The Komo Grain Mill is one of the best investments we made as a family! We purchased our Komo Fidibus Classic grain mill a year ago and I want to share a quick review on how it is working for us as a family.
Why did we choose the Komo Grain Mill?
Before I heard of the Komo Grain Mill, my only experience with milling my own flour was with an old Nutrimill that my dad had found on a garage sale. It was so loud and dusty that we had to put it outside for the entire process, and after half an hour we had a few cups of milled flour. The entire process was not something that I saw myself incorporating into our everyday lives, even though I loved the idea of milling your own grain.
I heard about the Komo Grain Mill through friends and a local health food store. One of my fellow mom friends told me she has been using hers for 15 years and it’s still as good as the day she bought it.
After doing quite a lot of research, we knew that we wanted a stone mill. If you want to grind flour very fine, you need a stone mill instead of a steel mill. All Komo mills have grinding stones made of corundum ceramics and don’t need to be sharpened.
The Komo brand has incredible reviews for grinding the finest flour, which is especially important for baking bread. It is handmade in Austria with fine craftsmanship. Grinding wheat is a bit of a loud process, but the Komo mills are the quietest in the field of household grain mills.
It is simple to operate, easy to clean, compact, quiet, and a beautiful addition to my kitchen counter. (Yes, that matters too!) My children love pouring grain into the large solid wood hopper and turning the machine on to grind the wheat for our delicious Einkorn pancakes. Or as my 7-year-old would say, ‘Just like the settlers used to do it!’
Why we chose the Komo Fidibus Classic
We chose the Komo Fidibus Classic for numerous reasons. First of all, it is Komo’s best-selling mill, with a 360 watt motor, and is also the perfect size for our family of 6. I bake 3 to 4 loaves of bread per week, a big batch of buns, waffles, or pancakes, and am constantly adding in fresh milled flour to my everyday recipes.
The second reason is the 12 year warranty, it was a sweet selling point for us as well. It shows that they stand behind their products. With normal use, this is a lifetime mill.
Another reason for our choice was the height of the mill. At 13 inches high, it is a perfect height to fit under my counter. Being able to have the mill handy and ready to use in our busy kitchen was a big part of our decision.
The last but most important reason is that I fell in love with the simple, yet classic design made with solid beech wood. It is made with high quality wood and will stand the test of time. The wood is oiled and to clean it you lightly buff it with sandpaper, even after years of use. I love the natural look of it. It reminds me of a simple, slow living era where baking bread together was a family experience. The days I get to spend in the kitchen teaching my children how to make meals from scratch are the ones I cherish the most.
My Favorite Fresh Milled Recipes!
Soft 100% Fresh Milled Wheat Bread (This bread will amaze you. I didn’t know fresh milled bread could be so soft and delicious—and not dense or crumbly!).
Fluffy Cheddar Bay Biscuits (the perfect side dish for beef stew or a hearty soup.)
Soft and Light Fresh Milled Hamburger Buns (the best hamburger buns for summer BBQs!)
Einkorn Peanut Butter Oatmeal Bars (pop these in the freezer and enjoy a guilt-free snack. Kids love these as well!)
What are the health benefits of freshly milled grains?
When I started baking with sourdough a few years ago, I began researching how white flour was made and what whole grains actually are. I found that commercial flour has very little nutritional benefits left after it has been processed.
The greatest benefit of freshly milled grains is the nutrient content you get to add to your diet. A wheat grain has 3 parts. Bran, germ, and the endosperm.
Bran is the fiber-rich part that contains protein and is loaded with fiber.
The germ is full of B vitamins, minerals, oils, and protein.
The endosperm is mostly starch, with some proteins and vitamins.
Milling your own grains preserves the integrity of the grain, giving you superior freshness and flavor in your bread and other freshly milled baked goods. They add such a richness, and almost buttery taste to the bread; the texture is spot on as well. The Komo mill makes it so easy to add fresh milled flour to my everyday cooking. When I tasted my first bite of fresh milled bread, the flavor blew me away. My kids devoured a whole loaf of fresh milled wheat bread straight from the oven. You can find my recipe for Fresh Milled Sourdough Bread here.
Why is flour fortified?
In the early 1900s, fortification began as a way to prevent nutritional deficiencies. Processing grains to make white flour shelf stable involves removing the bran and the germ, leaving behind the endosperm.
Remove the important vitamins and minerals from flour and people become nutrient deficient. Adding back synthetic vitamins and minerals is a way to fix the deficiencies.
Milling your own grain lets you keep all the natural vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. There is no need to add anything back in, you can just enjoy the simple goodness of whole grain foods.
What can you grind with the Komo Fidibus Classic?
You can grind all common dry grains including
soft or hard wheat, oat groats (dehulled oats), rice, triticale, kamut, spelt, buckwheat, barley, rye, millet, teff, quinoa, amaranth, sorghum , soybeans, and dent (field corn), coffee beans, dry beans, peas, non-oily spices,
So far we have milled different types of grain like hard white wheat, hard red wheat, spelt, einkorn, rye, and whole wheat berries. I have never had to put anything through a second time because I always get very fine flour. I always mill my bread flour on the finest setting to get the perfect bread flour texture.
Setting up the Komo Fidibus Classic Grain Mill
Setting up the Komo classic grain mill was very easy. My husband removed the shipping packaging and adjusted the stones. To set the mill at the finest setting, first you turn the mill on and screw the hopper backward until the stones just touch. After that, adjust the hopper 1 notch coarser than the place where the stones touched and make a small mark with a pencil. This will be your starting guide and the finest ground setting. (every mill is slightly different which is why you need to figure out where exactly the starting guide needs to be. It will usually be a few notches behind the ‘fein’ or fine setting of your mill. Take 2 cups of wheat or rice and grind it to clean off any residue on the stones. Throw it out and you can begin your home milling journey!
Using the Komo Grain Mill
Starting to mill your own grains may seem intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. You can slowly incorporate it into your daily routine, there is no need to go and throw away all your commercial white flour. I still use unbleached white flour in recipes where I’m aiming for a certain texture. If you do end up milling a larger quantity of flour than you can use, just pop it in a Ziploc bag and store it in the freezer for further use. Whole grain flour goes rancid quickly because of the oils in the fresh flour. I use this conversion chart as a beginner guide and add according to my recipe.
More Komo Products
Wolfgang Mock of Germany designed Komo grinders and flakers. He had a goal to bring grain milling into every home, and he is achieving it.
Komo is the king of electric grain mills, and you can’t deny the excellence of engineering in their design. The quiet power of their electric motors set them apart from other mills. Komo has a selection of mills and flakers to choose from based on your needs. You can buy them here if you are in the US and here for Canada.
Fidibus 21 (entry level mill)
Komo Magic
Komo Mio
Fidibus Classic (the one we have and love!)
Komo Medium
Fidibus xl (komo xl grain mill)
Fidifloc 21 and Medium
Hand flakers
Would I recommend the Komo Fidibus Classic?
I would 100 percent recommend investing in a Komo mill. It’s about more than just making great bread. It is such a rewarding feeling to be in control of your own health. I highly encourage you to take the next step in your baking journey and start enjoying the benefits of home milling!
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