Kevin Swan
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Cleaning your grain mill is one of those things that most of us know we should be doing, but don't do as often as we should (if we do it at all). I know it's something I put off for much longer than I should have as I was intimidated to loosen the screws of my Barley Crusher. I was afraid I'd mess something up or throw it out of calibration, and it would never work correctly again.
Well hopefully this article will dispel some of those fears and show you that cleaning/maintaining your mill is far easier than you think it is.
The first step is to remove the face and rear plates. These come off by removing two simple Phillips-head screws on the front and back. Note that the rear screws are the same ones you loosen to adjust the roller gap. This time, take them all the way off.
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With the screws removed, the plate comes right off, allowing you easy access to brush off any grain dust. I use an old toothbrush on mine, but you can use whatever works.
Next you need to remove the hopper. Again, this is held in place simply by a pair of screws. In this case, the screws secure on the inside of the hopper with a nut. Using the appropriately-sized wrench, remove the two screws on either side of the mill body.
With the screws and nuts removed, the hopper easily lifts away from the mill body.
Now you have easy access to the business components of the mill: the rollers themselves. Give them a good scrub to release any caked-on grain dust. This dust buildup impedes the rollers' ability to grab grain and pull it through the mill, leading to frustrating spinning without crushing any grain. Giving the rollers a good scrub will restore the "tooth" to the rollers, restoring them to their full milling potential. I use a wire BBQ brush to scrub mine, and I use the old toothbrush to get the ends where the brush can't reach.
Lastly, you should lubricate the roller bushings. In order to access them, you need to separate the rollers from the end housings. The whole unit is held together by two bolts in the base. Flip the mill over and loosen these bolts with a wrench. Once the bolts are removed, the rollers should easily separate from the mill ends.
Lubricate the roller bushings with just a couple of drops of food-safe oil. I use vegetable oil in a small squeeze bottle.
That's all there is to it! Now you can put everything back together in the reverse order. Make sure you reset your mill gap width to the desired setting. With my Barley Crusher, the factory width setting is indicated by a pair of corresponding marks on the roller adjustment shaft and the mill body itself. I like to tighten the gap to just a hair past the marks, maybe 1/16 of a turn.
I hope this article has helped ease any apprehension you may have had about opening up your mill, and shown you that you can improve your mill's performance by carrying out 15 minutes of easy maintenance. Aim to do this cleaning/lubrication once or twice per year, depending on how often you brew, or whenever you notice your mill failing to "grab" the grain like it used to.
Well hopefully this article will dispel some of those fears and show you that cleaning/maintaining your mill is far easier than you think it is.
The first step is to remove the face and rear plates. These come off by removing two simple Phillips-head screws on the front and back. Note that the rear screws are the same ones you loosen to adjust the roller gap. This time, take them all the way off.
With the screws removed, the plate comes right off, allowing you easy access to brush off any grain dust. I use an old toothbrush on mine, but you can use whatever works.
Next you need to remove the hopper. Again, this is held in place simply by a pair of screws. In this case, the screws secure on the inside of the hopper with a nut. Using the appropriately-sized wrench, remove the two screws on either side of the mill body.
With the screws and nuts removed, the hopper easily lifts away from the mill body.
Now you have easy access to the business components of the mill: the rollers themselves. Give them a good scrub to release any caked-on grain dust. This dust buildup impedes the rollers' ability to grab grain and pull it through the mill, leading to frustrating spinning without crushing any grain. Giving the rollers a good scrub will restore the "tooth" to the rollers, restoring them to their full milling potential. I use a wire BBQ brush to scrub mine, and I use the old toothbrush to get the ends where the brush can't reach.
Lastly, you should lubricate the roller bushings. In order to access them, you need to separate the rollers from the end housings. The whole unit is held together by two bolts in the base. Flip the mill over and loosen these bolts with a wrench. Once the bolts are removed, the rollers should easily separate from the mill ends.
Lubricate the roller bushings with just a couple of drops of food-safe oil. I use vegetable oil in a small squeeze bottle.
That's all there is to it! Now you can put everything back together in the reverse order. Make sure you reset your mill gap width to the desired setting. With my Barley Crusher, the factory width setting is indicated by a pair of corresponding marks on the roller adjustment shaft and the mill body itself. I like to tighten the gap to just a hair past the marks, maybe 1/16 of a turn.
I hope this article has helped ease any apprehension you may have had about opening up your mill, and shown you that you can improve your mill's performance by carrying out 15 minutes of easy maintenance. Aim to do this cleaning/lubrication once or twice per year, depending on how often you brew, or whenever you notice your mill failing to "grab" the grain like it used to.