Cleaning your grain mill - how too?

[tim_s]

Hi Everyone,

I just bought my first grain mill and curious on how I clean it for my first batch.

 

[sikkingj]

No need to clean it, just shake it out a little and you are good to go.

 

[Cider123]

I ran a couple slices of bread through mine and then called it good. Just to remove any oil that might be on the rollers when packaged.

After using it for grains, I just blow on it and throw a dry towel over it until next time.

 

[unionrdr]

With my Barley Crusher grain mill, they said to run a little grain through it to get the oils off the rollers from shipment. Eventually, the rollers start to get stuck, & need to be disassembled to get the gunk off the bearings, edges of the rollers, etc. But for first use, just clean the oil off the rollers.

 

[Cyclman]

Air hose. If you don't have a compressor, you can get a small one cheap, they're great for blowing out mills, valves, tubing etc.

 

[chickypad]

I don't remember noticing any oils on the first use. I use a little paint brush to wipe the dust off after every batch - that's it.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Don't clean it with water/liquid (high risk of mould). Air or dry cloth/brush only.

 

[cannman]

Guess I drank my first oils...

 

[unionrdr]

I use a hog bristle basting brush I got at Giant Eagle to wipe the dust off the hopper, rollers, & under the base. But an air hose would be nice to get the dust out where the roller assembly is bolted to the base.

 

[sloanfamilydsm]

No need to clean it, just shake it out a little and you are good to go.

This is all I've ever done.

I too must have drank the assembly oils

 

[BrewSavage]

My mill instructions said run a 1/2 lb of grain through it before first use.

 

[brew_ny]

Guess I drank my first oils...

if you are still alive then no worries

 

[Saboral]

I have a monster mill and love it. Unfortunately my mill is mounted Ina stand in my unconditioned garage. I get rust on the rollers so every so often I've been running a clean wire wheel over it.

 

[Braufessor]

I took about 1-2lbs of old grain I had that probably was a couple years old and ran it through about 3-4 times and threw it out just to kind of get anything off of it that might have been there to start with (like oil or shavings). After that, I use a paint brush to kind of dust it off. As others have said - don't "wash" it with water or anything like that.

 

[PlexVector]

Compressed air...but going to add a little soft brushing to boot after reading this thread.

 

[bobeer]

I've never cleaned mine, ha. I didn't notice any factory oils on it before first use either.

I just give it a few good shakes after a crush.

As a side note: Be sure, if you shake it by grabbing the hopper, you make sure there was no separation from the rollers. I didn't notice that my hopper came off of the rollers just a bit and I was letting whole grains get into my crushed grains bucket thus greatly effecting my efficiency.

 

[DrunkleJon]

Run something through it to clean off manufacturing oils, much like with any new metal purchases that touch food.

After a milling session brush down the rollers to get the flour off. Its kinda gross when you go to mill some grain and you see flour covered spiderwebs.

I have had my mill for years with no issues.

 

[kombat]

As others have said, you don't need to clean your mill before its first use, other than maybe running a handful of grain through it to remove residual oils from manufacturing (which half of us didn't even do). After each use, a gentle knock, quick brush, or blast of compressed air will help keep it clean. Every year or two, you can give it a thorough cleaning (see this article for a guide for Barley Crushers).

 

[unionrdr]

Yup, you're right about that. I've been using mine for nearly 2 years, & had to take it apart to clean the floury stuff-turned-hard gunk off things. But I still need to loosen the bolts on the bottom a hair to get it to crank more easily.

 

[fimpster]

My Cereal Killer did have a bit of oil on the rollers, but I ran a couple lbs. of grain through it while setting and testing the gap initially anyhow, so that soaked anything up.

After each use I hit it with a couple quick bursts from a can of compressed air.

 

[wardens355]

I spin the rollers and brush them off, then used canned air to blow off the rollers and get flour out of the crevices.

 

[stpug]

I ran a pound or two of cheap white rice through my mill a couple time (re-ran same rice) to both help remove any manufacturing oils and metal chads/flakes. After that, a quick brushing with a paint brush was all that was done prior to first milling. That was the only prep I did prior to use the new mill.

Now, after each milling I simply use the same paint brush to get excess flour off of the mill. Occasionally I'll blow the flour around the rollers with either compressed air (rare) or breath (usually).

 

[unionrdr]

I was just thinking to look in the garage for my old Dirt Dawg (Browns version of dirt devil). That's small enough to vacuum a grain mill.

 

[IslandLizard]

+1^ on the rice!

And put goggles on...