper off to get to the plates was very easy on the new mill - it was just a slight twice of the hopper and it was off super quick. Again, I'm not sure that difference is a really big deal, because its not very often that you really need to take the hopper off. Ive also heard that the Harvest can get a finer grind, but again, I didn't compare the fine flours. We were making bread, and it was great for that.
So now we have the Nutrimill harvest & the Komo Harvest ? It's a Harvest War !
but they said over the phone it was a 'KoMo'. They sell both. I don't think there's much difference between the two other than the motor size and warranty. If I get a Nutrimill I'll probably keep it anyway, although they do have a 90-day return policy. In either case I hope it's an improvement over my Vitamix.
I bought the old style Nutrimill ( KOMO ) Harvest Grain Mill from Pleasant Hill and it arrived today. Positives, it is very compact and very nice looking mill. It seemed pretty quick, though I didn't time it, and it wasn't outrageously loud. One negative was the adjustment for coarse to fine, and to remove the bowl. While it is nice machine, and the case is pretty sturdy, the base has pretty coarse plastic threads that the bowl screws onto - the further you screw it on, the finer the flour. The plastic threads just give a cheap feel, IMHO, which is made worse in that the underneath of the bowl has plastic teeth that two little plastic tabs click against when you turn it. Obviously, the tabs are designed to keep the bowl from rotating once you set the adjustment, it just feels and sounds a little cheap to me. When I adjusted it the first time, I turned it on and then adjusted the wheels to just touch then went counterclockwise a click on two. The setting was between 1 and Fein. After I ground a few ounces and took it apart, and reset it using the same procedure, it ended up past Fein. So without any first hand experience with the newer version of the Nutrimill, which has the adjuster inside the upper bowl, it is likely that is a better approach. Of course, I just got it, and need to use it a few more times to get a feel for how this works.
I just received the same model. Those plastic parts must be why it sold for so much less. The top lip of the plastic base on mine has some gaps.
I ground 3 cups of wheat berries twice at the finest setting. The first time took 2 1/2 minutes and the next, after redjusting the stones, took 2 3/4 minutes. Temperature output was about 116 f at its highest. I also compared it to my Vitamix 5200, processing 2 cups of flour through both and the output was substantially the same. There was approximately the same amount of bran left over (Vitamix slightly more) after sifting through a #55 sieve.
If you look at pictures of the Fidibus, on pleasant hill grains site, there is one that seems to show the same plastic interior as the Nutrimill version. I think the price difference is solely because the KoMo name is not on the Nutrimill Harvest. I was demonstrating with Lequip when they came out with the KoMo version of the Harvestmill and they said that it was a KoMo, which is actually why they aren't selling it anymore (because of licensing/selling agreements in the US). Thats my understanding, at least.
The new Harvestmill is a totally new design.
Did you ever have a problem with the stones clogging on the Komo Fidibus? I was pretty surprised they clogged on the Nutrimill- Komo, and very thoroughly, in a very short time. I agree the new Harvestmill is a totally new design. You have to wonder why the marketing dept did not come out with a new name.
I'm still a bit confused by these models and didn't think the "Nutrimill Harvest" was made by KoMo. I believe I have the same unit you have/(had), the "KoMo Harvest" (with the NutriMill label) and it's discouraging to find out about the clogging. I recently sprouted 5lbs of white winter wheat berries, dried and ran them through the mill, and also ground some rice without incident but will have to use it more before the 90 days are up.
Baking bread with starter and grinding wheat is very new for me so didn't know what to expect with the mill. I envisioned two cylindrical rollers rather than the discs. After you posted your pictures I opened mine and in turning it over near the sink to dump out the flour inside nearly lost those two tiny springs down the drain! Both stones were mostly coated with grain residue after milling. There was about 1/8 cup of leftover flour inside, most of it resting in all the cavities on top of the upper plastic housing which seem to serve no purpose other than to collect flour to go stale. It is certainly a chore if you want to clean that out between batches. I wonder if the warranty will cover those two foam pressure strips stuck on with adhesive under the plastic housing. The entire inside apparatus does not seem to be a very durable design IMO.
The specs on the Pheasant Hill site indicate the Fidibus 21 and the unit we purchased to be identical on the inside. This was confirmed to me over the phone. The impression I got was due to the warranty and KoMo quality(?) the 'KoMo Harvest' might even have an edge over the 'Nutrimill Harvest'.
The grain mill is more convenient for grinding than my Vitamix, quieter, looks OK on the counter and was purchased on sale so I had made up my mind to keep it. On the other hand I could make do without it especially if it's going to have issues, and was slightly concerned about ingesting corundum. For me it is an expensive purchase, where making bread from scratch may well be just a phase. Right now it's fun and I just baked some porter and banana bread following recipes here on this fantastic Fresh Loaf website. Getting the rise and crust just right is a challenge.
