Mill Cleaning

[Bubman]

So I dove in and got a cereal killer from AIH for a great price. Had it for $99 with 13% off and free shipping so I couldn't pass that up.

I just crushed my first batch and it works great!

How do you clean the mill, just blow it off and wipe it down or can you run water through it? I know the rollers are SS and the body is aluminum but worry about getting water in the bearings.

 

[FunkedOut]

I just use a bench brush to get the heavy dust off.
I use the brush right before milling having any stuff fall on the gound outside.
I use the brush again right after milling having any stuff fall in the mash tun.
After all, there’s rodent/bug stuff in the grain.

 

[MaxStout]

Buy a cheap paint brush to clean off the dust.

 

[kh54s10]

Just got the Cereal Killer also, after using a corona style mill for 7 3/4 years. I never cleaned it more than brushing off some of the dust. Don't expect to do more with the CK.

 

[Vale71]

How do you clean the mill, just blow it off and wipe it down or can you run water through it? I know the rollers are SS and the body is aluminum but worry about getting water in the bearings.

I don't know where you got that information but it's just wrong. The rollers are made of hardened steel, if you get it wet they will rust in no time. The best way to clean them is to run some malt through the mill and then throw it away, shortly before milling the actual grist.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Best way to clean your mill is to put fresh grain through it for your next batch

Kidding aside, you may want to periodically clear the grain dust, but as the cereal killer has sealed bearings it will likely spin nicely for a very long time regardless.

Grain dust is laden w/ lactobacillus, leave it be lol

Rdwhahb

 

[day_trippr]

I give my mill a thorough blow-out with a compressor. Especially the roller-sidewall gaps.
Statistically this mill has outlived the generally perceived lifespan for the model

Cheers!

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

6 years and I've never cleaned my Mill. Bang out the dust into the bucket of milled grains when I'm done and it goes back in the box.

 

[Rev2010]

Like Vale71 said, do not use water! Just simply brush off the dust. You don't even need to do that really but since my mill is stored in a closet I brush it off so I don't get grain dust everywhere when moving it. I simply turn my mill on its side and brush it off into my kitchen sink while turning the rollers slowly. Then I flip it 180 and brush again and done.


Rev.

 

[wilserbrewer]

I mounted my corona mill inside an oversized bucket, the mill and dust stay in the bucket full time and stray dust is nearly eliminated.

I brew in a finished basement, and don’t like to clean so my whole brewing process is centered around not making a mess.

A roller mill could likely be mounted inside rather than on top of a bucket...

Link in my signature

 

[Cato1507]

So I dove in and got a cereal killer from AIH for a great price. Had it for $99 with 13% off and free shipping so I couldn't pass that up.

I just crushed my first batch and it works great!

How do you clean the mill, just blow it off and wipe it down or can you run water through it? I know the rollers are SS and the body is aluminum but worry about getting water in the bearings.

I use my compressor to blow it off and that seems to work well so far.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Cereal Killer rollers *will* eventually start seizing if you don't clean it. Well over 100 batches before it happened to me, but happens to others sooner.

A brush off of dust (I just brush it into the milled grain) followed by compressed air to clean out the rest.

Eventually you'll have to start periodically breaking it down and cleaning all the individual parts fully (and eventually pretty regularly until you opt to just replace it, which for me was batch ~200 or so). I use a rag and isopropyl alcohol, I wouldn't use water.

 

[tellyho]

Don't use compressed air on the CK. It will blow flour into the sealed bearings on the roller (unless they have moved to bushings). Trust me - already had to replace one roller. I use my shop vac to clean it off after use.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Don't use compressed air on the CK. It will blow flour into the sealed bearings on the roller (unless they have moved to bushings). Trust me - already had to replace one roller. I use my shop vac to clean it off after use.

Flour gets in there anyway. That's part of the problem. Compressed air lessened the regularity of having to rip the thing apart for me. At first I would just brush it out after using it. Which worked, until it didn't.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Wait. Never mind.

I'm thinking Barley Crusher, NOT Cereal Killer.

I replaced the Barley Crusher (to which my prior comments are ascribed) WITH the Cereal Killer but never used it enough to reach that failure point.

 

[day_trippr]

Yes, the BC is bushed. And there's irony in a "sealed bearing" that admits dust.
Imo unless one side-loads a mill drive there's no real advantage to bearings at a home-brewer scale...

Cheers!

 

[Murphys_Law]

After I mill I tap the wood base on the side of the garage a few times, put it back in the (original) box, and back on the shelf!

