OT: Corona grain mill, good for grinding dough-y mixtures?

This is OT because I'm asking for food reasons not brewing reasons. But I understand that grain mills are used a lot by home brewers; so begging group's indulgence in asking the question here. You folks just might be best resource to ask!

If I have a nut/grain:liquid mixture of about 2:1 (so very dough-y, not a lot of liquid), is something like the Corona hand mill good to grind the solid materials down to something fairly smooth? So many other alternatives don't work for small dough amounts, i.e., less than 2 cups. So I'm looking to buy a hand mill like the Corona, if it works, since I often need to grind up 1/2-1 cup mixtures with nothing does a good job on without unwanted problems.

What can you guys say about grinding with a grain mill like the Corona when there's a fairly dry mixture to grind (2:1=wet:dry ingredients).

Thanks so much!!

***********
Grain mills such as the Corona:
http://greenmachinefarm.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/corona-grain-mill.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6cqJ5RPsPIA/TjDHleJu-_I/AAAAAAAACJk/qQRChKrxfJ8/s1600/corona+mill+4.jpg
http://thewholetruth.org/Res_Corona.jpg
http://img.alibaba.com/photo/436762907/CORONA_CORN_GRINDER_FOOD_MILL.jpg
Thx!

mitchell12345 said:

This is OT because I'm asking for food reasons not brewing reasons. But I understand that grain mills are used a lot by home brewers; so begging group's indulgence in asking the question here. You folks just might be best resource to ask! If I have a nut/grain:liquid mixture of about 2:1 (so very dough-y, not a lot of liquid), is something like the Corona hand mill good to grind the solid materials down to something fairly smooth? So many other alternatives don't work for small dough amounts, i.e., less than 2 cups. So I'm looking to buy a hand mill like the Corona, if it works, since I often need to grind up 1/2-1 cup mixtures with nothing does a good job on without unwanted problems. What can you guys say about grinding with a grain mill like the Corona when there's a fairly dry mixture to grind (2:1=wet:dry ingredients). Thanks so much!!

Click to expand...

I think running nuts or any liquid through corona mil would make a giant mess and you'd lose a good bit of what you run through.

Sounds like what you need is a "food mill" or "foley mill" like this one:

http://www.amazon.com/OXO-Good-Grips-Food-Mill/dp/B000I0MGKE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1385043740&sr=8-2&keywords=oxo+food+mill

Comes completely apart for easy cleaning and scraping of anything that sticks. Stainless, so the parts can go in the dishwasher. I have the one above for making part of some traditional Polish sweet bread that my grandpa used to make (I use the mill with boiled potatoes and a cheese mixture).

This thing can hold anywhere from a few cups of stuff down to whatever amount you want to grind, pretty much.

The dryish/wet mixture gets milled through the metal mesh inserts (different hole sizes on the mesh for different applications) by cranking the handle. Then you just scrape whatever is still stuck on the underside of the bottom and your milling is done.

The legs fold under for easy storage, and extend to rest on the edges of a bowl (they're rubbery).

For nuts, I'd make sure they're cracked into smaller bits for easier grinding, but I have a feeling so long as they can get under the grinding arm, they'll get ground up with this thing.

What about a small 4cup Food Processor??

Don't put anything wet thru the corona, its cast and will rust.

Those food mills will not crush grain. They're more for crushing berries, tomatoes, cooked apples, etc. I use one for making jams, etc., and they leave even raspberry seeds intact.

You can't crush your grain before mixing the dough? That's what I'd focus on. The Corona was originally mostly used for grinding flint corn, so it works great for hard grain, but I wouldn't want to feed dough through it.

Wet nut and grain paste seems more suited to a peanut butter grinder, very different from the plates of a Corona hand mill. The manual shows it has different grinding plates.

I have made raisin-honey-nut paste with a food grinder attachment on a Kitchenaid mixer. It was coarse, not smooth like commercial peanut butter.

Thanks for everyone's reply.

Darn! <sigh> Still no solution. When there isn't enough liquid, no machine that I've tried does a good job (except for one, but what a hassle!).

Food processor doesn't do a good enough job (even the Ninja!) for small amounts. Magic Bullet, when not enough liquid, also no good. When it's less than 2 cups, the Vitamix, ordinarily a fantastic machine and the best to do this sort of thing, just doesn't work as the tamper can't move amounts under 2 cups; it doesn't reach down far enough when under 2 cups!

The only machine that does the job is my GreenPower but it's a real hassle to use this on small amounts. And though the grind is consistent and more complete in one pass-through than food processors, still not a small enough grind.

A food mill just would not work. Though all raw vegan nut mixtures use nuts that are soaked as a rule and not an exception (to get rid of those enzyme inhibitors and to also make seeds/nuts/grains softer), they just don't get soft enough for a food mill.

Thanks! 23 years into this raw vegan diet and thought I had a good possible solution in the Corona. But if it's going to rust, no go.

Cheers.

Thought about the good ol' mortar and pestle?