Cheap grain mill

[amcclai7]

I'm not trying to cheap out on an already cheap corona mill. I was going to get this one Old Fashioned Corn Grinder | Discount Grain Grinder Mill | Best Prices Corn Grinder

But it is and has been out of stock. What about this generic one from Amazon? It's only 15.99. I am of course leery about this but it might be great, I don't know. Does anyone have any thoughts?

Amazon.com: TALL Cast Iron Corn Nuts Grain Mill grinder HEAVY-DUTY NEW hand crank manual. adjustable from course to fine milling for dry grains, oats, corn, wheat, etc. hand grinder grinds corn, coffee, soybeans, nuts and more! (TALL HEAD CUP FOR MOR

 

[kh54s10]

I have the Amazon one on my Christmas list! I read the reviews and it sounded very adjustable so that is the one I will be trying. Even if I have to buy it next week. I may eventually buy a roller mill but the $100 + in savings would make a lot of beer!

 

[mfraier]

That will work no problem. Get a large funnel and cut off the end to make a bigger hopper and then take off the handle and fix it up with a bolt that you can attach a drill to. You can do a whole batch of grain in no time.

 

[jholen]

I'm not saying it won't work, but why bother?

If you don't want to invest in a mill designed for the task, then just stick to kits that come pre-crushed (NorthernBrewer/etc). I'd save the $30 or so on that Amazon mill and put it towards one designed to do the task down the road.

 

[Calder]

The corona mill works fine. You will probably find you get better mash efficiency than from crushed grain from your LHBS.

Get the one with the bigger hopper.

The one I have has a metric thread for the bolt in the handle. I found a bolt with a hex in it in the specialty section of the hardware store, that I can use a drill on.

I've run a couple of hundred lbs of grain through mine and it is doing fine with no issues, and no signs of deterioration.

 

[Transamguy77]

There is a thread on here called "ugly junk corona mill" it is several years old but has a lot of good info on the corona mills and the knock offs. I purchased one of these I have not used it yet but the info in that thread is encouraging info about these mills.

 

[kh54s10]

I'm not saying it won't work, but why bother?

If you don't want to invest in a mill designed for the task, then just stick to kits that come pre-crushed (NorthernBrewer/etc). I'd save the $30 or so on that Amazon mill and put it towards one designed to do the task down the road.

First off the mill is now only $15.99. When I put it on my list it was only $19.99. Even if it doesn't work well that is not a big investment. Many have great success with these types of mills. Then you can get consistent crushes and buy grain in bulk for the savings. Not a huge risk IMO. And maybe it will work well enough to skip the big $$$ mills altogether!

 

[mfraier]

I'm not saying it won't work, but why bother?

If you don't want to invest in a mill designed for the task, then just stick to kits that come pre-crushed (NorthernBrewer/etc). I'd save the $30 or so on that Amazon mill and put it towards one designed to do the task down the road.

I look at it from the other angle. Why not save over $100 on a mill that will do the exact same thing and spend it else where. $100 is alot of grain, or a good chunk of a kegging system.

I have a very similar mill to the one in the OP and it does a fine job. I try to keep things in brewing as simple, functional, and cost effective as I can. Great beer on tap is my goal, but great beer doesn't mean you have to have a BMW for a mill.

 

[ajf]

I'm not saying it won't work, but why bother?

If you don't want to invest in a mill designed for the task, then just stick to kits that come pre-crushed (NorthernBrewer/etc). I'd save the $30 or so on that Amazon mill and put it towards one designed to do the task down the road.

How about cost?
If I buy enough crushed grains from Northern brewer to last me 6 months, it would cost me over $280.00 including shipping. (6 deliveries of 20 lb Maris Otter, + 1 lb medium crystal + shipping)
If I buy from the LHBS it costs me $136.00 plus $12.00 for transportation (1 * 48 mile round trip).
That gives me 132 very good reasons every 6 months to buy a grain mill.
I bought a Corona mill in 1993, and replaced it with a roller mill in 2005. I don't get better efficiency with the roller mill, but I save a lot of time every brew day.

-a.

 

[Hebby5]

+1 on the larger hopper. Some only come with a small hopper.

I bought mine off Amazon and it came with a hand crank. One problem was that the hole for the crank and mounting screw was not threaded. I bought a tap kit from Home depot and threaded the hole for a hex bolt. I also mounted it onto a piece of 2x4 into a paint bucket and cut the bottom out. You place the mounted
mill and bottomless bucket into 2nd bucket. It takes me about 10 minutes to grind 10-15lbs of grain. You pull out you mill bucket and the 2nd pale holds all your grist. I batch sparge and get 70 - 75% efficiencies. I need to tweak some more things and think I can get a few more % points.

If you're a DIY guy, it's a fun little project and you'll save some $$$.

Ho Ho Ho.

Chris

 

[jholen]

I admit to being proven wrong on the internet.

 

[Snowhere]

Yep, the corona type mills work but eventually you will want a roller mill. In matter of fact, I would sell my old mill for $20 including shipping as I have no need for it anymore. Why? See above!

 

[onthekeg]

My first mill was a corona style and I used it for 6 years with 80%+ efficiencies until I got my 3 roller monster mill. Guess what? My efficiency hasn't went up at all, but the crush is more even. I still use my corona all the time for my adjuncts such as corn and wheat.

 

[finley]

A large oatmeal container fits perfectly on top of the Hopper on the Corona mill. Just tape it in place and you can get several pounds in there at once.

 

[joeybeer]

Just sent you a PM Snowhere ~ I'd love to take that off your hands !