A good sized mill for the money
While as noisy as an older Vacuum Cleaner, it does a nice job of grinding up Dehydrated Zuccini slices to the size of a coarse flour. It will grind dried spices quickly, and in the above last 3 images, it turned one pound of Spelt berries to 1 pound of Spelt flour quickly and easily.Unit has the rotary switch/timer but would have been better to have had a momentary push button instead as it works fast and works best by pulsing the motor for 1 or 2 seconds for several times. There is also NO interlock for the cover so it could be turned on without the cover (Do not do this.). The cover should be easy to turn with only slight resistance once the levers are released on the cover. If there are any leaks, you will get a very fine dust coming out(which can resemble smoke when you remove the cover from something that has just been ground.), and those leaks can be addressed by releasing the lever on the affected side (if there is no obstruction under the gasket seal.), and the nut which engages under the ear of the hopper can be rotated Counter Clockwise slightly as you look down at the nut from the Lever end of the lever lock (In use, thiese nuts can turn some as you twist the cover loose, so periodic checking when in use is a good idea.). While you can take a look inside the hopper to check progress without unplugging the unit; as long as the motor has stopped; you can usually tell just by the sounds the unit is making when running, and often feel as well if you happen to hold by the motor frame/body. The Zuccini was probably one of the more difficult food stuffs to grind, but by gently rocking the machine while it is running for a short continuous time after about a half dozen pulses, it usually ground up the light pieces that otherwise get blown to the hopper wall and do not get drawn into the cutting blades/hammers. Stems from dried herbs would do this as well.The Spelt flour began as spelt berries as you can see with the finished flour product. The volume of the flour is about 1 and 1/2 times higher than the unground berries. One pound of any grain is about the most you would want to do; and does not take much time to get to this coarser flour (Perfect for Artisan Breads and Skones.); which again, was achieved quickly by pulsing the grinder with the pulses just long enough to let the motor reach top speed. And again, the sounds changes when the grain has reached the Flour stage.The sifter IS included, but remove it from the hopper BEFORE you apply power the first time. You will also want to give it a quick cleanup to remove any residue from the factory or from shipping before grinding anything.While it takes a bit of care for cleaning as the main hopper is NOT removable for cleaning, it can be cleaned up with a sink sprayer (Unit cannot be immersed.), a sponge, and the included cleaning brush. Best to wrap a paper towel around the body while cleaning it up to keep water from splashing into the unit's motor.