Crush grains without a mill

Anybody have any tricks on doing this? The place I bought from didn't crush like I asked. Can't afford a mill and the only brew shop that has one I can use is about 2 hours away, as you can guess if I can't afford a mill I can't afford that drive. Thanks and any input is greatly appreciated.

Well I guess you can do it with a flour pin but that sounds like a mess and a pain in the butt.

Sounds like a corona is in your future

There are a few options:

1) Pulsing in a food processor. This will likely take a long time, depending on the volume of grains, and may give you too fine of a grind which will be a problem if you are mashing in a mash tun and are going to sparge. From what I understand, some BIABrewers actually prefer a finer grind because they don't sparge and the increased surface area gives more access for the enzymes to go to work on the starches.

2) Put enough of them in a Ziploc bag to get a thin layer when laid flat on the counter and roll over them with a heavy rolling pin until you get to a decent crush. This, too, will take a while depending on grain volume, and may provide a more coarse crush than you are looking for, but won't be as susceptible to the the problem of stuck sparge as the previous method, or even a regular grind you'll get from your LHBS or online retailers.

If you're just steeping specialty grains, I would go the first route.

I would try a blender. a little bit at a time. just break all the grain up nicely without creating total dust...it can be done with a little effort and time ... enjoy!

Ha my denial was futile. I figured blender or smashing in a pan was going to be the route. Thank you all and I'll see you in the early summer when this crush is finish.

Where are you located? If you were in my vicinity I could toss my mill in the truck and swing by.

"Have Mill, Will Crush"

or better:

"Will Crush For Beer"

Cheers!

Haha I like it. Thanks for the offer but spent the better half of the evening with the old rolling pin. Good thing no work today, and cherry on top.... Brew day!