Corn Cobs instead of Rice Hulls?

Can one use roughly ground corn cobs instead of rice hulls to loosen the mash? We do not grow rice in this country and importing it is costly (like bringing in a container of bubblewrap!). Corn grows wild here.

No rice grown in SA? Never knew that.

Many home brewers do not use rice hulls in their mash and never suffer from a stuck sparge. Others, like me, add rice hulls to every batch to loosen mash. You may not even need to add the rice hulls or ground corn cobs to your mash, it might already e loose enough.

However, if you are going to use the ground corn cobs, test them first.
I suggest, and this is only a suggestion, that you test them to find out if they impart any undesirable taste.

First, take a couple handfuls of the ground cobs and add them to a gallon of water that has been heated to 170. Next, allow them to soak for 10 - 15 minutes. Then, strain the water, and allow water to cool. When the water is room temperature, taste the water. If the water tastes fine or has an acceptable taste, then corn cobs would be fine to use in the mash. If the taste is terrible or overpowering. Repeat the process again to make sure it wasn't a bad batch of ground cobs. If the water still tastes bad, don't use them at all.

If the corn cobs are plentiful and they are usable, then go for it. Regional adaptations have been made throughout history to use what was available or plentiful.

Please keep us posted.

Thanks for the quick responses guys. Good advice to test a batch. Actually when I managed to get some rice hulls once I washed them thoroughly first as they had a most terrible aroma. (This was on advice on the Braumeister forum.

You shouldn't need to use rice hulls unless the grist bill is high in starchy adjuncts. For a typical all malt mash or even one with 10% flaked grains a rice hull addition is probably not necessary.

Have you had a lot of stuck mash problems?

If you did have a need, I would think it would work.

I had a stuck sparge a few years back and I didn't have any rice hulls on hand so I threw some whole raw barley (without milling or grinding it) into the mash. That worked well.

As part of an improvised batch, I used dry buffalo grass as a filter aid.

Big Ed, November, I use a Braumeister and don't have many problems except for Weiss and Wit beers using oats and/or wheat malt. Even then, can work around by removing the top sieve and stirring a couple times. This is a bit of a hassle. If you don't do this efficiency can drop. Dry buffalo grass........hmmmm, why not?