Just got the new "Cereal Killer" Grain Mill

[hi_octane]

Hmmm... Now I'm concerned that the mill Melchizedek just received might not be from the same source as that which CS223 deconstructed which has the "Made in Michigan" stamp (as seen in the attached).

Oh wait, any chance there's a town in China named "Michigan" ???

Melchizedek, can you closely compare your mill with the pictures CS223 posted and report back as to a match? Thanks.

Prost!
H.O./Jeff

 

[CS223]

Digging around and doing a reverse look up on the phone number comes up with Kero's Creative Craftsman, which is a custom woodworking business so it's highly likely that only the base is/was US made. As I mentioned elsewhere, I have some photos of a Barley Crusher disassembled and they look identical except the BC lacks the bearings and the additional screws. I could post the BC pic but it's not mine, if I can find the BC thread, I'll link it. Anyone know if it's US made?

 

[Melchizedek]

I did compare my mill with those pictures, and as far as I can tell, they are identical, except for the "signature" at the bottom. I'm willing to give the benefit of the doubt to Charles Kero, considering that the manufacturer said that they now produce the mill with the base. Maybe I received a newer unit that already had the base and thus could not be marked as "made in Michigan".

Here's how I got the info:

- Our roller mill is same function as monster, But different manufacturer. Ours are made in China. Same quality but more cheap.
- Could you just tell me then, is your grain mill similar to the Monster Mill as you mentioned, or similar (or identical?) to the Cereal Killer ( http://www.homebrewing.org/Cereal-Killer-Grain-Mill_p_2310.html)?
- The Cereal Killer from Adventure would be supplied by us.
- Why then does the seller say that it is made in USA? Is it simply because he added a wooden base?
- Not sure. Before we have no wooden base, but now ours is with the base.

 

[Guidry]

Just curious, I can't find where "Adventures" claims it it made in the U.S.

 

[Melchizedek]

I don't think they do, the only "proof" I had was the picture from these forums. I did not express myself correctly (English is not my mother tongue)

(but it's written in the comments they posted)

 

[LibertyHillBrewery]

So, are you guys finding any time to brew with all this investigating??

 

[rwinzing]

I ordered mine yesterday.....as I would perfer to buy all American made products $89.00 vs. $140.00 plus is a big difference. I can save that extra cash for grain, or my next home brew gaget.

 

[Cruzn4aBrewzn]

well I pulled the trigger on one of these as $89 shipped is awesome and I could not pass it up. I am disappointed that it's not US made as stated but for what I am getting for the price I paid I cannot complain as I also ordered a March 815 pl-c brewing pump and together they are the same price as a higher end mill with the base and hopper. and now I will finally have a mill and a pump!!!!
I am like a kid waiting for Christmas I can't wait to play with my new toys!

 

[CS223]

Little update, got to use my mill today. I set the roller gap to 0.036" per recommendations for BIAB. I also conditioned the malt per this thread, using about 3 oz of water in a 5 gal bucket while mixing & misting. I used my 1/2" drive air drill which runs at 500 RPM to drive the mill. The mill did an awesome job, met my every expectation for the quality of crush. No problems encountered, it does take some power to run the mill. No regrets on this purchase.

 

[ArcLight]

If using BIAB why do you need to condition your malt, because if the grain "explodes" its not a big deal.
Though with a 1.25 inch diameter, I can see the grains more likely to explode, instead of be crushed, and stay intact.

My question is if the metal is soft, how durable is it? How long until the knurls wear down?
Didn't one of you say the steel did not seem hardened?

I just saw this at Adventures in Home Brewing.
http://www.homebrewing.org/Cereal-Killer-Grain-Mill_p_2310.html?AffId=160

That handle does seem very short, how long would it take to grind 10 pounds?
I would imagine its hard to hold/rotate with such short strokes, and would have greater torque than a longer handle.

 

[CS223]

If using BIAB why do you need to condition your malt, because if the grain "explodes" its not a big deal.
Though with a 1.25 inch diameter, I can see the grains more likely to explode, instead of be crushed, and stay intact.

My question is if the metal is soft, how durable is it? How long until the knurls wear down?
Didn't one of you say the steel did not seem hardened?

I just saw this at Adventures in Home Brewing.
http://www.homebrewing.org/Cereal-Killer-Grain-Mill_p_2310.html?AffId=160

That handle does seem very short, how long would it take to grind 10 pounds?
I would imagine its hard to hold/rotate with such short strokes, and would have greater torque than a longer handle.

Conditioning makes for a better and more uniform crush and also cuts down on the dust & keeps the hulls intact. In my opinion, the extra fluffiness of the grind makes for better better flow thorough the bag and the bag might even drain better after mashing so less squeezing. Since I recirculate during mashing, I think it improves the flow and I didn't have any problems with dough balls.

Unless you are grinding rocks, you'll never wear the rollers out. If you do, you will have long since gotten your $89 out of it.

The handle that they offer is useless. It will take a long crank, 12" at least, to get enough torque, it was working my air drill. As for hand crank time, I have no idea.

 

[mrgstiffler]

Just ordered this. Very good price and looks like people are happy with it.

 

[phuff7129]

Ordered my Cereal Killer for $89 and it was delivered to my door in 4 days. Set the gap a .035 using a feeler guage and crushed 16 lbs of grain for an IPA I am doing. Worked perfectly and got a great crush. I had been getting around 68% efficiency using my big mashtun and this time I got 73% with the crush from the cereal killer. I also used a Milwaukee 14.4 volt cordless drill on the slow speed with no problems at all. Very pleased so far.