 

[tellyho]

Yes, the BC is bushed. And there's irony in a "sealed bearing" that admits dust.
Imo unless one side-loads a mill drive there's no real advantage to bearings at a home-brewer scale...

Cheers!

I mean, any "sealed" bearing is only more sealed. I've completely hosed out a very nice enduro sealed bearing in a bike headset riding for 100 miles in the rain. They're all impregnable to one extent or another. I've had luck moving to a vacuum to clean out instead of compressor.

 

[Bubman]

I don't know where you got that information but it's just wrong. The rollers are made of hardened steel, if you get it wet they will rust in no time. The best way to clean them is to run some malt through the mill and then throw it away, shortly before milling the actual grist.

I stand corrected, not sure where I got that from. I looked at so many mills on Amazon,ebay and homebrew supply sites.



Thanks for the reply's guys.

 

[SEndorf]

As mentioned by a couple of posters, tap the dust off and store. There is no reason to clean your mill with water, air, or wasting malt.

 

[augiedoggy]

So I dove in and got a cereal killer from AIH for a great price. Had it for $99 with 13% off and free shipping so I couldn't pass that up.

I just crushed my first batch and it works great!

How do you clean the mill, just blow it off and wipe it down or can you run water through it? I know the rollers are SS and the body is aluminum but worry about getting water in the bearings.

I dont "clean" mine.. it only ever gets exposed to grain and grain dust which goes into the beer.. no issues , no worries over 5 years later.

 

[augiedoggy]

Yes, the BC is bushed. And there's irony in a "sealed bearing" that admits dust.
Imo unless one side-loads a mill drive there's no real advantage to bearings at a home-brewer scale...

Cheers!

as a person who has used "cheap" ball bearing mills both at home for over 5 years and now at a brewpub I beg to differ... The countless complaints of stuck rollers on the cheap bushing rollers (which is not always knurling wear from whats been shared) seem to show the bushing in fact wear faster and load up with grain dust regardless of pulley motor applications or not, wheres Ive yet to see any thread complaining of problems with the bearings on any of these cheap mills with ball bearings. When you add in the fact ant all the more expensive and pro mills use bearings the evidence seems to favor that the bearings are superior to bronze bushing for this application. If they are in fact cheaper than the more advertised mills but have this advantage then its just that as I see it. An advantage.

I'm going to add that I have been working with both bearings and bushings like this in high paper/media dust enviroments in large printing equipment I service and maintain and bushings do have a higher wear rate even here. the better quality the machine the less bushings and more bearings I normally see.

 

[Vale71]

Grain dust definitely won't harm the mill, but if stored in a humid environment a lactic fermentation might start and you might later detect a rancid, unpleasant smell that you might not want to have in your next batch. That won't happen of course if it stays sufficiently dry, so one more reason not to clean it with water if you will.

 

[balrog]

Very good point about the humidity

 

[Vale71]

And if your mill does smell "funky" I still recommend milling a handful of throw-away malt (anything past "best by date" is a good candidate) to get rid of it in a manner that surely won't harm the mill.

 

[kh54s10]

And if your mill does smell "funky" I still recommend milling a handful of throw-away malt (anything past "best by date" is a good candidate) to get rid of it in a manner that surely won't harm the mill.

What is "best by date" I have grain that is over 3 years old and is still pretty fresh. I keep them in sealed containers. I have never thrown any away except for some peat smoked malt that somehow grew a large crop of mold on them.

Personally I would do something else. Adding more grain dust to a "funky" doesn't sound productive. In that case I would probably disassemble and wipe everything down with Isopropyl alcohol. In other words - do a thorough cleaning.

 

[Cato1507]

as a person who has used "cheap" ball bearing mills both at home for over 5 years and now at a brewpub I beg to differ... The countless complaints of stuck rollers on the cheap bushing rollers (which is not always knurling wear from whats been shared) seem to show the bushing in fact wear faster and load up with grain dust regardless of pulley motor applications or not, wheres Ive yet to see any thread complaining of problems with the bearings on any of these cheap mills with ball bearings. When you add in the fact ant all the more expensive and pro mills use bearings the evidence seems to favor that the bearings are superior to bronze bushing for this application. If they are in fact cheaper than the more advertised mills but have this advantage then its just that as I see it. An advantage.

I'm going to add that I have been working with both bearings and bushings like this in high paper/media dust enviroments in large printing equipment I service and maintain and bushings do have a higher wear rate even here. the better quality the machine the less bushings and more bearings I normally see.

Aye, that and helical gears like on the Heidelberg I had when I owned a small commercial shop.