Wonder Junior Deluxe Hand Grain Mill: What It Can Grind

The Wonder Junior Deluxe hand grain mill is unusual because it isn’t limited to grinding wheat and other dry grains. It comes with two different burr sets: stone burrs for dry grains and stainless steel burrs for foods that are oily, wet, or otherwise difficult for a typical grain mill.

That means the same hand-crank mill can make fine wheat flour, cracked grain, cornmeal, nut butter, ground coffee, spices, and even masa from prepared corn.

It also needs no electricity. For anyone storing whole grains as part of a long-term food supply, that alone makes a good manual grain mill worth considering.

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Wonder Junior Deluxe Hand Grain Mill Burrs

Much of the Wonder Junior’s usefulness comes from its two interchangeable 4-inch burr sets. Each is better suited to different foods.

Stone Burrs for Flour and Dry Grains

The stone burrs are meant primarily for dry grains and beans.

They can grind wheat, rye, rice, oats, spelt, barley, buckwheat, corn, lentils, chickpeas, millet, quinoa, and many other dry foods. The grind can be adjusted from coarse cracked grain down to fine flour.

For someone who mainly wants to turn stored wheat berries into flour for bread, these are the burrs that will probably see the most use.

Stainless Steel Burrs for Oily or Wet Foods

The stainless steel burrs greatly expand what the mill can do.

They can grind the same basic dry grains, but they can also handle materials that may clog stone burrs. Examples include coffee beans, flaxseed, nuts, herbs, spices, oily seeds, and some wet foods.

That makes the Wonder Junior considerably more than a wheat mill.

What Can the Wonder Junior Deluxe Grind?

WonderMill lists a surprisingly wide range of foods that the Wonder Junior can grind. Depending on which burr and auger setup you use, the mill can handle foods including:

• Wheat and other cereal grains
• Rice
• Dry corn
• Beans and lentils
• Coffee beans
• Flax and other oily seeds
• Herbs and spices
• Nuts and nut butters
• Cacao nibs
• Masa and wet corn

The manufacturer also lists many less-common grains and seeds.

That’s probably the main reason to consider the Wonder Junior over a simpler hand grain mill. If all you ever expect to grind is wheat, you may not need this much flexibility. But if your stored foods include corn, beans, coffee, nuts, and seeds, the second burr set becomes much more useful.

How Fast Does the Wonder Junior Grind Flour?

WonderMill’s published test says the mill can produce approximately 1¼ cups of fine wheat flour in one minute at about 80 handle turns.

Pleasant Hill Grain gives the same approximate output estimate.

Treat that as a manufacturer performance figure rather than a guarantee. Actual output will depend on the grain, grind setting, and how quickly you comfortably turn the handle.

Fine flour also takes more effort than a coarse grind. That’s true of hand mills in general. You’re supplying the power.

For occasional bread making, that may not matter much. If you expect to grind several pounds of grain at a time, the physical effort becomes a more important consideration.

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The Double Clamp Matters More Than It Sounds

A hand mill needs to stay put while you’re cranking it.

The Wonder Junior uses a two-screw table clamp. Pleasant Hill Grain says it fits surfaces up to 2-1/8 inches thick, with roughly 2-1/2 to 2-3/4 inches of counter overhang required.

That’s worth checking before buying.

A heavy grain mill with good burrs isn’t much fun to use if the mounting surface flexes or the mill walks across the counter. A solid bench or sturdy countertop will make hand grinding easier.

The mill can also be bolted directly to a suitable surface if you want a permanent installation.

Can You Power the Wonder Junior With Something Other Than the Hand Crank?

Yes. Accessories have been available for powering the Wonder Junior with a drill, pulley system, or bicycle arrangement. WonderMill currently lists a drill attachment, motorizing pulley, and bicycle sprocket among the available accessories.

→ Drill Adapter for Wonder Junior Mill
→ Pulley for Wonder Junior Deluxe Mill
→ Bicycle Sprocket Drive for Wonder Junior Mill

That gives you an interesting compromise.

You can normally use powered assistance while still retaining the hand-crank option if electricity isn’t available.

Cleaning the Wonder Junior Deluxe

Dry grain is fairly simple.

Pleasant Hill Grain says cleaning after milling dry grain generally takes only a minute or two. The burrs and milling components can be accessed without a complicated teardown.

Nut butter and other oily or wet foods naturally require more cleanup.

The current Deluxe PLUS package also includes a flour guide intended to direct flour into the bowl rather than onto the counter, along with a cleaning brush.

Why a Hand Grain Mill Makes Sense for Stored Wheat

Whole wheat berries store much better than flour under suitable storage conditions, but stored grain isn’t very useful for bread until you can turn it into flour.

An electric grain mill is faster and easier. During an extended power outage, however, an electric mill becomes another appliance that needs electricity.

A manual mill removes that dependency.

That’s the preparedness argument for the Wonder Junior. You aren’t buying it because turning a crank is easier than pushing a button. You’re buying the ability to make usable flour from stored grain even when normal power isn’t available.

Wonder Junior Deluxe vs. a Basic Hand Grain Mill

The Wonder Junior probably makes the most sense for someone who wants one manual mill to handle several different foods.

Its strongest feature isn’t simply how finely it grinds wheat. It’s the ability to switch between stone and stainless steel burrs and handle materials that many ordinary grain mills can’t.

The tradeoff is cost and size. A basic hand mill may be enough if you only want emergency wheat flour occasionally.

But if you’re storing several kinds of grains, beans, corn, nuts, or seeds, the wider grinding capability becomes much more useful.

The current Wonder Junior Deluxe PLUS also carries a limited lifetime warranty, and replacement parts and accessories remain available from WonderMill dealers.

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