My Top 5 Favorite Tools for Milling Fresh Flour at Home

This post contains affiliate links. Please read our disclosure HERE.

Here are my top 5 favorite tools for milling fresh flour. I’ve been milling my own flour, and over the past 25+ years. I’ve discovered tools that make this process both simple and satisfying.

I’m excited to share these 5 tools for milling fresh flour with you and why I love using them in my kitchen.

A visually identical collage to the first image, titled “Top 5 Home Milling Tools,” but with a green and tan background instead of brown. It also features the same five numbered kitchen tools used in home flour milling: a Mockmill grain mill, Ankarsrum mixer, pink KitchenAid mixer, sifter with bowls, and a black bread maker. The website “www.themoderndaycottage.com” is displayed at the bottom.

Incorporating freshly milled flour into your kitchen routine can be both simple and deeply rewarding.I hope this post gives you practical advice on tools and inspiration to begin wherever you are.

Using fresh milled flour changes everything. You start connecting with ingredients while learning new skills that truly enrich your baking experience.

With the right grain mill and a few trusted tools, home milling quickly becomes a natural part of your kitchen flow.

A Mockmill Professional 200 grain mill and a WonderMill electric grain mill side-by-side on a kitchen counter, showing options for milling flour at home.

In my cottage kitchen, grinding wheat at home happens almost daily using hard white wheat, soft white wheat, and ancient grains.

The flavor and texture difference between store-bought flour and fresh ground flour is incredible. This is especially true when enjoyed with a warm, buttery slice of freshly baked whole wheat bread. You don’t need fancy tools to begin.

Even a high-speed blender(Vitamix) or a coffee grinder can work with dry grains. Every tool I’ve used over the years has helped build my confidence in making whole wheat flour in my home.

They also made it easier to master the milling process. After 25 years of baking with home-milled flour, I’ve learned what truly works in my own kitchen.

In this post, I’ll share my TOP five favorite tools for milling fresh flour at home. They help me turn wheat berries into flaky pastries and nourishing loaves.

The Mockmill

This beauty is the Mockmill grain mill Professional 200 Series—a wooden cased stone burr mill that proudly sits on my cottage kitchen counter.

Unlike the Mockmill 100, Mockmill 200, or Lino series, this model includes a powerful motor. It also has a cooling system for continuous milling.

A wooden Mockmill 200 grain mill sits on a dark counter with a clear glass jar labeled “HARD WHITE” beside it. The mill is flanked by a bouquet of roses and copper kitchenware in the background.

Its 600-watt motor grinds from fine flour to coarser textures at 200 grams per minute. This makes it the best grain mill for my everyday use.The 2.8-pound hopper works perfectly for large quantities of grain.

The stone burrs are ideal for milling both soft, hard wheat and so many more whole grains. The durable wooden housing beautifully complements my cozy cottage kitchen aesthetic. Its compact size and 20.7-pound build make it sturdy and reliable. The 12-year warranty gives me peace of mind.

Why I love it: It doesn’t need any attachments and adds warmth and coziness to my kitchen with its classic wooden design. It’s durability is also a plus.

The WonderMill

The WonderMill an electric mill.

This mill is one of the most reliable and powerful impact mills available today, with a 1250-watt motor. It grinds up to 100 pounds of flour per hour without overheating, maintaining the nutritional value of your whole-grain flour.

Electric grain mill branded “WonderMill” sits on a marble countertop next to a square glass jar labeled “HARD WHITE.” Copper measuring cups hang in the background, emphasizing a well-equipped kitchen.

Its stainless steel milling heads handle hard red wheat, durum wheat, rice flour, legumes, and more, including gluten-free grains.

This flour mill processes 24 ounces per minute, with a 3-pound hopper capacity, and it’s compact enough for smaller spaces. I’ve never had clogging issues to date.

It self-cleans and comes with a lifetime warranty and optional accessories like a flour bagger. This was my very first mill, back when it was called the Whispermill.

Top view of the WonderMill grain mill loaded with wheat berries, with a jar of whole grains and a wooden scoop nearby.

I gave my original to a 4H leader with 10 homeschooled kids, and I upgraded to the WonderMill. It has remained a durable workhorse. It also has a manual version—the Wonder Junior Deluxe. This manual version is great for off-grid situations, emergencies, or if you’re avoiding extra energy use.

Why I love it: It mills quickly, handles so much flour, and is my go-to backup for batch baking or bread recipes.

Manual + Electric Sifters

While freshly milled flour is hearty, I often prefer a lighter texture, especially for bread flour, cakes, and pastries.

Two fine mesh stainless steel sieves propped up on a kitchen counter, with copper pots and wicker baskets in the background.

I alternate between using a fine mesh sieve (manual) and an electric sifter, depending the size of the batch of flour I am sifting.

The manual method is my favorite for small batches. It brings back vivid memories of my grandmother, gently tapping the stainless steel drum, as flour softly falls through like powdered snow.

Person in a green dress manually sifting freshly milled flour over a glass bowl using a round stainless steel sieve.

