• Stone
• Burr
• Impact

Stones left; Burrs right. These are the stones and burrs that come with the Little Ark.

Stone Grinders are the oldest type of grinder there is and was the only kind until only a few years ago. Stone grinders have two circular grinding stones. One stone turns against a stationary stone. Grooves are cut, radiating out from the center of the stone. These grooves diminish until they disappear towards the outer edges. When grain is ground, it falls through a channel into the center of the two stones. As the rotating stone turns, it pulls the grain out through the channels and is ground, with the flour falling out the outer edges of the two stones. A hundred years ago these stones were often two or three feet across, weighed hundreds of pounds and were turned by windmills or water wheels. In modern home grinders these stones are small, usually only about three inches in diameter. They are not natural stones like the grinders of yesteryear, but are made from very hard materials that will last a life time if used with care.

A Country Living Mill Burr.

Burrs are similar to stones except their grinding wheels are made out of steel. These burrs are sometimes referred to as teeth in grinder advertisements. Burr grinders have some advantages and disadvantages over stone grinders. More on that later.

Impact Grinder Micronetic Chamber.

Impact grinders use 'blades' placed in circular rows on metal wheels. One wheel turns and the other wheel is stationary like the manual grinders. But this is where the similarities end. When the two wheels are put together the rows of blades intermesh, running microscopically close, yet never touching the blades from the opposite wheel. The rotating wheel turns at several thousand RPM. As grain is fed into the center of the fixed wheel, the interaction between the two wheels 'impacts' the grain and literally pulverizes it into a fine powder as the grain works its way to the outside of the wheels.
        Concerned about the temperature your mill heats the flour up to? The people at K-Tec, who make the Kitchen Mill Grain Grinder told me, "Our grinder doesn't grind grain but bursts it into flour on contact with the 'micronetic heads.' This is why our mill grinds grains at the very low temperature of 135 degrees, helping keep the nutrients and enzymes intact." Doing a bit of experimenting myself, I find that the flour is 30 degrees F warmer as it comes out of an impact grinder.
        Some of the health food stores try to make a really big deal about this saying, "Our wheat is slow ground at a low temperature, leaving all the nutrients undamaged. Those fast turning grinders heat up and destroy your flour." If you grind your wheat just before use, I can't see that it matters as within an hour or two it's going to be in the oven anyway. Flour starts to lose nutrients within hours of when it was ground, so in spite of what they say, your flour, freshly ground, will have many more nutrients and will be fresher than any flour you could buy anywhere unless it too has been freshly ground that day.

Hand or Electrically operated: Some consideration must be given to whether you will buy a hand or electric grinder, or both. This all depends on what your present circumstances are and any preparations you may want to make for the future. Powered grinders are nice, but the most high speed grinder won't do much good if you find yourself in a power outage. Three of the hand grinders Walton's sells can be motorized, the Country Living Mill, Silver Nugget and Little Ark. Incidentally, hand operated mills come in the stone and burr varieties. Impact grinders must turn far too fast for manual operation. One last thing you should know about hand grinders: They are more work than you may at first guess. For my family, we have chosen a nice electric grinder for every day use, and a hand grinder for emergencies.

The following table gives some of the positive
and negative aspects for each class of grinder:

Stone Grinders
Favorable Characteristics Grinds finer than burr grinders. Adjustable to any setting between cracked wheat and fine flour. Should last a lifetime.	Unfavorable Characteristics Manual stone grinders tend to turn harder than manual burr grinders. Stones quickly become 'loaded' if you try to grind oil bearing seeds
Burr Grinders
Favorable Characteristics Will grind dry grains as well as oil bearing seeds - wheels will not load up. Adjustable to any setting between cracked wheat and fine flour. Much safer machine if you are grinding grain that has not been completely cleaned of grain sized stones and small pieces of metal. Should last for many years of normal use. Generally turn easier than stone grinders.	Unfavorable Characteristics Will not grind quite as fine as a stone grinder.
Electric Impact Grinders
Favorable Characteristics Very small, light and compact. Grinds very quickly Grinds grain into very fine flour	Unfavorable Characteristics The blades are somewhat fragile: Small rocks or metal pieces can make the micronetic chamber eat itself! (K-Tec tells me their grinder will eat rocks, yet, I'd still be very careful.) If you take care to only use well cleaned grain, these grinders will also last many years. Noisy (Except the Whisper Mill) Even on the coarsest setting the flour comes out relatively fine. These things won't give you cracked wheat. Won't work without electricity.

Grinder Types

Stone Grinders	Burr Grinders	Impact Grinders
Little Ark Silver Nugget	Champ Juicer Attachment Little Ark Combination Golden Grain Grinder (The grain goes through burrs first and then stones for a fine grind.) Back To Basics Grinder Country Living Mill Silver Nugget w/burrs Family Grain Mill Diamant	Kitchen Mill Whisper Mill
Electrically Operated	Hand Operated	Can be Motorized
Golden Grain Grinder Kitchen Mill Whisper Mill	Little Ark Country Living Mill Back To Basics Grinder Silver Nugget Golden Grain Grinder has an included handle for manual operation. Diamant	Little Ark Country Living Mill Silver Nugget Family Grain Mill Diamant

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Revised: 22 Jun 00