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Review: Sana Grain Mill

This user-friendly countertop stone mill makes creating your own additive-free specialty flours a piece of cake.
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Front view of the Sana Grain Mill a wooden device with a bowl on top and wooden spout between a picture of mini loaves...
Photograph: Tyler Shane; Getty Images
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Rating:

8/10

WIRED
Built to last with a simple design. Compact size for kitchen counters. Grinds quickly. Results in finely ground flour comparable to store-bought brands.
TIRED
Not super quiet. Pricey. Size is only practical for home use.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t originally looking to grind my own flour. As a culinary school graduate and former chocolatier, I’m a big fan of homesteading and taking the middleman out of my food source, but milling my own baking flour from grain seemed too intimidating. That is, until I stumbled upon the Sana Grain Mill.

The Sana mill removed the intimidation factor completely. To operate, all you have to do is find your ideal grind setting, pour the grain into the mill’s hopper, flip the “on” switch, et voilà—the Sana’s millstones grind the grain into fresh flour that pours out of a spout. This machine is easy, a great size, has a sleek design, and resulted in beautiful finely ground flour that delivered unparalleled flavor in my baked goods. It’ll be difficult to go back to the bags of bleached Gold Medal or even the slightly more elevated Bob’s Red Mill. Oh God, am I becoming a flour snob? If so, I’m not ashamed. The flavor of the snickerdoodle cookies and pumpkin bread mini-loaves I baked with the Sana’s freshly milled flour are worth it.

Photograph: Tyler Shane

Daily Grind

The Sana can grind down many dry grains in textures from fine to coarse, but the biggest draw, certainly, is its ability to produce flour.

I may not have set out to grind flour, but I was aware of stone-ground flour's benefits, as artisanal stone-milled flour company Marion Milling is located here in Kansas City, Missouri, where I live. It has been massively impactful in our city’s restaurant scene, with many local bakeries and chefs using it in their kitchens.

Photograph: Tyler Shane

In my interview with Marion Milling owner Will Berndt for Kansas City Magazine, he explained that stone mills, like the Sana Grain Mill, are able to grind almost the entire wheat berry, including the nutrient-dense bran and germ. Most high-commodity flours you find in the grocery store use roller mills that can only grind down the wheat’s starchy endosperm, therefore lacking the other nutritious components. These extra components in stone-milled flour are why you’ll immediately notice a difference in flavor—another reason why chefs love it.

Grinding your own grains also has health benefits. Those with gluten intolerances may find fresh stone-milled flour to be easier on their stomachs, because it doesn’t involve the additives or preservatives that many commercial brands use. The extra nutrients also include enzymes that make it easier to digest.

Plus, there’s the added convenience of choice. With the Sana Grain Mill, you can choose your own grains to mill—even gluten-free ones like quinoa, buckwheat, and millet—and create your own blends.

Get Cooking

Photograph: Tyler Shane
Photograph: Tyler Shane

While testing, I made a standard all-purpose flour from a 50-50 mix of hard and soft white wheat berries that I bought from Amazon. I made sure to bake with recipes I use often—snickerdoodle cookies and pumpkin bread mini loaves—so I could easily tell the difference in flavor and texture.

The Sana Grain Mill is compact, measuring about 6.5 inches in length and width. The height is about 13.5 inches. The convenient size makes it not too intrusive while hanging out on your countertop but also easy to store. The design is simple, with a rectangular base containing the two millstones, a bowl-shaped hopper on top to pour your grain into, and a spout that is elevated enough to dispense into large bowls. The beechwood body has a clean aesthetic that would fit well into many kitchens. It’s sturdy, and the quality is undeniable.

Photograph: Tyler Shane

The hopper can comfortably hold a little more than 800 grams, so I weighed 400 grams of each wheat berry. (Check out my guide to the Best Kitchen Scales—this is another great reason to invest in one.)

The two 85-mm millstones are made of ceramic and corundum, an oxide mineral. These millstones have an extremely rough surface that can grind not only grains but also dried corn, beans, and lentils. For my all-purpose flour, I put the mill at its finest grind setting (just turn the mill clockwise until you hear the millstones touch). Thanks to the mill’s 360-watt motor, within five minutes I had about 6.5 cups of freshly milled wheat flour.

The mill isn’t nearly as loud as I expected it to be, but it's still loud—putting the lid on the grain hopper helps muffle the noise.

The Proof Is in the Pudding

My all-purpose flour blend was a success, with the Sana turning out a finely ground flour comparable to any store-bought brand I’ve used. The grind may be slightly less fine in comparison to commercialized flours (throughout the flour were tiny specks from the wheat berries), but I was extremely happy with the results. The flour had that familiar powdery fluffiness I’m used to.

Video: Tyler Shane

In both my cookies and mini bread loaves, the fresh flour acted the same as any commercial brand. Both had great and familiar textures, which I was particularly happy with. Depending on your recipe, it may require some tweaking to adjust to freshly milled flour’s structural makeup, which includes the wheat berry’s bran and germ.

The biggest difference I noticed while using fresh flour in my baked goods was the flavor. The cookies and loaves had another depth of flavor to them. They were almost nutty and certainly wheatier. Both were delicious and elevated by the freshly milled flour. (Amid a recent snowstorm, my husband and I demolished the two dozen snickerdoodles I made in just a couple of days.)

I have yet to grind any coarse grains, but I have no doubt in the Sana’s abilities to do so. The price of the Sana is steep, but it's a workhorse piece of equipment that yields great results quickly.

As for cleanup, it’s simple: Just unscrew the hopper and brush off the stones from time to time, or run some rice through it. In terms of the Sana’s longevity, the millstones should hardly wear down at all after years of use, as they are practically indestructible.