Kitchenaid mill grinder

Has anyone used one? My wife has the kitchenaid and I was talking about buying a grinder and she said "they have a grain mill for it" looked it up and I can pick one up for under $100. Does it work or should I get a different type?

TIA and (as I'm brewing my third 5 gal batch this morning!)

Do yourself a favour and go for a dedicated roller mill. The mill you are thinking about
is most likely a flour mill like a corona type and not as good as a roller mill.

This is the one I was looking at.

http://www.google.com/products/cata...lpTiTcT6POrA0AGl94WrBw&sqi=2&ved=0CFoQ8wIwAQ#

But your probably right, I will be using it alot and for a long time!


Also if I use her stuff she'll want more of my beer!

dgremark said:

This is the one I was looking at.

http://www.google.com/products/cata...lpTiTcT6POrA0AGl94WrBw&sqi=2&ved=0CFoQ8wIwAQ#

But your probably right, I will be using it alot and for a long time!


Also if I use her stuff she'll want more of my beer!

Click to expand...

For just a little extra you could get a roller mill, and like I said, it is far superior to a corona type mill. I know. I have, and I have used a corona knockoff for 6 years. I now have a Barley Crusher.

Thanks and cheers!

Cost of mixer $400.00
Cost of Grain Mill attachemnt $200.00

Look on wife's face when you blow the motor of said mixer-



Priceless.....

You might want to look at the links in the similar threads box below, this comes up every 6 months or so, very few people want to risk the cadillac of mixer's when for 150 bucks you can get a barley crusher, or for 20 bucks you can get a corona OR modify a pasta maker to mill your grain. They're really not meant to crush grain for brewing especially in large batches.

boo boo said:

Do yourself a favour and go for a dedicated roller mill. The mill you are thinking about
is most likely a flour mill like a corona type and not as good as a roller mill.

Click to expand...

This is bull****....A corona mill for brewing is just as good as a roller mill. Heck, it's good enough for charlie papazian to get 89% efficiency with his.....

Has anyone ever heard of using a vita mix blender with the dry pitcher? My wife said I can use hers (instead of spending money on a mill) also states that in the manual.

I was going to buy one because you can adjust for a coarse grind but it will burn the motor out......

Revvy said:

...Heck, it's good enough for charlie papazian to get 89% efficiency with his.....

Click to expand...

I didn't know he was getting that kind of efficiency. This makes that decision so much easier. Thanks Revvy.

Actually, it doesn't look bad. It has a "cracked" setting. However, the price is not right, especially for something untested. I picked up a corona style mill for $20 and a garage sale motor for $5. a belt and two pulleys, that I already had, and bingo!

Revvy said:

This is bull****....A corona mill for brewing is just as good as a roller mill. Heck, it's good enough for charlie papazian to get 89% efficiency with his.....

Click to expand...

Please A hard-to-adjust, small capacity, wobbly hand-cranked plate mill designed to make corn meal is "just as good" as a roller mill designed to crush barley malt? Not for my time, effort and money it isn't. Everybody is entitled to their opinion but to call Boo Boo's statement BS is out of line. Shall we all go back to 1985 and use Zap Pap plastic bucket mash systems too?

BigEd said:

Please A hard-to-adjust, small capacity, wobbly hand-cranked plate mill designed to make corn meal is "just as good" as a roller mill designed to crush barley malt? Not for my time, effort and money it isn't. Everybody is entitled to their opinion but to call Boo Boo's statement BS is out of line. Shall we all go back to 1985 and use Zap Pap plastic bucket mash systems too?

Click to expand...

Once you get the adjustment right, you never have to touch it again, no problem. Hand cranked? You just get a motor or a sturdy drill. Small capacity? Make a bigger hopper with some AC duct. (Mine holds 9 lb)

I love pissing contests

mcaple1 said:

I love pissing contests

Click to expand...

I hope it doesn't turn into another of those.
Someone is looking into buying a mill and it would just be best if we can discuss the pros and cons of the options available.

