How to Crush Grains

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cregan13

cregan13

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I bought 10lbs. of grains at the homebrew store today, but forgot to get it crushed. My wife is away and dragging my 2 year old back across town is something I am avoiding like the plague.....plus the gas. Does anyone know a field-expedient way of crushing grains at home? I guess a kitchen roller might work, but it seems like it might take awhile going that route. Any pearls of wisdom on how to crush grains and how crushed they need to be would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Rolling pin will kinda work, but will take forever. A food processor on a very low setting may work, but I'd be worried about turning the grain into flour. Unfortunately your best bet is to go back to the hbs and have it milled properly. And, get yourself a grain mill so you don't need to worry about it in the future. Good luck:mug:
 
Crushing two pounds of grain with a rolling pin takes forever, much less ten! You get a pretty crappy crush, anyway, and it makes a huge mess. I'd avoid the food processor, you want to crush the grain, not chop it (husks want to stay basically intact).

Time to load up the kidling, methink (I almost always bring my daughter with me to the HBS, although usually to give the wife a break).
 
Yea, I think I also vote for treking back to the shop to get it milled. Although, I do remember a post from way back where a poster swore he got acceptable results using a blender. He claimed he would load a few cups at a time and just pulse the blender till almost all of the grain was in smallish pieces, short of being flour.

Good luckin your dilemma.

Mike
 
That beer is going to be a round for a lot longer than it will take you to make the trip. You'd hate to regret using a poor process and cursing every time you opened a bottle.
 
Thanks for the advice. I usually order my grains precrushed from Northern Brewer, but I had a gift certificate so I went to the HBS. If anyone is local to Garner/Raleigh, NC with a grain mill you'd be doing me a solid. I've milled about 4 of the 10 pounds so far using a freezer bag and a bottle of wine. Honestly, I am new to this, but it seems to be working pretty well. If anything I think I might be over milling it rather than under milling it. It sure is dusty. It's going pretty fast, although I have a nice sweat going. I am kind of a meat head I guess. Any little 'tests' I can do to make sure it is milled enough? And what problems would over milling it cause?

Thanks.
 
cregan13 said:
Thanks for the advice. I usually order my grains precrushed from Northern Brewer, but I had a gift certificate so I went to the HBS. If anyone is local to Garner/Raleigh, NC with a grain mill you'd be doing me a solid. I've milled about 4 of the 10 pounds so far using a freezer bag and a bottle of wine. Honestly, I am new to this, but it seems to be working pretty well. If anything I think I might be over milling it rather than under milling it. It sure is dusty. It's going pretty fast, although I have a nice sweat going. I am kind of a meat head I guess. Any little 'tests' I can do to make sure it is milled enough? And what problems would over milling it cause?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

I doubt you'll overmill with a wine bottle.

You should be able to pick up a random handful and not have any whole kernels.

Your hand should also be covered in plenty of flower.
 
I have a feeling you will get extremely low efficiency crushing it your self.

I take my 3 year old and 1 year old to the LBHS all the time. Just bring your grain and leave the kid in the car for 1 minute. Ask the guy that works there to crush it for you while you wait in the car. I am sure they would do it.
 
Another NC brewer!

Well, I don't have a mill yet myself, and if you are in Garner, you're closer to American Brewmaster in Raleigh than you are to me anyway. Good luck either way.
 
Use the tried and true vehicle/plywood/driveway method to crush your grain. Or a rolling pin, I guess.
 
Cregin13,
I'm in Cary, 15 minutes from you. If you ever get into another pickle, please PM me and I'll do anything I can to help you out. Yes, I've got a motorized grain mill.
Jeff
 

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