Crushing Grains Without A Mill

[albrews]

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.

hi, on roughinig up the smooth rollers of a pasta mill, maybe glueing some emery cloth or sand paper to the rollers. or searching the hardware stores for
something. even scoring the roller surface with a bastard file.

any other ideas ?

cheers, alan

 

[Fatgodzilla]

hi, on roughinig up the smooth rollers of a pasta mill, maybe glueing some emery cloth or sand paper to the rollers. or searching the hardware stores for
something. even scoring the roller surface with a bastard file.

any other ideas ?

cheers, alan

The knurling on a marga mill is relatively fine. I'm guessing that you could not replicate that well trying to use emery / sand paper (it would probably clog up to fast anyway). As far as adding a rough surface on your rollers, it will mean you will probably not able to make pasta again, possibly without being capable of adding enough knurling to pull the grain through. If you don't need a pasta mill, flog it and put the proceeds towards a better grain mill.

 

[brettprevans]

Alan

If you dont want to buy a big mill, I'll be getting rid of my marga if you want to buy it cheap (im going AG so I want a bigger mill). its less than 6 months old and only 5 brews worth of specialty grain gone through it. PM if your interested

 

[warrenlw63]

it's gonna be like trying to eating a rump steak with a tea spoon.

:lol: That I'd like to see.

Warren -

 

[barry2]

Thanks Fatgodzilla and citymorgue2 for the comments.
I have a kilo to crack tomorrow so hope to improve my speed.

 

[drsmurto]

Dunno what you boys are doing - i get 5kg thru my marga in about 20 mins. Hand cranking. B)

 

[the_fuzz]

Dunno what you boys are doing - i get 5kg thru my marga in about 20 mins. Hand cranking. B)

Yeah, but your right hand always get a work out...... B)

 

[afromaiko]

hi, on roughinig up the smooth rollers of a pasta mill, maybe glueing some emery cloth or sand paper to the rollers. or searching the hardware stores for
something. even scoring the roller surface with a bastard file.

any other ideas ?

cheers, alan

I have two lovely looking knurled rollers sitting next to me each about 30cm long. Unfortunately they are an essential part of a sign writing vinyl sticker cutter but I do keep eyeing them off and wonder how difficult it would be to "borrow" them for the weekend.

The previous dead sticker cutter got thrown in the dumpster recently, that one used what's called "grit" rollers which effectively have sand stuck all over them. We never had a problem with it gripping the sticker material, but I don't know how much the actual knurling pattern itself contributes to the grain crushing.

The other thing I've been considering doing is rigging up something from a couple of old knurled dumbbells that are kicking around the garage.

 

[Darren]

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.

Never, I repeat never, stick you fingers into empty spinning rollers. Unfortunately in a former life I saw someone place a finger in between some empty crushing/spinning rollers. Took him to the shoulder before it could be stopped.

Did i mention that the Marga Mill is useless? 20 minutes for 5 kilo of malt is crazy. Buy a mill designed to crush malt, not a modified pasta mill.


cheers

Darren

 

[milpod]

Never, I repeat never, stick you fingers into empty spinning rollers. Unfortunately in a former life I saw someone place a finger in between some empty crushing/spinning rollers. Took him to the shoulder before it could be stopped.

Did i mention that the Marga Mill is useless? 20 minutes for 5 kilo of malt is crazy. Buy a mill designed to crush malt, not a modified pasta mill.


cheers

Darren

Still using my "pasta mill",doing a fine job.I dont care that it takes 20 minutes to crush 10kgs.I've automated mine.

Just changed malt brands,efficiency up around 88%.

I love making pasta

 

[staggalee]

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.

Atrip down memory lane.....

That idea was actually put forth on Grumpy`s about 3 years ago, by GT from memory.
Was he serious? I don`t know, but can`t see why it wouldn`t work.
The G`s model included a couple of pieces of thin ply top and bottom.

stagga.

 

[Darren]

Atrip down memory lane.....

That idea was actually put forth on Grumpy`s about 3 years ago, by GT from memory.
Was he serious? I don`t know, but can`t see why it wouldn`t work.
The G`s model included a couple of pieces of thin ply top and bottom.

stagga.

Hey Stagga,

Grumpy Thomas is a great brewer and knows his ****. All this rubbish about husk integrity etc is rubbish. I used a food processor (tipped on its side to allow the grain equal access to the blades) for about 30 of my first all-grain brews. To my surprise I won numerous medals.

When starting out, simple is probably best. A Herms/Rims rig with three stage sensor and extractors will not help the novice brewer.

What does help the newbie is an understanding that good clean yeast make good beer. Bacteria, whether they be pathogenic or spoilage make bad beer.

cheers

Darren

 

[sponge]

so is that a thumbs up to the food processor?

since id only be bit over half a kilo of spec grains in a grain bag, does it matter if theyre a little finer then using a mill because theyre all contained in the bag anyways?

 

[Darren]

Hey Sponge,

Food processor away, specialty malts are a piece of piss in a processor as they are as soft as sugar. Beware if you try to "crush" base malt in HER plastic processor some scratching may occur. If you have the go ahead for crushing base malt in a processor, turn it on its side and shake it whilst it is running. I found it helped to get an even crush. BTW, dont listen to the fools on this site that recite the old pundit that a good crush is essential. It is the biggest falacy of home brewing. Crush is about ease only.

cheers

darren

 

[sponge]

well then, im not so worried about getting spec grains cracked anymore.


now im excited!

 

[brettprevans]

the grind of grain matters. dont pretend it doesnt. or is plamer, jamil etc full of ****? grind needs some flour, finer and medium husk and some in tact. no one is saying it has to be scientific but come on, be serious.

EDIT: specialty grains wont matter so much cause your not gettiong all your fermentables from it. so dont get too worried about using major mills for specilaty, but if you wer doing AG then you would worry about crush.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Dunno what you boys are doing - i get 5kg thru my marga in about 20 mins. Hand cranking. B)

Well I stop for beer breaks ! :chug:

And I don't believe you :beer:

 

[staggalee]

Hey Stagga,

Grumpy Thomas is a great brewer and knows his ****. All this rubbish about husk integrity etc is rubbish. I used a food processor (tipped on its side to allow the grain equal access to the blades) for about 30 of my first all-grain brews. To my surprise I won numerous medals.

When starting out, simple is probably best. A Herms/Rims rig with three stage sensor and extractors will not help the novice brewer.

What does help the newbie is an understanding that good clean yeast make good beer. Bacteria, whether they be pathogenic or spoilage make bad beer.

cheers

Darren

Yeah I know he`s a great brewer, who said he wasn`t?
Are you looking for an argument or just making a statement there?

stagga.

 

[Darren]

Just a statement Stagga..

CM, As I wrote before, when someone is starting out, crush is one of the least important processes.

cheers

Darren

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Good Lord... I agree with Darren.

Husk integrity is about ease of lautering and nothing else. Crush that stuff to the bejeezus, toss in a few hand-fulls of rice hulls if you are worried about a stuck mash and get to it.

If you crush it all really fine every time - that is consistent - and for a newer brewer, consistent, easy and accessible is heaps more important than whatever esoteric advantage that you think you might gain from a traditional "perfect" crush

And don't start about tannins - if your Ph is ok and you don't heat the **** out of your mash, they wont be a problem.

I have a Marga, it works fine, but IS a PITA. At anything like a decent speed.. it tears the **** out of the husks, but I don't care. Rice Hulls.

Thirsty