Crushing Grains Without A Mill

[Cortez The Killer]

There isn't any knurling on the pasta maker to pull the grain through

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knurling

Cheers

 

[brettprevans]

marga mill is a pasta grain mill and is around $99 from craftbrewer. cheap alternative to bigger mills. I have a marga and its fine.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Monster mills are also pretty good value ATM at about AUD$150 landed

Cheers

 

[brettprevans]

yeah they are. im actually considering getting one, but the missus would kill me. a march pump and a new mill, and bits and peices for AG setup. i'd be dead.

 

[matti]

monkey,
I recall reading not too long ago that it doesn't work with pasta maker.

The grain needs to be crushed with majority of husks intact for best result.
I have corn mill. I have to crush them at slow speed to try to keep the husk intact.

 

[brettprevans]

I thikning that a monstermill 3 might be overkill. surely a MM2 would suffice. thats about $150 landed (as already pointed out).

 

[Fents]

put grains in bag --> put bag under rear wheel of car --> roll back and forth in car few times --> crushed :lol:

i should be a scientist.

 

[warrenlw63]

Not as silly as it sounds Mr Fents... You could maybe stick them in a grain sack. Put a bit of chipboard or similar over the top and just drive over a couple of times. Would work OK for crystal and spec malts.

Warren -

 

[Darren]

put grains in bag --> put bag under rear wheel of car --> roll back and forth in car few times --> crushed :lol:

i should be a scientist.

Fents,

That is actually a good idea when combined with Warrens chipboard or similar. You could run over a few times, get out shake/redistribute the malt then do again.

Dont buy a Marga Mill as it is a waste of money. When you decide you need a dedicated mill buy a mill designed to crush malt.

cheers

Darren

 

[rich_lamb]

I used one of those little coffee grinders to do about 4kg of sorghum & amaranth (as HBS wouldn't touch the gluten-free stuff) and apart from being a royal pain to do that much grain is was a VERY fine grind.

Naturally it ended up being porridge and needed about the same weight of rice hulls to sparge at all (let alone fast or clear).

Would work OK for a small amount of grain in a partial, but otherwise forget it. From what it would do to the husks you could call it an "astringency mill". Use the rolling pin or car for your small bag, and always remember to order crushed from now on.

 

[Sprungmonkey]

What about the manual old school coffee grinders

here

Donno how fine/course they grind. Anyone tried them?

 

[I like beer]

I've yoused one of them they work ok just take a bit to set up right

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Dont buy a Marga Mill as it is a waste of money. When you decide you need a dedicated mill buy a mill designed to crush malt. cheers Darren

Not a waste of money, just a cheap introduction to grain crushing. As the threads are currently running, you can certainly buy much better units, but if you are short of funds and at the beginning of your AG (or even a serious mini masher) then the small marga mills are an excellent entry vehicle. When you get the unit, you can start using it immediately. I wouldn't recommend it if you are planning on crushing huge amounts (but I crushed 5kg in less than an hour last Friday using the manual crank handle). But if your budget is tight or you are not planning on crushing huge amounts of grain regularly, then the marga mill will crush your malt well. Its horses for courses.

 

[brettprevans]

bulkbuy thread on millmaster grain crushers. link just in case your interested.

 

[barry2]

Not a waste of money, just a cheap introduction to grain crushing. As the threads are currently running, you can certainly buy much better units, but if you are short of funds and at the beginning of your AG (or even a serious mini masher) then the small marga mills are an excellent entry vehicle. When you get the unit, you can start using it immediately. I wouldn't recommend it if you are planning on crushing huge amounts (but I crushed 5kg in less than an hour last Friday using the manual crank handle). But if your budget is tight or you are not planning on crushing huge amounts of grain regularly, then the marga mill will crush your malt well. Its horses for courses.

Hello Fatgodzilla

I also use a Marga to crack a kilo of grain for my extract or kit brews.However I lack your speed as it takes me about 30 minutes to crack the kilo with the rollers set about 1mm apart and the Marga clamped to the table.The problem seems to be that the grain doesn't have enough weight on it to maintain a steady flow on to the rollers.So I have to assist it with my thumb.Have you altered the Marga hopper in any way to increase the flow?
Although spending 30 minutes cracking a kilo is hardly a problem any comments to improve my speed would be appreciated.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I'm not sure what the issue is with energy consumption

A full fridge is more economical to run than an empty one

Opening and closing the fridge door unnecessarily will have more of an impact than putting grain in there

I don't store my grain in a fridge though - grain is better kept away from moisture

Cheers

 

[brettprevans]

Hello Fatgodzilla

I also use a Marga to crack a kilo of grain for my extract or kit brews.However I lack your speed as it takes me about 30 minutes to crack the kilo with the rollers set about 1mm apart and the Marga clamped to the table.The problem seems to be that the grain doesn't have enough weight on it to maintain a steady flow on to the rollers.So I have to assist it with my thumb.Have you altered the Marga hopper in any way to increase the flow?
Although spending 30 minutes cracking a kilo is hardly a problem any comments to improve my speed would be appreciated.

yup. I did it last weekend to mine. I got a knive and just hacked away at the bottom to make the opening larger. once done I used some sandpaper to get rid of the plastic burs and hey presto it has a good flow rate now.

 

[albrews]

Had a bit of a thought after reading this topic. Has anyone ever tried using a pasta maker to crush grains? Just an idea. Could be a very cheap alternative if it works?

hi, pasta maker has smooth rollers. grain mills have knurling on the roller to grip the grain and pull it through the mill. any ideas on roughing up the surface of a pasta roller?

cheers alan

 

[Fatgodzilla]

yup. I did it last weekend to mine. I got a knive and just hacked away at the bottom to make the opening larger. once done I used some sandpaper to get rid of the plastic burs and hey presto it has a good flow rate now.

The problem seems to be that the grain doesn't have enough weight on it to maintain a steady flow on to the rollers.So I have to assist it with my thumb.Have you altered the Marga hopper in any way to increase the flow?

I'm glad someone else has the same problem as me - sticking the old thumb down occasionally to make sure the rollers aren't spinning empty. Also read that CM2 's approach is the way to go but haven't got around to opening the hopper outlet yet and haven't thought of using a drill until I fix the problem. 1kg in half an hour - either you're cranking too slow or something's wrong ? Rollers 1mm apart sounds too close - you want to crack the husks, not turn them into flour. I don't use any of the settings but have the roller gap pretty much at maximum and it works fine. Ross at Craftbrewer has a pdf file on drilling an extra hole to hold that setting but I really haven't bothered and since I'm fairly useless on these sort of things anyway, I'm waiting until I find a handy man before I make adjustments.

hi, pasta maker has smooth rollers. grain mills have knurling on the roller to grip the grain and pull it through the mill. any ideas on roughing up the surface of a pasta roller?

Marga Mill has knurling on the rollers. Your pasta maker is different.

 

[devo]

yes thought of it but realised that with the lack of knurling on the rollers it's gonna be like trying to eating a rump steak with a tea spoon.

I ended up biting the bullet and purchase a grain mill.