No problem with grain dust in mash when milling into a bucket?

[Tom R]

I've always tried to minimize the amount of grain dust getting into my mash by having a fan blow the fine dust away as the grain falls from my bench-mounted mill into a bucket on the floor.

Maybe this is unnecessary, I see lots of mills being used while mounted directly onto a bucket. I mill in my woodshop, and mash in the garage, so I'm not worried about containing dust.

Is grain dust in the mash OK? Or maybe even desirable, as long as there's not so much that a stuck mash results? Might even help my efficiency?

 

[Vale71]

By removing the dust you are basically throwing away some of the malt and thus decreasing efficiency. If you have so much dust that a stuck sparge might result you need to improve your crush until that doesn't happen any more.

 

[madscientist451]

How much dust are you generating? I get a small amount, but I never worried about it.

 

[RM-MN]

Have you tried conditioning your malt before crushing. That should get rid of a lot of the dust, preserve the husks, and increase your efficiency. You might be able to crush finer with conditioning which will also increase efficiency.

 

[Tom R]

I wouldn't say it's a lot of dust, maybe a cup after 24 lbs of grain.

 

[RM-MN]

Collect that cup of dust. Heat a quart of water to about 160 degrees and dump the dust in, stirring it in well. Wait 5 minutes and check the gravity of the wort you produced. You may never discard the dust again.

 

[kh54s10]

Grain dust in the air and a spark = explosion. I would not do that!!

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

i mill into a bucket and carefull brush the dust that is stuck on the mill and the base into my bucket! As others have said thats very finely crushed grain with sugars! Unless you have tons and tons resulting in a stuck sparge dont throw it away.

 

[grampamark]

Grain dust in the air and a spark = explosion. I would not do that!!

As a grain farmer and 40 year volunteer firefighter I can assure you that the minimal amount of dust created by milling a few pounds of grain, even if the dust was contained in the smallest possible area to create the highest concentration of dust possible, would not result in an explosion.

I've participated in training for grain elevator fires which included a simulator which could demonstrate the concentration of dust necessary to make combustion possible. The dust in the air is so thick that you can't see through it at combustible levels.

Unless one is milling in an unventilated broom closet, using a motorized mill which is throwing sparks off the commutator, for an extended period of time, I think that the possibility of an explosion can be taken off the list of scary, dangerous homebrewing practices.

 

[kh54s10]

Probably, but I am not going to test the theory. And the removal of the dust is unnecessary.

 

[balrog]

What @grampamark said.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_explosion#/media/File:Dust_explosion_02.jpg

 

[LittleRiver]

I grind directly into a bucket, with the mill mounted to a cap that completely closes off the top of the bucket. Basically all of the dust that is produced falls into the bucket -- I want all of it (I BIAB, so I don't have to worry about stuck sparges).

... the minimal amount of dust created by milling a few pounds of grain...would not result in an explosion...

Agreed.

I've seen a wood dust explosion, they're quite impressive!

We had a 5,000sqft wood shop that was well run, using dust collectors to capture dust at the sources. But dust collectors don't get all of it, so eventually dust will collect in places that collectors and brooms can't reach. An employee was doing a deep cleaning, using an air hose to blow out the dust that had collected in nooks and crannies underneath/behind machines. So there was a lot of wood dust in the air, enough that you definitely wanted a mask on, but by no means would I describe it as "thick".

Suddenly there was a big "whuuump" noise, as a blue flame front shot across the end of the room where he was working. It was fast. It was over as soon as it started. Nobody was hurt, and no damage was done, but it gave all of us a really good scare.

Apparently there was a mitre saw whose 120V plug had worked partially loose, and something got blown into the space between the conductors of the plug that allowed an arc to form, which ignited the dusty air in the room.

 

[kh54s10]

I wonder? I have gotten a pretty thick cloud of grain dust from my corona mill. Granted it was a very small cloud which would probably be a small explosion. Unlikely, but I think it could happen.