Grinding your own flour at home is both exciting and empowering, plus it takes baked goodies to the next level in freshness, flavor and nutrition.

Home flour mills are not inexpensive and take up valuable real estate in your kitchen, so do some homework before you buy. Hand-powered mills are available for small-batch grinding, such as the red metal GrainMaker Model No. 35, made in Montana, for $350 at grainmaker.com.

For less effort, electric home mills are another option. According to Breadtopia.com, the gold standard in electric home mills for its quality, dependability and ease of use is the KoMo Classic Mill made in Germany by Wolfgang Mock. This pricey model runs about $500, but other options in electric mills are considerably less expensive, such as grain mill attachments for stand mixers that can be found on sale for just over $100.

To get a good idea of how grain mills work and valuable insight into which model is right for your budget and lifestyle, watch Breadtopia’s tutorial videos online.

A warning about home mills: they are super popular and some are out of stock. There are wait lists with estimated deliveries anywhere from one month out to who knows when. Home mills are not commonly found in stores, so focus online.

Here are categories and comparisons of electric mills, from breadtopia.com unless noted:

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Jennifer Rude Klett is a Wisconsin freelance writer of history, food, and Midwestern life. Contact her at jrudeklett.com.