Rice Hull Noob

Read a dozen or more "rice hull" posts and googled, but would still like some reassurance. I just got a bag of rice hulls from Midwest along with grains. I requested that the grains be crushed. I’m pretty sure that they would not have crushed the rice hulls, but since I’ve never seen them before, I don’t know. They kind of look like the crushed grains. Will someone direct me to a picture of what they should look like or give a good description? Thanks.

Edit: add picture
Here's what mine look like . . . .

Yep, those are regular everyday rice hulls. They don't get crushed, they're already just the hulls.

That's what they are supposed to look like.

Unless you wanted the 'Acidulated Bavarian Cara-Crystal Tortified Rauch Munich Raw' hulls. They look a little different. But not that much.

Yup, that looks like a pile of rice hulls.

What exactly is your question about rice hulls? How/why to use them?

I use them to help filter a mash if I have a lot of flakes or oats. I don't use either very often, but I always keep a pound or so of rice hulls vacuum packed in case I need them.

What exactly is your question about rice hulls? How/why to use them?

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Searching HBT gave me enough so that I’m confident using them. Just wanted to make sure I had the right thing. I’ll be doing a witbier with flaked wheat and oats this weekend. Trying to avoid a stuck mash.

I always keep a pound or so of rice hulls vacuum packed in case I need them.

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I bought a 5 pound bag thinking it would be a good thing to have around. Your “vacuum packed “ comment got me thinking. Are there any special storage considerations? I usually store my extra grains in a freezer bag in the freezer. Same thing with rice hulls?

If you are sure you can keep them dry, like in a zip lock bag, you probably don't need to freeze them. There's no starch to keep fresh so I'd say dry is more important than frozen.

As far as I can see, the only reason to vacuum pack them is that they're so bulky. A pound of rice hulls takes up as much space as quite a few pounds of grain... Since they're just hulls I would not really worry about them going bad.

One last rice hull question. When computing the water to use in the mash (1.25 qts/lb) do you add water for the rice hulls also?

anoldur said:

One last rice hull question. When computing the water to use in the mash (1.25 qts/lb) do you add water for the rice hulls also?

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I wouldn't because mash thickness can change the effectiveness of the enzymes (since they do not contribute enzymes nor sugar). What I would do, however, is rinse them a couple times with tap water. You will see that they are not very clean and once saturated they should not absorb any water in the mash.