I use both #40 and #60 sieves to get the finer grind I want. This is especially needed for all purpose flour using the #40 sieve or for cake flour using the #60 sieve.

A stainless steel electric flour sifter labeled “Electric shaker” with an instruction manual nearby, set up on a marble board in a cozy kitchen.

For larger batches, my electric sifter makes the job quicker and smoother, especially when testing different grains. I have the #40 and #60 sieve for my electric sifter as well. Those are my go to sizes for all my sifting flour needs.

Person holding a handful of wheat bran separated from freshly ground flour after sifting, with a sieve and bowl below.

The sifted-out outer layer (bran) goes in an airtight container in the freezer to save for muffins or sourdough. Sometimes I re-mill the bran in my Mockmill stone mill and re-sift to get more flour.

I’ll share more posts on converting recipes and sifting techniques very soon!

Why I love them: They give me total control over texture. Whether I’m gently sifting or flying through large flour batches, they are essential tools.

Ankarsrum + KitchenAid Mixer

I started my mixer journey with the KitchenAid Tilt-Head, which worked for a while but struggled with dense whole wheat flour dough. I eventually upgraded to the KitchenAid Mixer with a 575-watt motor and a 7-quart stainless steel bowl.

Pink KitchenAid Professional HD stand mixer with a stainless steel bowl on a kitchen counter, ready for mixing fresh dough.

This KitchenAid holds up better, but mine still needs breaks when mixing home-milled flour.

I follow a two-minutes-on, two-minutes-off rhythm to avoid overheating, especially with hard wheat dough. If you’re looking for a quality mixer, it’s a good choice, especially during Black Friday sales at local retailers or health food stores.

However, this year, my husband gifted us the Ankarsrum Original Mixer—and I quickly fell in love with its capability.

Close-up of the Ankarsrum Original stand mixer with its large stainless steel mixing bowl, placed on a wooden kitchen countertop.

It’s built in Sweden with a 600-watt motor, and the 7.4-quart stainless steel bowl can handle up to 11 pounds of dough. It includes all the essential attachments: roller, scraper, dough hook, beaters, and whisks.

I use it for sourdough bread recipes, freshly milled dough, fresh milled cakes, and even whipping eggs. It produces excellent gluten development and handles whole grain flour with ease.

Although it requires more hands-on attention, it is gentle on dough and ideal for large or small batches. I even made one of our favorite whole wheat recipe the day it arrived.

If you’re new to Ankarsrum, their YouTube Masterclass is a great place to check out thier tutorials and recipes. The Ankarsrum is priced around $749.95 with free shipping, while the KitchenAid runs about $529.99.

My Kitchen Aid is the Matte Dried Rose color if your in the market for a Pink Mixer. I love this color so much! Our front door is even painted pink. Pink is my favorite color!

The Ank my husband purchased is light cream. *UPDATE* PS: I just got an email that the Ank is now in PINK!!! Oh, how I am so, so disappointed and excited all at the same time. I had emailed them for the past year asking if Pink would be back into production and I was told it would not be. Now you, my dear cottage friends, can get a PINK version!!

Oh well, at least I was fortunate to be able to purchase one of these quality mixers. I could have bigger problems to worry about, so I’ll share the great news with you if you’re in the market for a Pink ANK mixer. Both have their place in my kitchen. * Ruby Ann loves our pink KitchenAid for batch baking days, while I choose to use the Ankarsrum, learning all I can.

Why I love them: The Ankarsrum offers powerful, quiet mixing with superb gluten development and a generous capacity for large quantities of grain-based dough. The KitchenAid brings familiarity, flexibility, and a dependable motor—just take it slow and give it breaks when needed.

The Bread Machine

Before I could afford a premium stand mixer, I started with a humble bread machine I bought on a budget. I found several brand-new, dented models at a return outlet for $10–$15 each and stocked up on four.

Those trusty machines helped me make whole wheat bread loaves for family and friends for years. Bread machines are excellent for those needing hands-free mixing, including home bakers with arthritis or limited mobility.

A black Elite Gourmet bread machine sits on a kitchen table next to a freshly baked loaf of bread and wheat stalks, with a cozy kitchen scene in the background.

They’re also great for busy homemakers or businesswomen needing a quick start with their own flour. I still keep THIS one in our pantry storage room and use it during busy seasons here at The Modern Day Cottage.

On hectic days, I load the bread machine with freshly milled flour, water, sourdough starter, or yeast, salt, and any other ingredients needed for my recipe. I set the timer. In 90 minutes, I have dough ready to bake.

Although you can bake inside the machine, I prefer removing the dough and baking it in the oven. This gives me fluffy beautiful loaves using the same amount of flour, compared to one condensed loaf from the machine.

Top-down view of a person holding a loaf of homemade bread next to a black Elite Gourmet bread machine on a lace tablecloth decorated with dried wheat stalks.

Bread machines are a helpful entry into baking with whole grain flour, especially if you’re new to the milling process and baking process.

