Milling Grains At Home

[Dan]

I spent the money on a BC before finding out about Corona mills. The BC works just fine and I enjoy grinding the grain by hand although a drill easily attaches. Brewed last weekend and my daughter ground up at least 10 of the 18 pounds by hand.

Friend of mine found a brand new Corona, two of them actually for 30 dollars total at the local swap meet. He built a little stand for one of them, I think the other he planned to use in the kitchen. He's totally happy with the thing, has a drill connected to it and he saved 90 bucks over the BC. Hmm.. that's 90 dollars for more brew stuff.

 

[Vernacular]

I was leaning toward the barley crusher and then I did some research on the Cereal Killer mill from Adventures in Home Brewing. $90 delivered to your door and it mows through 16 lbs of grain in less than 2 minutes. I am super pleased with mine.

I bought a cereal killer too... it arrived today. I didn't think I was challoenged in any way by things mechanical but this thing is whoopin my butt. I can't seem to get it to work. Tried different gaps and different speeds. Either the grain just falls right through it, or none goes through (hardly) at all. I'm at a loss.. I see videos of the things at work and that frustrates me moreso. It has me thinking the knurls are not sharp enough to "pull" the grain between the rollers.

 

[phuff7129]

I use a spark plug feeler gauge to set my gap at .036. Make sure your drill is not in reverse or if using a handle make sure you are turning clockwise. If your drill is reversed it won't pull the grain through

 

[kingwood-kid]

I have a corona mill. It was cheap. It works great. Granted, it's a little inconvenient to hand-crank 10 pounds of grain through it, but anyone who talks trash about it will have to answer to my totally disproportionate right arm!

 

[Vernacular]

Nothing at all wrong with a corona mill... I read a bit more on the "roller type" crushers and came across a few comments that light a few lights up for me... I have my problem solved. The no driven roller and my cereal killer was jammed ... so I took it apart and deburrecd the ends of the roller where the knurl WAS "hanging" over the end, and the eccentrics that adjust the gap had a bit of a rough finish (the metal trades calls it a fillet) instead of a nice sqaure where the diameters chaged and it was really loading the bearings. I jeweler fines the fillet... reassembled witha drop of canola oil on each end. MAN OH MAN! this baby screamed tho0ugh nine pound of malt in just over a minute.... and my cordless drill didn't have a fresh battery in it. Video to follow next time I crush grains. Can't say enough good about $90 the cereal killer.

 

[Golddiggie]

IMO/IME, going through nine pounds of grain in 'just over' a minute is milling too fast. Crush suffers if you run through too fast. Better to run the rollers at a more reasonable rate. Generally, I target about 250rpm (about 1/2 speed in the 0-500rpm range on my cordless DeWalt hammer drill). I even opt to go a little slower when possible. I use the side handle on the drill (connect it up for milling grains) so that the torque of the drill doesn't spin it from my hands.

BTW, I've not had any issues with my MM2-2.0 like mentioned by Vernacular (with his cereal killer mill). I have to wonder if QC is a bit lacking with some of the other mill makers.

 

[JSGT09]

Moral of the story... Get a solid mill the first time, or you'll [eventually] be looking to replace it later. Spending a bit more now means you'll end up spending less in the long run (factoring in the replacement later).

^This

I tried to go the cheap route with my first mill and did the modified pasta/clay roller (do a search if you want to see one). Price was right but it was a huge pain the butt and my efficiency suffered with it and it took probably 25 minutes and a lot of sweat to crush my grain. I ran about 2 batches through it before I tossed it in the trash. I picked up a Crankandstein for about $70 from brewmasters warehouse and have never looked back. Efficiency is awesome and it takes me all of 5 minutes to crush 10 pounds of grain with my electric drill. Wish I would have bought one from day one.

 

[Vernacular]

IMO/IME, going through nine pounds of grain in 'just over' a minute is milling too fast. Crush suffers if you run through too fast. Better to run the rollers at a more reasonable rate. Generally, I target about 250rpm (about 1/2 speed in the 0-500rpm range on my cordless DeWalt hammer drill). I even opt to go a little slower when possible. I use the side handle on the drill (connect it up for milling grains) so that the torque of the drill doesn't spin it from my hands.

BTW, I've not had any issues with my MM2-2.0 like mentioned by Vernacular (with his cereal killer mill). I have to wonder if QC is a bit lacking with some of the other mill makers.

I have worked inthe metal working trades (generalmachine and screwmachines) and I thought exactly that about QC. The ecentrics looked like they had been tumbled which polishesthings up and removes light burrs. Themore I think about my mill the more I think the filets were the problem. And that was only oneside, the other was fine. The burrs on the rollers were generated when they were knurled it was displaced metal. You machinists knowwhat I mean. Knurling "squishes" them metal into the knurl like formed (rolled) threads instead of cut threads. allthis talk... lol sounds like I'm complaing about the the... I love it. the speed I used, the battery was about dead so enev with the triggerpulled allout (in) it was likely less than halfwhat a fresh charge would have given me. They recommend 300 RPM.

 

[Wreck99]

IMO/IME, going through nine pounds of grain in 'just over' a minute is milling too fast. Crush suffers if you run through too fast. Better to run the rollers at a more reasonable rate. Generally, I target about 250rpm (about 1/2 speed in the 0-500rpm range on my cordless DeWalt hammer drill). I even opt to go a little slower when possible. I use the side handle on the drill (connect it up for milling grains) so that the torque of the drill doesn't spin it from my hands.

BTW, I've not had any issues with my MM2-2.0 like mentioned by Vernacular (with his cereal killer mill). I have to wonder if QC is a bit lacking with some of the other mill makers.

MM2 FTW!!! I love mine. Hook up my cordless drill to it and rip through a good size grain bill in no time at all.

 

[Vernacular]

Here is a link to youtube where I poste4d my video... using the cereal killer. (I hope it works!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBrUfMO-Z_w

 

[Golddiggie]

MM2 FTW!!! I love mine. Hook up my cordless drill to it and rip through a good size grain bill in no time at all.

Used my DeWalt to run through a 30# grain bill on 10/27... Made it easy, when using the side handle on the drill too. Getting set up to brew in the basement where I live, so I might build a cabinet to hold my mill soon. Start with the cabinet to hold the mill, and place the buckets into first. I plan on getting the setup so that I can add a motor to the mix, easily, later.

Higher priority is getting the venting system in place for the steam and CO from using the Blichmann burner(s)... But that will be another thread. :rockin:

 

[william_shakes_beer]

Use a good quality zip lock and throw one of those hand warmer packs in it before you squeeze out the air. It will use up all the oxygen in the bag and you will even see the bag shrink. Store in a cool dark place it will last for months with no problem.

bosco

Those hand warmer packs are based on an exothermic chemical reaction. If oxygen can get in, can't the chemicals get out too? I've never heard of using these to vacuum pack grains, but I am intrigued.

 

[Wreck99]

Used my DeWalt to run through a 30# grain bill on 10/27... Made it easy, when using the side handle on the drill too. Getting set up to brew in the basement where I live, so I might build a cabinet to hold my mill soon. Start with the cabinet to hold the mill, and place the buckets into first. I plan on getting the setup so that I can add a motor to the mix, easily, later.

Higher priority is getting the venting system in place for the steam and CO from using the Blichmann burner(s)... But that will be another thread. :rockin:

I'm going to build a cabinet/cart for mine too in the near future. I'm also interested in possibly motorizing it at some point. No huge need for it, just think it'll be cool to have everything self-contained in one unit.