# GrainMaker brand mill



## timfromohio (Jun 19, 2007)

Does anybody have any experience with the GrainMaker brand grain mill? I was looking at the Country Living Grain Mill, which lots of folks on this forum seem to like, but then found the GrainMaker. They are both priced about the same - I'm wondering if one offers an advantage over the other?

Thanks for any thoughts/opinions.

http://www.grainmaker.com/


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

I think it looks great !


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## timfromohio (Jun 19, 2007)

I thought it looked pretty stud-bolt, but so does the Country Living Mill. I emailed the company that makes the GrainMaker and asked if there were any appreciable differences between the two. I'll also have to find out where the Country Living Mill is made. If it's made overseas, that would be the clincher for me.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I am interested to hear what you find , i looked at the grainmaker a few months ago and saw a post here about them at that time but no use info came of it , i really like to hear from users that is a lot of money for me to shell out to find out i got the wrong one 

i have also toyed with the idea of putting all my grains for a loaf like oats, wheat and flax . then grinding it all together , i know flax can somtimes be to oily for some mills 

such a shame i can't go to a store that sells them and test a few and really get a feel for which one i like


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## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

I posted the same question a few months ago. I have had other things pop up to take my money since then so have not been able to get my grain mill. I really liked to Grain Maker over the other one. Search this forum for Grain Maker and that thread should pop up. There was a compairison chart posted that may be of some interest.
Trisha


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## timfromohio (Jun 19, 2007)

Thanks for input - I tried one search and didn't find anything, but probably mis-spelled something! I'll try again. 

I agree with everybody - it's a lot of money, but I figure if we're getting one, we'll get a really good one and it will be a lifetime purchase. So, we want to get the best one possible. I envision ordering one of the two in the coming weeks and will post anything I hear from the GrainMaker company as well as our own experiences.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

http://www.homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=335267&highlight=grainmaker

this is the link to the previose thread about grain maker see post #9 i followed the links to both reviews the first the guy thought it was sturdy but when used he thought it to difficult to crank 

the second didn't really seem like they had used it much yet if at all , and further posters on that thread seemed to think it was ok when the auger was removed for wheat.

post 11 on the ht thread is my wife idigpotatoes talking about kitchen aid mixers i though i saw where somone was thinking about one.


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## timfromohio (Jun 19, 2007)

How's this for timing - I just got an email from the GrainMaker folks. Here's what they said:

Thank you very much for your interest in our GrainMaker grain mill.



I would be happy to let you know of the advantages of our mill over the competition.



Our GrainMaker grain mill comes complete with everything you need. This includes:

Â· Stainless Steel GrainBreaker Auger for doing everything from small grains, to large grains, oily seeds, coffee beans and nuts

Â· Coil Auger

Â· Extended Handle for added leverage

Â· Our mill body is steel, not aluminum

Â· Our Burrs are our own exclusive design that allow for dry and oily media to be ground

Â· No small parts to loose when changing out augers

Â· No tools necessary for easy disassembly of all parts including rear burr



When you add up the accessories for the Country Living mill, it comes to $457.00. Our mill is complete for $425.00. We are so confident that folks will love our mill that we offer a 30 day money back guarantee and EVERYTHING in the mill is lifetime warranted including the burrs!



As far as performance, our mill averages 1 cup of very fine flour per minute, is easily adjustable for fine flour to coarse, to cracked. The GrainBreaker auger is exclusive to our mill. It allows the mill to break the grain, and Country Living does not have this ability. Why is this important you might wonder? Many folks want to grind a variety of grains. They want a mill that is able to make their bread, but they also want grits and chicken feed. Our GrainBreaker auger makes grinding corn, legumes and other media so easy, you don&#8217;t even need the front burr when you want to break the grain. This feature is more comparable to the Diamont grain mill made in Poland that retails for $1299.00. 



We have folks grinding everything from coffee at an open air market in Poland, a community in Hawaii grinding flour for bread baking, folks grinding hawthorn berries and many people grinding wheat for bread, corn for grits and even folks making their own animal feed.


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## timfromohio (Jun 19, 2007)

GreenCountyPete - thanks for posting the thread link. I was leaning towards the GrainMaker, but after reading the review (and comments on that review where people seconded the opinion of the author) I think I'm back to leaning towards the CountryLiving mill. Also, I think I now remember Mr. (AT) Hagan recommending the Country Living mill - his recommendation counts a lot in my mind.