 

[Hoppybeav]

I ordered mine and it arrived intact and looking ready to crush... except it has a tacky machine oil residue or corrosion resistant film all over.

Did anyone clean theirs off first or just start crushing?

 

[mrgstiffler]

Looks like mine isn't even going to ship until next month...

 

[day_trippr]

I ordered mine and it arrived intact and looking ready to crush... except it has a tacky machine oil residue or corrosion resistant film all over.

Did anyone clean theirs off first or just start crushing?

Run a quarter pound of base malt through the mill, check the results for crush quality, and make any mill adjustments needed. Run another quarter pound of base through, verify the crush looks good, then toss the grain...

Cheers!

 

[Melchizedek]

What kind of cleaning/maintenance does this mill require?

 

[mrgstiffler]

What kind of cleaning/maintenance does this mill require?

I'm also wondering this.

 

[dbrewski]

just got confirmation that these units which were out, are due to hit the US on Sept. 26, and will ship from homebrewing.org 11 days later. Bummer, I ordered mine two weeks ago and now have two more to go. I have a beat up barley crusher with a crooked drive shaft to hold me over though.

 

[sr20steve]

I have crushed two batches so far, yesterday did a ipa BIAB that was supposed to have a 1.059 OG ended up hitting 1.070 with the gap set at .040" (verified with a millwright .040 stainless shim). I really like it so far it's pretty damn nice for the price.

 

[mrgstiffler]

I have crushed two batches so far, yesterday did a ipa BIAB that was supposed to have a 1.059 OG ended up hitting 1.070 with the gap set at .040" (verified with a millwright .040 stainless shim). I really like it so far it's pretty damn nice for the price.

What was your efficiency for each batch? Did you double crush or just single?

 

[Rickochet]

The Cereal Killer has met or exceeded all my expectations. I set the gap at .035" and with a single crush, consistent 75-80% efficiencies are the norm. For 90 bucks shipped, you can't go wrong. I highly recommend this mill.

 

[Guidry]

Just used my Cereal Killer for the first time last weekend. Worked great and my efficiency did go up some but I have a question.

I have looked in about 6 different auto parts stores and cannot find "blade" type gap gauges that go to .040". Most only go up to about .030" and all that I have seen jump to wires style when they get as large as about .035-.040. For now, I've used Cajun ingenuity and after about 2 hours of searching through my shed with a digital caliper, I found a small section of sheet metal that measured .040" thick and used that. Problem is, I can't try a smaller gap without making another extended search.....

Question: For those of you that have blade type gauges, that range up to .040", where did you get them?????? Help please!

 

[DoctorMemory]

Question: For those of you that have blade type gauges, that range up to .040", where did you get them?????? Help please!

Usual practice is to get 2-3 blades with thicknesses that add up to the value you want (e.g., .025 and .015) and use them together. At least, that's what we used to do when setting spark plug gaps, hope I don't give any machinists a heart attack!

 

[Guidry]

I thought about using multiple blades but I wasn't sure if the assembly could be taken apart. Are the blades removable?

 

[Rickochet]

You don't have to remove the "blades." Just take 2 that total up to .035" slide them in between the rollers, push the rollers together and you will have the perfect gap. Make sure that you use the gauge on each end of the rollers as you adjust. BTW--.035" is the perfect gap for this mill!

 

[jfr1111]

The handle is indeed useless, I don't know what they were thinking when they designed this. I found out that my drill had died when I went to mill my grain Fiday and thus I had to mill only using the handle. I'm not a small guy, but grinding around 9 pounds of grain took around 10-15 minutes and it was HARD. I had set the mill at .036" but it was such a pita that I reverted back to the factory setting. Still got 70+ efficiency though (with my LHBS, I used to get 60% on good days).

 

[Guidry]

Well, I attempted to adjust my gap down from .040 to .035 and had a little trouble. When I would tighten the thumb screws down, the adjustment knobs kept jumping back to the .040 mark (I marked it for reference). Anyone else experience this?

Finally got it pretty close to where I wanted it though.

Oh, I also deteremined that a grain mill will not function properly with the drill/motor running in reverse! I use a cordless drill and apparently the last time I used it, I was removing screws. I was almost in a panic state trying to figure out what happened to my mill as it was just spinning and no grain being crushed....Then it struck me!

 

[starsailor]

... except it has a tacky machine oil residue or corrosion resistant film all over.

That sticky oil/wax coating is usually a dead ringer for "made in china" or at least made overseas and shipped in container by sea. It's there to protect steel parts from corrosion in the high humidity of a marine environment. Just go to Harbor Freight or any discount auto parts brand and touch anything and that looks like steel or cast iron you'll know how to id it.

It comes off really easily with carb cleaner, brake cleaner, or any half decent solvent. Just make sure you don't wash the lube out of the bearings as they likely have only dust caps and not good liquid tight seals in them.

 

[CS223]

Well, I attempted to adjust my gap down from .040 to .035 and had a little trouble. When I would tighten the thumb screws down, the adjustment knobs kept jumping back to the .040 mark (I marked it for reference). Anyone else experience this?

I did, what I ended up doing is measuring the error then compensating the adjustment by that amount so it tightened where I wanted it. In your case, set the gap to .030" and tighten so it ends up at .035. A cup point setscrew would probably solve the problem.