KitchenAid Grain Mill????

[JayZeus]

Hi All,

So I was doing some research on grain mills and stumbled upon a KitchenAid attachment. We already have a KitchenAid so I would not be opposed to getting a mill grinder attachment for it.

I was curious if anyone has experience with using one of these for brewing purposes.

Thanks

 

[bkboiler]

As far as I'm aware this is for grinding flour for baking purposes. That being said...if you could get a spline to connect to a coupler and set your cereal killer (or similar) mill on a stand next to it I'm sure the motor on the kitchen aid is adequately strong.

 

[JayZeus]

As far as I'm aware this is for grinding flour for baking purposes. That being said...if you could get a spline to connect to a coupler and set your cereal killer (or similar) mill on a stand next to it I'm sure the motor on the kitchen aid is adequately strong.

It actually has a setting for "cracking" grain. That's what I would use, right?

 

[FromZwolle]

i'm seeing a price point at around $150, and it looks like a corona style mill.

for that much cash i think there are better option more well suited to crushing grains.

 

[IslandLizard]

Don't!
It will create mostly flour, and it's doubtful it can mill 8-12 pounds of grain comfortably, time after time.

When you're ready to move from extract to all-grain (or partial mash) brewing, buy a proper mill designed for that purpose. Either use a hand crank or a (strong) hand drill to drive it. There are other options such as a dedicated motor and building a stand.
An adjustable gap is important to taylor the crush to your mash system, as well as milling small kernel malt (e.g., wheat, rye) at a smaller gap than barley malt for better extraction and efficiency.

So start looking for local offers such as on Craigslist, our own classifieds (For Sale) forum, etc. Homebrewers are upgrading, quitting, moving, all the time.

Read up before buying, it should be a one time purchase, so do it right the first time.

 

[IslandLizard]

i'm seeing a price point at around $150, and it looks like a corona style mill.

for that much cash i think there are better option more well suited to crushing grains.

Yeah, overpriced gadgets...

I forgot to mention that a Corona style mill (many generics out there) can be had for $25-50, and with some simple modifications can be adjusted to mill brewers grain nicely. Especially when using a BIAB system.

 

[bkboiler]

there's another thread on this exact topic here on HBT if u search google.

That being said, if u really want to use your kitchenaid, I'm sure you could rig up a platform for the KA to bring it to the same height as your milled grain bucket and grab a coupler off mcmaster-carr and a shaft to insert into the KA accessory port.

I have a cereal killer I just got...and using my cordless drill was dead simple (and zero additional cost).

 

[IslandLizard]

For some inspiration, here's my Monster Mill MM2 with a $50 Harbor Freight Heavy Duty Low Speed 1/2" drill, set to crush (under load) at around 150 rpm:

 

[bracconiere]

For some inspiration, here's my Monster Mill MM2 with a $50 Harbor Freight Heavy Duty Low Speed 1/2" drill, set to crush (under load) at around 150 rpm:

View attachment 721230

my god man, you still haven't stained, and varnished that ply wood?

 

[Konadog]

At least it's beveled and sanded

 

[jerrylotto]

I have the kitchen aid attachment and yes, it could crack grain, but it would difficult to do more than a pound at a time. It is made for small scale grinding / cracking. My malt grain mill has a hopper and I can put a bucket under it . I use a washing machine motor and use pulleys to run it at a steady 200 rpm. No problems cracking a 55# bag of grain at one sitting. It is a little hard to see in this picture, but I put a right angle register boot underneath - the grain comes out the left side just under then wood top.

 

[Farmerjohn]

I was curious if anyone has experience with using one of these for brewing purposes.

I have been using one for a couple years. It was gifted to me by a friend as they weren't using it for baking purposes. He thought it may work for grain grinding in my beer making. I think it works well. It is probably slow compared to other mills out there, but I usually only do around 12 lbs. of grain at a time. The biggest grain bill I've done to date is a 18 lb. I've got my next grain recipe on order - 22 lbs. The biggest beer I've done to date. Anyhow, the mill is very adjustable with a simple dial on the front that you can adjust as you go to get the grind you want from almost no crush to nothing but flour. The tighter you make it the longer it takes to mill a pound. A twelve pound grain bill takes about 15-20 minutes to do for my BIAB system. Hell, it takes longer for the mash water to heat up. So I can usually do the grinding while I'm heating water. I've been the Kitchen Aid w/grinding attachment for almost 2 years and have probably done 7 or 8 brews with it. It has been working well and the Kitchen Aid, which I got at a garage sale, doesn't seem to be overtaxed.

For me, it works great!

In my opinion, if you're not into big production, the Kitchen Aid and grain mill will do just fine. The cost of getting the mill compared to a corona style mill would be the only factor that I can't compare to.