Agreed

I looked at the kitchenaid grinder because we already have the mixer. Why not, right? I watched one on eBay at under $100. Then I read some more. I'm not gonna blow up the gear case in my mixer. I bought a Victoria. Same thing as a Corona. Some if not all the parts are cast at the same factory. I got around 75% on my first brew with it. It's still in primary so no comments on final taste. I didn't pick up any astringency from torn husks in the wort though. Of course I would rather have a diamond cut, 7 roller, hydraulic driven, 55lb capacity mill but my Victoria was $50 and in stock at my LHBS when I went to buy the grain.

My LHBS mills the grain for me...well I do it using their mill...so I never really saw the point in buying my own mill. But then again, sometimes I would like to experiment with crush settings, which I wouldn't dare mess with at the shop.

I have a Barley Crusher, I've run over 1,000 lbs of grain through and it still comes out perfect. I would like a larger hopper when I make 10G batches but otherwise it is perfect for me. I typically hit low 80's for efficiency so I know it is getting the job done.

My Corona Mill setup cost me around $40.00 to get going including the mill itself. I use a 4gal water jug for a hopper, my cordless drill for a motor, and I consistently get 83% efficiency without sparging. If you don't want to spend the money on a 2 or 3 roller mill, and you don't mind a little bit of DIY then a Corona Mill is a perfectly viable alternative to a $100.00+ mill.

FWIW, I like to DIY so it was a win/win for me!

Laughing_Gnome_Invisible said:

I hope it doesn't turn into another of those.
Someone is looking into buying a mill and it would just be best if we can discuss the pros and cons of the options available.

Click to expand...

Yes, it would. And perhaps without such rhetoric as "Please A hard-to-adjust, small capacity, wobbly hand-cranked plate mill designed to make corn meal is "just as good" as a roller mill designed to crush barley malt? Not for my time, effort and money it isn't. Everybody is entitled to their opinion but to call Boo Boo's statement BS is out of line. Shall we all go back to 1985 and use Zap Pap plastic bucket mash systems too?"

The effectiveness and utility of the Corona-type mill is established beyond any shadow of a doubt. A multitude of happy users mills with them every day, including yours truly. It is not "opinion" that I can hit all my numbers when I brew using my "Victoria" Corona-type. I DO hit all my numbers, and that's a fact. Refractometers don't lie. If someone wants to spend $150 and up to buy a roller mill and use it, well, it's their money. And if in their opinion a Corona mill is inferior, that's their opinion.

I tend to stay out of the roller mill threads, but I'm perfectly willing to chime in when someone is portraying the Corona incorrectly.

"Everyone has a right to their opinion; there is no right to the facts."

+1 for Victoria/Corona. My LHBS has a barley crusher and since it gets a little more use in a shop setting than a home setting they are starting to have problems with it. Since the rollers are not hardened the knurling is starting to lose it's edge and they (OK we, I work there part time) are starting to experience problems feeding some grains, especially harder grains like black patent. I never have problems with my Victoria and get excellent efficiency. I can buy ingredients for 8-10 batches for the price of a roller mill, my Victoria cost less than the ingredients for two all grain batches, if I had shopped around could have probably got under one.

That said, the OP should consider all his options and make the choice that best meets his needs.

I also use the corona mill, retrofited with a larger hopper. Best $40 I ever spent.

My old Corona gives me 83-86% efficiency (per BeerTools Pro) using conditioned malt and 60 minute flysparge. 10 gallon batches are driving me to motorize, otherwise no complaints.

Transamguy77 said:

Has anyone ever heard of using a vita mix blender with the dry pitcher? My wife said I can use hers (instead of spending money on a mill) also states that in the manual.

Click to expand...

Just to answer you, I wouldn't do this. We have a Blendtec blender, which is similar in power to a Vitamix. My wife uses it to make flour from wheat. It PULVERISES THE CRAP out of the grain. What we as homebrewers want in a good crush is to gently "crack" open the husk and let the endosperm fall out. A blender would cut the husks to bits..

