Picture it: My kitchen, 2013.
I just bought the Kiwi Express kit from NB, I was super excited because I have been jonesing a different IPA for some time now. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and saw 12# of unmilled grain staring smugly back at me.
I wasn't about to let this stop me, so I immediately went into 'Necessity Engineering' mode and thought of all the different ways I could crush this grain. It turns out that a large portion of them are time consuming or potentially disastrous (I concluded this after many searches on HBT).
And then it hit me, an eccentric uncle had given my 6 year old daughter this for her birthday. I know, it is kind of strange, but hey, free is a pretty good price.
So, after some thought and side by side comparisons I concluded that, while possible, it would NOT be an effective use of my time (I have so little of it these days) to transform the Squeezo into a mill.
My reasoning was as follows:
The Squeezo is made of a softer metal than the mill (I presume Aluminum). While this may not be a problem initially, I have heard of Al flaking while in the process of milling. Not a huge concern but still a concern. I was also worried about the ability of the Al to stand up to the torque placed on it whilst milling. Again, not the biggest concern.
A mill does its thing by forcing grain through two parallel plates a certain distance apart. The Squeezo does not. It just pushes whatever soft substance through tiny little holes.
Fabricating a new shroud for the Squeezo to replicate the parallel plate action may not be the best use of time and resources.
Now, if I were to transform the Squeezo into a mill I would probably follow this general flow path:
Fabricate a new shroud from sheet metal, attach a parallel plate system to do the heavy lifting (how is still undetermined), and voila. Minimal damage to the Squeezo.
But still, not worth the effort right now, especially since Amazon + Prime membership (thank you student status) =new Victoria esq mill for under $30.
Any thoughts on my approach to the Squeezo conversion?
I just bought the Kiwi Express kit from NB, I was super excited because I have been jonesing a different IPA for some time now. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and saw 12# of unmilled grain staring smugly back at me.
I wasn't about to let this stop me, so I immediately went into 'Necessity Engineering' mode and thought of all the different ways I could crush this grain. It turns out that a large portion of them are time consuming or potentially disastrous (I concluded this after many searches on HBT).
And then it hit me, an eccentric uncle had given my 6 year old daughter this for her birthday. I know, it is kind of strange, but hey, free is a pretty good price.
So, after some thought and side by side comparisons I concluded that, while possible, it would NOT be an effective use of my time (I have so little of it these days) to transform the Squeezo into a mill.
My reasoning was as follows:
The Squeezo is made of a softer metal than the mill (I presume Aluminum). While this may not be a problem initially, I have heard of Al flaking while in the process of milling. Not a huge concern but still a concern. I was also worried about the ability of the Al to stand up to the torque placed on it whilst milling. Again, not the biggest concern.
A mill does its thing by forcing grain through two parallel plates a certain distance apart. The Squeezo does not. It just pushes whatever soft substance through tiny little holes.
Fabricating a new shroud for the Squeezo to replicate the parallel plate action may not be the best use of time and resources.
Now, if I were to transform the Squeezo into a mill I would probably follow this general flow path:
Fabricate a new shroud from sheet metal, attach a parallel plate system to do the heavy lifting (how is still undetermined), and voila. Minimal damage to the Squeezo.
But still, not worth the effort right now, especially since Amazon + Prime membership (thank you student status) =new Victoria esq mill for under $30.
Any thoughts on my approach to the Squeezo conversion?
