We have been privileged, over the years, to run across small, family run businesses that have exceptional products. Their products are often so far above the standard that there is no comparison to large foreign competitors. This domestic craftmanship reminds us of how America used to be. An America of craftsmen, who were proud of their handmade masterpieces, and willing to stand behind their products.
The pride of American tradesmen can still be seen across America if you are willing to search it out. An individual will pay more cash upfront for these items, but in the larger scheme of things the price is really less over a longer period of time. If you don't have to go through the headache of returning, replacing, upgrading, and downtime, it is well worth the extra pennies at the time of purchase. If you depreciate the initial cost over your lifetime and your children's lifetime, the cost of a well-made product becomes next to nothing.
Can you think of any product that you've bought over the years that had a Lifetime Heirloom Guarantee?
Well, we have just found such a product. We first learned of this product about 10 years ago from a friend who had just bought one. I saved the information all these years, just in case, I might be fortunate enough one day to actually own one.
Somewhere around the beginning of the new year, my wheat grinder bit the dust. Now, I have purchased and used what I thought was a reasonably well made imported brand of grainmill for about 14 years. This mill lasted almost 10 years, before the burrs wore out and were no longer grinding grain. I called the company and asked them about their limited warranty. The company graciously replaced our mill for free due to its failure just before the expiration of their 10-year warranty. I received a brand new mill after waiting 3-4 months. The company informed me the warranty would not be extended on our new replacement mill. The second grain mill literally started to burn up in January 2021 with under four years of use. I was not impressed this go around. My family is larger now than when I first started grinding grain. I use my mill daily, sometimes multiple times a day to grind our grains fresh just before I use them. With a family of nine that is a lot of wheat, oats, rye, and corn, etc.
After some discussion with my husband and looking over the old pamphlet my friend gave me 10 years ago, we decided to purchase the American, Montana made Grainmaker Mill from Bitteroot Tool and Machine in Stevensville, Montana.
I called GrainMaker up and told them my sad story. They were extremely helpful, and answered all our questions. We then got in line for our own GrainMaker Mill. GrainMaker was inundated with orders due to the "pandemic panic" and they were eight weeks out on their machines. So, I got in line, "Good things come to those who wait," right?
That old adage is true! This machine is incredible, and is everything their website and brochures say it is!
GrainMaker mills come in two sizes: the Model 99 which holds six cups of grain in its hopper and the Model 116 which has a hopper capacity of 10 cups of grain.
The mill comes with a hand-operated fly wheel, for non-electric operation. If the power goes out, or you operate off-grid, you can still grind your flour with this mill. It grinds about a cup of wheat per minute with vigorous hand grinding.
Bitteroot Tool and Machine offers different attachments to grind wheat other than by hand. One option, which we chose, is a custom made direct drive motor engineered to attach directly to the grain mill. So, no belts for little fingers to get caught in! It runs at a very slow speed so the nutrients in your grain, are preserved in your flour. The flour is hardly even warm as it comes off the burrs. This motor weighs nearly 40 pounds.
The flywheel pulley that comes with the mill is custom machined with a V-belt slot so it can be attached to alternative power sources such as electric, fossil fuel, or even to a geared bicycle for those who prefer leg exercise to arm power!
As stated above, the larger Model 116, comes with a 10-cup hopper and an adjustable feed control slide. With the attached motor, the GrainMaker mill will grind that in 10 minutes or less.
The burrs are 6-inch burrs, individually machined from hardened, alloy steel, and are held in place with their exclusive click and lock adjustment knob. The awesome thing is, these burrs may be adjusted to produce cracked grains for cereals, or flour that is almost the consistency of cake flour. The injection molded plastic imported mills which I have run across throughout the years cannot do that.
GrainMaker comes with two augers. A coil auger for grinding small grains such as wheat, barely, rye, and rice. The GrainBreaker auger is for corn, legumes, coffee beans, dehydrated foods and even nuts! The larger auger breaks up the larger particles before they reach the burrs. The coils are easy to change out. I can do it by myself now. The first couple of times I wanted an extra set of hands to hold the burrs while I tightened everything down. But now that I know how it works, it can be done single-handedly. So far, I have successfully ground wheat, rye and whole kernel corn through our mill and am very pleased with the results.
This machine is truly made to be an Heirloom. It is 100 percent steel construction. No plastic pieces. I counted the parts one day and there are 10 parts to it. How awesome is that! Simple quality! With all this steel, it is heavy. We bought the Model 116 and it weighs 44 pounds, stands 15.5 inches tall and 11.5 inches wide. You will want to make sure you have a solid counter to bolt this mill to. The mill has four, half inch diameter holes in its base for this purpose. Bitteroot Tool and Machine also sells a clamp to temporarily secure the mill to a solid surface.
Since I use the mill every day I wanted it where I could use it. My other mill sat on the counter. This mill is a bit larger then my other one and significantly heavier. The total weight including the motor is almost 84 lbs. That's more weight than I want to be moving daily, and I wanted to bolt it down in one place so little hands couldn't pull it over.
My husband came up with the idea of building a movable cart, that we could bolt the GrainMaker to, then slide under one of my counters out of the way, but yet be capable of being pulled out at a moment’s notice for use when necessary.
The hand-planed lumber tabletop inset into a black metal frame on casters sets off and displays the mill well, (in my humble opinion)!
Kit hand cut, and filed scalloped edges to plate steel to dress up the front and back of the cart.
He then hand-forged and twisted decorative cross bracing to give it a classy look.
He also made a scalloped, threaded spindle plate on the lower storage shelf that secures the flywheel and handle so it doesn't get misplaced and is always handy in case of a power outage. We put the table on locking castors so it may be rolled around the kitchen and locked in a place out of the way while the mill grinds flour. You may view our online store for more details and options on our rolling table kitchen cart.
All in all, I don't think you will ever find a mill that beats Bitteroot Tool and Machine’s GrainMaker Mill. This is a fabulous machine and well worth the wait. If you are into grinding your own grains, this is all the mill you, or those who may inherit it, will ever need.