Crushing grains with a coffee grinder?

Just bought this little guy for my coffee. Could it be used to crush grains?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006IUX5/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

fayderek14 said:

Just bought this little guy for my coffee. Could it be used to crush grains?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00006IUX5/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

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Even at its largest coarse setting, it is still a "grinder" and not a crusher. If you're doing partial mashes or extracts with steeped grains, this might be okay...using a mesh bag.

If you're doing all grain, running 6-8 pounds through this thing would take a lot of time, and again....the pulverized grist you get could lead to more problems (stuck sparges, tannin extraction etc.) than it is worth.

Right now we are just doing partials and extracts so maybe ill give it a shot and see how it turns out.

You're going to spend a lot of time fighting with it and assuming you get a good crush, refilling it even for 1lb of grain.

$25 will get you to the ugly side of the junkyard.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/my-ugly-junk-corona-mill-station-90849/

fayderek14 said:

Right now we are just doing partials and extracts so maybe ill give it a shot and see how it turns out.

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The only grain you should put in that coffee grinder is minute rice when you want to clean it.

I can't afford a grain crusher yet,& the crush I've been getting from midwest looks like not all the grains are crushed or even cracked. So I use an old mini food processor half full of grain,& pulse it 3 times,about 2 seconds per pulse. Which is great for BIAB anyway,since it seems to need a finer crush.

I put my darker specialty malts (roast barley, choc. malt, etc) into my mash tun just before lautering to get a smoother taste without losing the color. I use a coffee grinder on these since I keep them out of the initial crush. Works fine this way.

BierMuncher said:

Even at its largest coarse setting, it is still a "grinder" and not a crusher.

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Actually, it's worse than that: this type of 'grinder' actually has a high-speed chopping blade rather than grinding teeth or a mill plate, and works by cutting the coffee into successively smaller pieces until it is 'ground'.

The practical upshot of this for a brewer is that it does precisely what you don't want: it tears both the kernels and the hulls into fine fragments, but doesn't actually separate them at all.

I would use a rolling pin.....Or smash it with a hammer before I would chop it up in a grinder.

unionrdr said:

I can't afford a grain crusher yet,7 the crush I've been getting from midwest looks like not all the grains are crushed or even cracked. So I use an old mini food processor half full of grain,& pulse it 3 times,about 2 seconds per pulse. Which is great for BIAB anyway,since it seems to need a finer crush.

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How about an "ugly junk Corona mill"? You can get one of those for less than $30 delivered and with a bit of work you'll be doing all your grain with it. BIAB? Easy, set it as tight as it goes. Conventional tun? Wet the grain a bit first to soften the kernels and toughen the husks so they don't tear as easily.

D-MOTITAN said:

I would use a rolling pin.....Or smash it with a hammer before I would chop it up in a grinder.

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+1 this was done before when I left my grinder at home when brewing at a friends house. I had a few to many and couldn't drive to get it. Rolling pin rescue. it worked faster than I thought it would. efficiency was great. beer turned out perfect.

RM-MN said:

How about an "ugly junk Corona mill"? You can get one of those for less than $30 delivered and with a bit of work you'll be doing all your grain with it.

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+1 for my Ugly Junk Mill. $20 on amazon free delivery, you will have it in 3-4 days if you find a local seller/shipper.

Be sure to get one with a cover on the crush wheels, i didn't and grains go everywhere.

Check out the Ugly Junk posts, you will be suprised how many of use use them.

I'm not too wild on using rolling pins,etc on 5lbs or more of grain. My way does get it fine,but the husks are still in fair size pieces. From what I've seen so far,the corona does about the same as my mini food processor. Maybe at tax time I can get a crusher?...

no argue there. however, they did the rolling, while I watched and drank. barley crusher they now have. no more rolling pins.

Experience: A chopping type coffee mill is totally unsatisfactory, even for BIAB, Sometimes you must actually test stuff to prove the reality matches the theory.

I tried both a chopping-type coffee mill and a Oster blender to reduce grains. Both created an uneven "crush" that included flour, whole grains, and everything in between. It took much longer than a grain mill to reduce the few handfuls I tried.

Now I take grain to the LHBS who gladly crushes it for free (because you always buy other stuff)

I decided not waste it and tossed the few ounces in the BIAB batch. Some of the fine flour got through the bag.

that... and, a good crush is critical for great efficiency. Grain mill cannot be overlooked for many reasons. it is WELL worth the investment. Barley crushers are lifetime warranty... I think. that alone is worth the consideration to buy. A tool with a lifetime warranty Ex: Craftsman.. snap-on If its gonna be used often.. that's one hell of an added bonus.

Yeah,the crush with the mini food processor is too fine. But the one called "the barley crusher" is $129. Being retired means waiting till tax return time. Efficiency is great,but the floury stuff gets through the bag. And I def need the super moss I finally bought to settle out the resulting proteins as well. Too cloudy too long for me.

Oh,yes- I resorted to using a coffee grinder because the rolling pin was too slow. I'd bought whole grains because I was going to be delaying a brew for a few weeks and was bringing the grains overseas back to Japan. Good grief. 45 minutes later I ended up with 14 pounds of decent rubble, but my efficiency ended up being only about 67%. I'm now waiting for my mill to arrive before the next AG... ;-)

badgerbrew14 said:

Oh,yes- I resorted to using a coffee grinder because the rolling pin was too slow. I'd bought whole grains because I was going to be delaying a brew for a few weeks and was bringing the grains overseas back to Japan. Good grief. 45 minutes later I ended up with 14 pounds of decent rubble, but my efficiency ended up being only about 67%. I'm now waiting for my mill to arrive before the next AG... ;-)

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Where abouts in Japan?

I'm up in Tokyo - you?

Spent a few years in Okinawa ... wish I could go back.