Advice on Malts and grinding

Hey brewers

I did a price check on a grinder for malts, now the price of them were pretty outrageous. Since as I have been reading alot and I like to troubleshoot. I have an old food processor. So since all that the grinder does is open up the grains to get to that sugar and other great stuff, also it is then filtered or in a nylon bag.

I really can't see a problem in using the food processor to open up the malt. Sure it may take a little bit longer cause the processor can't hold that much.


Any feedback on this?

You dont want to crush the grains too much or else you will end up with flour and your efficiency will drop like a rock. A food processor will leave you will more flower than cracked grain. All you are trying to do is crack the husk. A rolling pin will give you a better crush than a food processor.

Everything that I have read has indicated that it will tear the grain husks. I guess that you could try and see how it works but a mill will eventually pay for itself in the reduced costs of brewing.

Using a food processor will open up the grain and destroy the husks. The husks are actually the filter in most lauter tuns. You will have a hard time trying the sparge if you do that. Most likely you will get a stuck sparge and horrible efficacy.

I'd go at them with a rolling pin. I do not think the food processor is a good idea.

.....And for the record, though I've recently defended the cheap Corona Mill as 'acceptable', I am no longer offering it my support. It's just not good enough.....I am in the market for a 'real' mill.

I tried a food processor and in my hands I got way too much flour but with enough rice hulls I was still able to brew and the efficiency wasn't too bad. The CrankandStein and Barley Crusher are both nice mills but both above $100. I ended up with a CrankandStein and I love that thing. I made a proto-type hopper and have it dialed in; the hardwood version will be made when I have the time. The Barley Crusher will come ready to use right out of the box and I've only heard great reviews for that one as well. You get a mill and buy grain in bulk and that mill could pay for itself in a matter of one season's brewing or shorter.

sAvAgE said:

Hey brewers

I did a price check on a grinder for malts, now the price of them were pretty outrageous.

Click to expand...

If you brew enough to justify buying bulk grains, and you can get bulk grains locally at a reasonable price, I don't think that the cost of grain mills is outrageous.

In my case, I get through about 220# Maris Otter per year. Buying it in 55# bags costs me $140 per year. Buying it in 1# bags would cost me $352, and 10# bags would be $242, and those figures ignore the cost of a 50 mile round trip to the store which I only have to do about 4 times per year.

For me, the cost of the malt mill was recovered in less than a year, and it's several years old and still going strong.

-a.