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## jassytoo (May 14, 2003)

timfromohio said:


> I thought it looked pretty stud-bolt, but so does the Country Living Mill. I emailed the company that makes the GrainMaker and asked if there were any appreciable differences between the two. I'll also have to find out where the Country Living Mill is made. If it's made overseas, that would be the clincher for me.


Country Living grain mill is made in Stanwood, Washington.


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## Heritagefarm (Feb 21, 2010)

I was looking at the Diamant. BE-A-T-tiful. But really expensive. (As one person here said, "Got the Lehman's catalog - second mortgage please!") The diamant would last a long time. But the GM is made with steel, which can be welded. The GM is also pretty, but not expensive looking. The Diamant shouts "LOOK HOW MUCH MONEY THESE PEOPLE HAVE!!" As for the CL mill, it's just too cheap looking for my liking. Today we are going to get some wheat and put it in the vitamix, see if it can make flour. For those of you looking at the bosch for 1500$, if ours can make flour that's only 520$ to spend on the vitamix, which I believe is made in usa. 
My choice, regardless of how hard to turn, is the GM. Because it is pretty and has a lifetime warranty, and is handmade - in the US!


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## Heritagefarm (Feb 21, 2010)

Just thought I'd let you all know, the vitamix made wonderful flour.


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## two_barking_dogs (Sep 17, 2002)

There is currently a thread ongoing in the forums at AR15.com under outdoors and either food or survival. About a week old now. I'm at work so can't visit or link to an evil gun site. Anyways he has pictures and such in his AAR. 

I have a CSBell as my handcranked mill and the grainmaker looks good. Big handcrank pully wheel which is a plus IMO


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## Heritagefarm (Feb 21, 2010)

I don't understand the connection between guns and the grain mill.


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## Cyngbaeld (May 20, 2004)

I just got a VitalMill from Pleasant Hill Grains for $129 (free shipping) that is doing a very nice job. It is electric. I've had a Wonder Mill for 10 yrs, but needed an additional electric for daughter's grains (she has celiac). I also have a wonder jr, which is hand crank and it is more of a work out than I need.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

my country living mill shipped yesterday , i ordered it monday factory direct, I had heard nothing bad about the country living , and i just couldn't afford to take a chance on the grain maker 

i baught 50# of "chemical free" hard red wheat for 22.00 it had been marked 27 but the wife went in and they recognized her and the owners wife was in the store said the price was 22 so super deal for me , it is montana wheat 2009. hopfully ups wil have it here by wednesday


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## timfromohio (Jun 19, 2007)

Greencountypete - While the GrainMaker brand looks good, I'm leaning towards the Country Living mill since it's been out there a lot longer and has a very good reputation. I think you made a good decision and look forward to some periodic updates so you can let us all know how you like the mill.


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## two_barking_dogs (Sep 17, 2002)

Heritagefarm said:


> I don't understand the connection between guns and the grain mill.


What - People who like guns don't think about or plan for survival? 

Ar15.com has about the largest Survival and Preparedness forum on the web getting about 50 new messages, not replies to messages, per day just on this 1 topic. Yes some survival messages are gun related but most deal with food, equipment or the state of things and what-if's. In the food forum there are lots of messages on howto's on cooking, gardening or raising animals. 

The post I was refering to was from a member who had recently bought the GrainMaker brand of grainmill refered to by the OP of this post. The user had posted pictures of it in both its virgin packaged state and in use. Overall he liked it although he recognized the shortcomings of a manual mill for everyday use.

There are a lot of good AAR's over at AR15.com from people who prepare. But stay away if the evil black rifle talk scares you off.


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## ET1 SS (Oct 22, 2005)

two_barking_dogs said:


> ... Ar15.com has about the largest Survival and Preparedness forum on the web ...


I was not familiar with ar15.com, so I looked:

AR15.com has 2,422,274 threads, with 35,209,224 Posts and 238,519 members

HT has 196,410 threads, with 2,506,852 posts, and Members: 22,201.

AR15.com has 12 times more threads, 15 times more posts, and 10 times more members; than HT does.

And both discuss survival topics.


