The Wonder Mill Junior


The Wonder Mill jr. is the namesake of the electric mill, which has been around for a number of years, and is manufactured in India.The body of the mill is cast aluminum with a powder-coated finish. The grinding plates are artificial stone (for more on the debate about artificial stone see our Grinder 101posting).One nice innovation of the Wonder Mill jr. is the double clamp, which allows the mill to be easily mounted to any counter top of up to two inches in thickness.As far as functionality, this mill turns with reasonable effort and produces a decent bread flour one pass through, which is no mean feat and is more than can be said for many hand mills. The grinding plates are adjustable by the front knob, however, I found that the stationary grinding plate is only loosely affixed to the body of the mill. Instead of being screwed down it rests on three posts, so that when the outer (rotating) plate is loosened the stationary grinding plate also loosens. The net effect is that this makes it difficult to dial in a specific setting for coarser grinds.

For in the range of $50.00 WonderMill jr. offers stainless steel grinding plates, which they advertise as being designed “for grinding oily or wet seeds, grains, nuts and coffee”. Once again, these claims seem to be founded on wishful thinking. My test with peanuts resulted in the grinding plates clogging almost immediately, and I produced only a few flecks of peanut butter during the five minutes of grinding. Many companies claim their hand-mills will grind nut butters and oily seeds, but I’ve yet to see one that wasn’t a miserable failure in actuality. (I’ll happily report otherwise when I see the hand mill that does a good job with nuts and seeds)

In summation, as long as the stone grinding plates aren’t an issue for a person the Wonder Mill jr. is a quality grain mill effective for grinding a nice bread flour. Someone looking for a wide range of adjust-ability may want to look at other mills, and someone hoping to grind damp or oily seeds or nuts by hand should put aside the notion until a grain mill company releases an innovative design that actually works.

Comments

  1. Thanks for this blog. I’m trying to decide between the Wonder Mill Junior and the Country Living Grain Mill. I’d like something that makes good, fine, bread flour. Can you compare the effort/time involved between these two mills? Thanks.

    • I’ve noticed that the effort and time used while grinding greatly depends on the size and the quality of the burrs. Over time as the burrs wear out both those factors are affected. You need to look at buying a mill like an investment. Check the manufacturer specs on the burrs (The true sizes) the types of material and how long they reportedly last. Does the company offer a warranty that covers the burr replacement? If so how long out?

      Do you need to buy different burrs for fine and coarse grinding? Different augers? When you change those out; are there tiny parts to lose that you will need to stock up on? All these will add to the overall cost and quality of your mill and have an affect on the effort/time needed to grind fine bread flour.

      The Wonder mill jr is a great starter mill for people just dabbling or who aren’t sure about getting into the home milling game. It’s affordable and it works well for the price. Out of the two you mentioned I would go for the Country Living as it’s one of my Serious Mills but after the updates and requests made to the GM company from people like me I bought a GrainMaker No.116 when it came out in a Christmas on sale. This is a large one on Diamant scale but large families use the smaller GM No.99 without problem.

      Many people actually start with the CL then trade up for a GM. I bit the bullet early on and the customer service is outstanding. I won’t lie and say I am an impartial person. I own a GM and I love it. Truly it’s the quality of the burrs, lack of tiny keys and the included augers that got me. I lose everything and I wouldn’t be able to keep track of the keys that hold the augers in place. I grind tons of coffee with the Grain Break Auger and it’s a simple switch back to the coil. The burrs last indefinitely with proper care and normal use. If they do need replaced I call and then send me new ones. (which I’ve never had to do.) The CL is a good mill and I believe is is one of the more serious mills on the market. The pros for the GrainMaker just won out on me.

      I hope I didn’t overwhelm you and that I answered your question. I apologize for the delay in response.

      I plan on posting a review on the Model No. 116 soon as I have time.