I'm a corona mill user also, the price was right. not that i dind't consider a roller mil but for the price i figured i could get one and try it out and if all else failed i was only out 20 bucks. I will NOT be getting a roller mil any time soon. Just no need for it. It took a bit of adjustments to get the crush right but then it's set and i don't need to touch it. I made a plastic cover for it and have not upgraded the hopper yet, I just scoop more grain in when needed. I am still hand cranking and so far it has been easy to do. I just start crushing when my water is coming up to temp and all is good. The price savings alone is worth a shot and the hands on satisfaction is awesome. OP, whatever choice you make will be just fine. Good beer will be your outcome.
enjoy!

Revvy said:

This is bull****....A corona mill for brewing is just as good as a roller mill. Heck, it's good enough for charlie papazian to get 89% efficiency with his.....

Click to expand...

Efficiency isn't all it's cracked up to be , pun intended. More things are involved with the crush than that. Shredding the husk allows more husk material to be exposed to the mash which could allow more tannins to end up in the mash. Roller mills are easier on grain than mills intended for flour.

I must find out if Sierra Nevada uses a giant corona mill, or for that matter if any micro or mega brewery uses one. I mean if they are all that, surely one of them will be using one.

Having said that. I still own a corona knockoff and have used it for 6 years. Won medals with beer brewed using it. I have compared my crush ( which I always thought to be OK ) to that of the Barley Crusher. The barley Crusher crush looks better to me. Efficiency is the same.
So I go by my experience and you call me out with lines of BS? Please.

rico567 said:

Yes, it would. And perhaps without such rhetoric as "Please A hard-to-adjust, small capacity, wobbly hand-cranked plate mill designed to make corn meal is "just as good" as a roller mill designed to crush barley malt? Not for my time, effort and money it isn't. Everybody is entitled to their opinion but to call Boo Boo's statement BS is out of line. Shall we all go back to 1985 and use Zap Pap plastic bucket mash systems too?"

The effectiveness and utility of the Corona-type mill is established beyond any shadow of a doubt. A multitude of happy users mills with them every day, including yours truly. It is not "opinion" that I can hit all my numbers when I brew using my "Victoria" Corona-type. I DO hit all my numbers, and that's a fact. Refractometers don't lie. If someone wants to spend $150 and up to buy a roller mill and use it, well, it's their money. And if in their opinion a Corona mill is inferior, that's their opinion.

I tend to stay out of the roller mill threads, but I'm perfectly willing to chime in when someone is portraying the Corona incorrectly.

"Everyone has a right to their opinion; there is no right to the facts."

Click to expand...

I really do not care what type of mill anybody uses. I have used a Corona and several brands of roller mills over the years and if you or anybody else can tell me with a straight face after crushing a 10 pound recipe with both types that a Corona mill is just as good as a Schmidling, Valley Mill, Crank-N-Stein, Barley Crusher, etc then who am I to argue with that? Brew on and have a nice day.

JetSmooth said:

Just to answer you, I wouldn't do this. We have a Blendtec blender, which is similar in power to a Vitamix. My wife uses it to make flour from wheat. It PULVERISES THE CRAP out of the grain. What we as homebrewers want in a good crush is to gently "crack" open the husk and let the endosperm fall out. A blender would cut the husks to bits..

Click to expand...

Does your Blendtec do this?

i've used rollers and corona mills.
i prefer the corona by miles. it just seems way more fun IMO.... just makes me feel a little more "together" with my beer.
i've heard bad things about the kitchen aid though. that it wears out rather quickly esp with us crushing like 8lbs of grain at a minimum

I use the all metal KitchenAid mill attachment. I just use it for specialty grains, as I order base grains pre-crushed. I use it twice a week for about 4 minutes each time, and it works great. I use the coarse setting, and it takes about 1 minute per pound.

I don't think the problems have been with the grinder as much as the transmission in the mixer. I would definitely run it as coarse as possible and maybe condition the grain as well as add it in slowly.