Grinder Noise Comparison Here's a chance to hear what each of the grinders sounds like. Depending on how your browser is configured, if the four sound files aren't loading already, click on each of the sound icons below to load them, then after they are loaded you can repeatedly click on the different icons to make a noise comparison between the different grinders. Both the sound and the volume of the following sound files were controlled to give you a better feeling for what they are each like. K-Tec Kitchen Mill Golden Grain Grinder Whisper Mill

Electric Grinder Specifications Table Golden Grain Whisper Grinder K-Tec Mill Type Burr/Stone Impact Impact Flour Fineness1 9 9 9 Grinding Speed2 26 sec 45 sec 51 sec Noise Generated3 -1 db Baseline -21 db Dimensions4... Gndr Can5 High 15.5 11.5 12.5 7.5 Long 17.5 10 Wide 10 8.25 Diameter 9 9 Hopper Size 7 cups 3 cups 6 cups Flour Bin Size 28 cups 15 cups 12 cups Weight 51 lbs 8 lbs 15 lbs Cost $400.00 $199.00 $199.95 Notes: 1. Flour fineness numbers use the criteria established at http://waltonfeed.com/self/grind4.html. 2. Number of seconds required to grind one cup of flour with the grinder set at it’s finest setting. 3. Noise Volume: I took the loudest grinder, the K-Tec, and used it as the comparison grinder. Then, the other grinders were tested to see how much quieter they were in decibels than the K-Tec. For those of you not really familiar with decibels, a drop of 3 decibels cuts the noise in half, but interestingly enough, to our ears makes only just a perceptible drop in volume. A six decibel drop is noticeable but not overly so. Note the Whisper Mill, down 21 db, is 7 times more quiet than the K-Tec. This is a very noticeable difference. The Golden Grain Grinder, as far as volume goes, is just as loud as the K-Tec even though it has a low pitched growl instead of the K-Tec’s high pitched whine. So, how loud is the K-Tec? It can generally be heard throughout the average house but is not so loud that you have to shout to be heard if you are standing right next to it. I estimate that it puts out between 70 and 80 decibels of noise. 4. The physical dimensions of the grinder. 5. Gndr=Whisper Mill Grinder; Can=Whisper Mill flour catch Canister

Individual Grinder Comments

Golden Grain Grinder
        This is our most expensive grinder, and in many ways the very best electric grinder you can get anywhere. Among it's unique features, this grinder can be turned manually. You do this by connecting an included handle to the shaft of the motor on the back side of the grinder. It grinds very slowly in the manual mode, but it does grind. Electrically, it’s also the fastest grinder we carry, grinding nearly twice as fast as the two impact grinders. This is also our most durable grinder. Even though it only has a 5 year warranty, this grinder is more durable than the impact grinders and only rarely breaks down even after many years of operation. I personally know of several people who have owned this grinder for 30+ years, use them all the time, and have never had a bit of trouble with them. Even though these grinders are now old, their owners wouldn’t trade them for anything.
        This is our only electric grinder which has a wide range of grinder fineness settings. With just the twist of a wand you can set it to just crack the seed open. From that point you can adjust it all the way down to where the grinder produces a very fine flour.
        This grinder’s stones are made from aluminum oxide and are extremely hard. Under proper use the stones should last more than one lifetime. Toward the center of each of the stones is a metal burr insert, the reason this is called a burr/stone grinder. The burr insert begins the grinding process by making a coarse grind and the stones finish the job by turning this into a fine flour. Because this is a stone grinder, it won’t grind oily seeds such as flax, sesame seed or soybeans. These foods gum up the pores in the stones. There is a way around this if you are planning on mixing these ingredients later into freshly ground whole wheat flour. Instead, mix the oily seeds together with the wheat berries then grind them together. This works just fine.
        The Golden Grain Grinder is the heaviest grinder we have, weighing in at 51 pounds, and will cost more money to ship than other electric grinders. It’s weight also will encourage you to find a place to put it and leave it there. I’ve seen them on the kitchen counter, in the pantry, even in the garage. Wherever you decide to put it, the attractive wood finish will let this grinder feel at home in the fanciest of your kitchens.

Impact Grinders...
        These are very good, efficient little grinders and have a couple of really big advantages: They grind relatively fast, are small, light weight and produce a very fine flour. They operate at break-neck speed - turning at 28,000 RPM. These grinders don’t grind the grain between two surfaces like a stone or burr grinder does. Rather, they have tiny, little, rather dull, short interlocking blades or teeth traveling at about 250 miles per hour. These teeth hit the grain kernels so hard the kernel literally bursts into a fine powder. If you don’t have the space on your counter top for a Golden Grain Grinder, maybe an impact grinder is for you as you can store them in the cupboard when you are done with them. They also only cost about 60% of what the Golden Grain Grinder sells for.
        Impact grinders have a couple of negative points. You must have electricity to operate them and no matter how coarse you set the control knob, you get a relatively fine flour. The latter draw back will be no problem for most people, but will be a definite negative if you ever want cracked wheat for cereal or the chickens.
        In this comparison study there are two impact grinders, the K-Tec Kitchen Mill and the Grain Master Whisper Mill. They both grind very similarly but there are also some really big differences between them.

K-Tec Kitchen Mill         Me, I like the K-Tec because of it’s size. When you're finished with it you can pick it up with one hand and put it in the cupboard. If you don’t have 11 1/2 inches of shelf clearance, you can turn the grinder housing upside down and sit it inside the grinder’s flour bin making it only 8 inches high.         Yes, the K-Tec is the noisiest grinder in the study. But I haven't found it so loud the noise must be consciously endured. I'm sure this will not be the case with everyone depending on your noise tolerance level...

Whisper Mill
        ...That noise is exactly the point the Whisper Mill capitalizes on, being by far the most quiet grinder in the study. The Whisper Mill is physically larger than the K-Tec although it grinds about the same. Most of this space is taken up in sound baffling which really does it’s job. The Whisper Mill has an external flour catching bin with it’s own lid, should you choose to use it as your flour storage bin. If not, it’s just another part of the mill that takes up space when you need to put it away. The grinder itself, being 12 1/2 inches tall, makes it a bit cumbersome for storing in a cupboard. However, if your kitchen shelves are anything like ours, you can still find lots of places it will fit.
        Being the terrible tinkerer I am, I’ve taken each of these grinders apart. In my opinion, the Whisper Mill is definitely a better built and designed machine. So, if 'quiet' is important and you have the storage room for it, this is your machine if you don’t mind spending the extra $30 for a grinder that grinds essentially the same as the smaller, less expensive K-Tec.

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Revised: 6 Mar 01