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## Heritagefarm (Feb 21, 2010)

two_barking_dogs said:


> What - People who like guns don't think about or plan for survival?
> 
> Ar15.com has about the largest Survival and Preparedness forum on the web getting about 50 new messages, not replies to messages, per day just on this 1 topic. Yes some survival messages are gun related but most deal with food, equipment or the state of things and what-if's. In the food forum there are lots of messages on howto's on cooking, gardening or raising animals.
> 
> There are a lot of good AAR's over at AR15.com from people who prepare. But stay away if the evil black rifle talk scares you off.


Sorry. I was unaware that this gun forum had a survival and self-sufficiency subforum. And I did in no way say I didn't like gun talk, I was merely stating that I didn't understand the connection between the mill and a gun forum.


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## two_barking_dogs (Sep 17, 2002)

I know this topic is getting stale but I'm not at work today and a 2'nd grainmaker mill topic post appeared at ar15.com so I figured I'd come over here and post links


http://www.ar15.com/lite/topic.html?b=10&f=19&t=634190


http://www.ar15.com/lite/topic.html?b=10&f=19&t=633189

Enjoy


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## timfromohio (Jun 19, 2007)

hey - thanks for posting the links to the reviews. As an aside, it's hilarious that the guy posted pics of his mill with gun safes and pistolas in the background. In all seriousness and joking aside, these are the kinds of people I want for neighbors.


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## Trisha in WA (Sep 28, 2005)

timfromohio said:


> hey - thanks for posting the links to the reviews. As an aside, it's hilarious that the guy posted pics of his mill with gun safes and pistolas in the background. In all seriousness and joking aside, these are the kinds of people I want for neighbors.


Me too!


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## Heritagefarm (Feb 21, 2010)

Hey TBDs, could you, so I don't have to get an account I'll never use, ask them how well it turns? Because one review was that it was very hard to turn.


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## meddac (Nov 21, 2008)

A not so great review of the grainmaker. http://www.grainmillcomparison.com/2009/05/grainmaker-review.html


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

It doesn't look like the reviewer liked ANY of the grain mills he tested. :shrug:


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

the only proper way to measure the needed energy to turn the crank would be in foot pounds or inch pounds applied , if you took a torch wrench and turned the bolt on the handle causing the hole crank to turn then see what the dial sais as your turning it , yes different grinds would be different so a fine, meduin and coarse grinds should be measured 

i wish more companies woudl give meaning full data for thier products. the same for reviews.


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## Heritagefarm (Feb 21, 2010)

meddac said:


> A not so great review of the grainmaker. http://www.grainmillcomparison.com/2009/05/grainmaker-review.html


I found it rather extensive...
@manygoats: Well, he definitely disliked the Grainmaker. From waht he said, though, the Daimant is the best, but the most costly.


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## two_barking_dogs (Sep 17, 2002)

timfromohio said:


> hey - thanks for posting the links to the reviews. As an aside, it's hilarious that the guy posted pics of his mill with gun safes and pistolas in the background. In all seriousness and joking aside, these are the kinds of people I want for neighbors.


It is a gun site so its almost required that if you post a picture of something, say puppies, you drop a gun into at least one of the pictures. Its become an inside joke. 

Heritagefarm - I'm at work today and thus evil gun sites are blocked but I can ask them how it is to crank. But since you've mentioned that one link mentioned that it was hard to crank my guess that that is the answer. 

Everyone I know who have manual cranked mills, myself included, find them a pain in the ----- to crank. I ended up buying a retsel for flour and only use my csbell to crack grain for the chickens. Keeping the plates loose makes cranking easy but then its not producing flour either.

Most people I know do the same and buy some type of motorized setup for flour and keep the cranking for TSHTF. Whats nice about these big handcranks is that they can also be motorized by adding a v-belt on the pullywheel. I have a couple of old maytag hit-&-miss motors around to motorize my bell if the need arises. The Grainmaker looks perfect for this. Countryliving, Bells and Daimant also allow this dual power mode. I set mine up by pully size to give me 100 rpms when its running on the motor. Something I hope to never have to do if you get my meaning.


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## two_barking_dogs (Sep 17, 2002)

Update dated yesterday to 1 of the 2 threads I posted, 634190. He talks about grinding grain to flour and say this

as promised just one pic of flour goodness, we took a full #10 can of HRWW and about 25 min later simply due to playing with it, complete, useable flour from ONE pass, the wife unit says its GTG, there is a bit of resistance to power it at that fine of a grind but its not unbearable by any means, this thing delivers ! I am very impressed, 

Hope this helps


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