I like all things bread. None of that Wonderbread or anything, though. I like thick, hearty rustic loaves, herby flatbreads, warm tortillas, you name it. What I enjoy even more is making these foods. For one, I like to snack on the dough (is that strange?), and two, it just tastes better. Naturally, I was all too excited when I got my KoMo Fidibus 21 electric grain mill.
The electric grain mill fresh out of the box with wheat and spelt waiting. Photos courtesy Bradley Trimble.
If you and your family enjoy making bread, this is the kind of thing it’s worth it to spend some dough on. It was so easy to use and the upkeep is not difficult. Don’t be dissuaded by thinking it takes a lot of extra time to grind your flour. When you’re ready to make a batch of bread, or just need some flour for cooking, it’s as simple as pulling the mill out of the cupboard and grinding a few cups of flour, or however much you’ll need, then bake away!
When I got the Fidibus 21 in the mail, I had to take it to my father’s house for the first go-around. He and his wife are equally as passionate as I am when it comes to good bread and they also make their own. We were all eager to see how it would work. We all took turns reading the directions expecting there to be hoops to jump through, but to our surprise, all the preparation it required was just running 2 cups of grain through it to clean out any debris or oils. Then we were off!
The Komo Fidibus in action!
First, we grinded several cups of hard red wheat berries, then a few cups of spelt, and it only took a few minutes once we got going. You just pour your grains into the hopper and place the lid on top and let her go. The flour comes shooting out of the spout. It was easy to adjust the coarseness we were looking for, and the instructional booklet also has recommendations for the settings depending on what you are grinding. Later I took it home to grind some amaranth, which was just as easy to grind. (Did I expect anything else?) I simply set it to the finest setting, since amaranth is such a tiny grain, and let it whir. The noise of the grain mill can be loud, but it comes with a lid for the hopper that helps reduce it when it’s running.
My trusted adviser and step-sister, Sarra, worked the on/off switch while I focused on the perfect pour into the hopper.
I made tortillas with the wheat flour, and although they were denser than tortillas made with store-bought flour, I rather enjoyed the change in texture. Then I made flat bread with the spelt flour and they turned out great. What’s more about this grain mill, you can grind just about anything from your typical grains like wheat, rye and corn to even beans. I enjoy experimental cooking, so I really look forward to grinding beans and seeing what I can cook with the flour. You just can’t grind herbs or oily seeds as this would start to gunk up the milling stones.
Simply put, this is an awesome country living grain mill, and judging by the quality of this model, I suspect you can’t go wrong with any of the other Komo grain mill models. There are several to choose from so you can get one that fits your needs, whether it’s for an in-home bakery or the weekly loaves of bread.