They help you skip the learning curve while easily milling dry grains like whole wheat berries, brown rice, and many other whole grains into fresh baked breads.

Why I love it: It’s convenient, reliable, and an ideal starting point for anyone easing into breadmaking with freshly milled flour—especially busy people.

A Cottage Kitchen Tradition

These aren’t just tools—they’re part of a cozy, intentional tradition rooted in family and my love for real, healthy food.

Milling your own flour reconnects you to the land, improves the nutritional value, and supports a whole foods lifestyle. These tools for milling fresh flour at home have earned their place in my daily kitchen rhythm. I use them with a variety of types of grains like hard red wheat, durum wheat, and soft white wheat.

A wooden grain mill in action, dispensing flour into a glass mixing bowl. A large jar of wheat grains labeled ‘Hard White Wheat’ sits nearby. Cozy kitchen scene in the background with copper utensils. Text overlay reads: ‘The Beginner’s Guide to Milling Flour at Home’. Website URL at the bottom: www.themoderndaycottage.com.

If you’re just getting started, you’ll love my Beginner’s Guide to Milling Fresh Flour at Home. It’s packed with everything I wish I knew when I first began.

A hand holding a scoop of hard white wheat berries over a large glass jar, with text overlay reading “Whole Grains to Use for Milling Flour at Home” and website URL www.themoderndaycottage.com at the bottom.

You can also read more about What Whole Grains to Use for Milling Flour at Home, which breaks down the types of wheat and why I choose different ones for different recipes.

Pinterest graphic titled “Easy Tips Storing Wheat Berries” featuring two large white food storage buckets labeled Hard Red Wheat and Hard White Wheat on a kitchen counter. In front of the buckets is a bowl of wheat berries with a wooden scoop and a bundle of wheat stalks. The website URL “www.themoderndaycottage.com” is displayed at the bottom.

And if you’re thinking ahead to building a bulk pantry or keeping your grains fresh, don’t miss my full guide: Easy Tips for Storing Wheat Berries: Long and Short Term. I share everything I use and how I store over 300 lbs of wheat at a time in my cottage kitchen.

To dive even deeper into the why behind whole grains, I recommend exploring the Bread Beckers site. Sue, the founder, has a background in food science and offers helpful nutritional insights—plus she wrote one of my favorite go-to books: The Essential Home Ground Flour Book.

A flat lay photo showing the process of whole wheat bread making, displayed on a lace tablecloth. At the top is a loaf of whole wheat sourdough bread on a pink-striped cloth. Below it are two floral china bowls: one with milled whole wheat flour and the other with hard white wheat berries. Wheat stalks are artistically arranged around the items. Each component is labeled in vintage-style text.

Every tool adds something special to my baking—from producing a finer grind to helping me prepare flour with longer shelf life.

Choosing the best grain mill, storing your flour in an airtight container, and sourcing from places like Azure Standard or health food stores can all simplify your journey.

Whether you’re exploring different grains, learning about protein content, or comparing stone burrs to impact mills, each step builds your confidence.

I’ll also be sharing posts soon on converting recipes, sourcing the right grains, and baking sourdough with freshly milled flour.

My Top 5 Tools for Milling Fresh Flour at Home

01. Mockmill Professional 200 – A powerful, stone-burr grain mill that gives me fine-to-coarse flour with ease and elegance.
02. WonderMill Electric Mill – My reliable backup for high-volume milling with a compact design and impressive power.
03. Manual + Electric Sifters – For creating lighter flour textures—my go-to sifters for cakes, pastries, and everyday bread flour.
04. Ankarsrum + KitchenAid Mixers – Two mixers, each with a special role in handling home-milled dough (and yes, I still use both!).
05. Bread Machine – A beloved classic in my kitchen for hands-free dough-making during busy or batch-baking seasons.

Close-up of a woman in a peach blouse smiling and leaning against a kitchen counter, with fresh flour and wheat berries visible beside her.

A Little Bit About Me

Hi, I’m Emily Rider—a cottage living lifestyle enthusiast who finds deep joy in slow, intentional living.

I’ve been milling my own flour and baking sourdough and fresh-milled recipes for over 25 years.

Through The Modern Day Cottage, I share the tools, techniques, and time-tested tips that have shaped my own baking journey—so you can build your own from-scratch rhythm, right where you are.

Whether it’s a nourishing loaf, a flaky pastry, or your very first sourdough starter, I hope to help you fall in love with the process, too.

When I’m not baking, you’ll find me tending our cottage garden, gathering rainbow eggs from our sweet heritage hens, sewing, crafting, homeschooling Ruby Ann, and doing my best to keep our home warm and inviting.

Disclaimer: I am not a certified nutritionist, dietitian, or medical professional. The content in this blog post is based on personal experience, independent research, and 25+ years of hands-on practice in my home kitchen. It is intended for informational and inspirational purposes only and should not be taken as medical or nutritional advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider or nutrition expert before making changes to your diet,especially if you have existing health conditions or specific dietary needs.