Gray, you are much braver than I. I have sprouted and dried a few sets of wheat berries, but have difficulty determining exactly when they are dry enough to grind. I did clog another machine twice trying to grind not fully dried sprouted grains, but that machine was many years old, and was not all that hard to clean out. My komo nutrimill clogged on regular wheat berries that I had in a sealed container for a while. The komo - nutrimill is a fairly standard layout - in some ways similar to All Grind Mill - http://www.allgrainmills.com/ a bottom stone is connected to a motor and turns, and you adjust the distance between the top stone and the bottom stone to set the coarseness. The Komo - Nutrimill uses smaller stones, and has a spring assemble on the top stone to help keep it in alignment with the bottom stone ( Yes, I cleaned mine out to return, and suddenly two springs appeared from nowhere ) Generally, the stones don't touch, so I wouldn't worry about eating corundum, the wheat berries are no where near as hard as the stones, so they shouldn't cause any real wear. Glad yours is still working.
Gray, I have heard that it is similar to a Komo Fidibus, but not sure if that model uses plastic.
Gray, I tried to duplicate your tests, but the machine did not cooperate. I took 600 grams of hard red spring berries out of a container in my garage . I tested the temp and it was just below 60 degrees, so I put them in a container in my house for about 1/2 hour or so to come to room temp. I then turned on the Nutrimill, made sure the wheels were not hitting, then loaded the hopper and started timing it and measuring the temp. The flour came out pretty quickly, and at first I had temps around 96 to 98 ( using both an IR gun and a thermopen ) then within a minute the temps started climbing, and the output slowed so that by around 3 to 4 minutes, the temps were around 107 and then the output dwindled to next to nothing. The motor was still purring along, and I tried moving the bowl to coarse, and that didn't help so I just shut it off. Made a mess of taking it apart, but eventually found that the berries had clogged up the stones. I did my best to clean them off and will be returning the machine. It is a shame, I really liked it. It is very compact, and was not very loud ( I put it in a pantry while it was running) . To make sure there was no problem with the berries, I threw the ones that had been in the Nutrimill into my Lee Household Flour mill. It handled them with no problem, and when they were done, I checked the stone on the Lee and it was bone dry and had no flour or berries caked on it. Not sure why they clogged the Nutrimill, but now I am concerned that I would have to continue to watch it as it milled to make sure that would not happen again. I didn't measure how much flour it ground, but I am guessing somewhere between 200 and 400 grams . I don't have different grade sieves, but i did run the flour from both machines through a sieve and think that the Nutrimill had a little more bran that stayed in the sieve than the Lee, but again, since the Nutrimill got clogged, I wasn't precise in measuring how much flour I put into the sieve from each mill, and to the touch, the flour felt pretty similar. BTW, I have had this batch of berries for a few months, and have not had any problems with grinding them before. Not sure exactly what went wrong this time, so it may not be a defect in the machine, it is possible that the change in temp allowed them to pick up a little moisture ( really grasping for straws here ) but I have never heard of a similar problem with the Komo.
I can't imagine that the stones are worn out. Do you have the new model of the Nutrimill Harvest or the older model. This shows the new one, and the video shows how you adjust the stones https://nutrimill.com/grain-mills/nutrimill-harvest-grain-mill.html
This is a video of the older model, and he shows how to take it apart and put it back together
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tabbHupFzz4
Sorry, I have no idea about the brushes. There is not much online on your mill. Here is the sales video, at around 2 minutes, they show the stones. I would be very surprised if they are worn out, My guess is that there is some issue with assembly. You may want to call the manufacturer and see if they can help. 1.877.267.2434
I assume you have the instruction manual, it is here, but there are no photos http://www.boschkitchencenters.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Harvest.Manual.v1.2.pdf
Sorry to take you in a different direction, but you might want to consider a Lee Household Flour Mill, New they are pretty expensive, but used they are usually within $125 to $200. The main benefit of the Lee is that it is engineered to allow you to control the fineness directly. In most other mills, you are set the distance of the stones, but generally there is a little bit of leeway in how they rotate, so you can get some variation. With the Lee, in essence there is a setting at the rear of the grinder, which works like a screen- the grain stays in the grinding chamber until it is ground finely enough to pass through the screen - and you can adjust the size of the opening in the screen. It actually isn't a screen, but works in the same manner.
Sorry, I only had the first version of the Nutrimill stone mill, not the Komo or the newer version, so I can't help in that regard.