Pasta Roller Grain Mill?

[NorthCountyBrewing]

Hi all, new to forum and all grain brewing. I've seen some pasta rollers automated(with power drills) and mounted with a hopper. Has anyone done this themselves and how efficient is it. I have a pasta roller sitting around and want to mod it so I can avoid going to the LHBS when not necessary.

 

[Michael_K]

I'm curious too - hopefully someone who's tried it sees this and weighs in...

 

[motleybrew]

There are threads about this. I've made one. You need to gouge up the rollers with a big drill bit for it to bite into the grain. Using a hand drill, it works. But be prepared to take some time if you need to mill a big grain bill. Adjustments are minimal. But I found it works relatively well for a dirt cheap grain mill. That said, I'm saving up for an actual mill in the future

 

[ButcherBoy]

I used one for awhile, it was tricky to get it gouged enough to work. But, it DID work, and it worked pretty well till I wore it out. I milled grain for 12-15 batches, finally gave up on it when it was taking 45min to do 10lbs. Had enough money to buy a 3 roller CrankandStien to replace it with, got that powered with my Shopsmith, now it only takes 5-10 mins to mill the grain bill. But, the pasta roller is a great low cost way to get into milling your own grain.

 

[NorthCountyBrewing]

Yeah I figured the stress from crushing grains will wear it much faster than its intended use. I plan to pull the rollers and take an angle grinder to them to form some striations that will pull the grain through. I've seen YouTube videos of some builds but no how to's. This is a screenshot of one mill to get an idea of the mounting. I do not own this photo.

 

[Funkychef]

Im currently using one as I just started AG and had an old one sitting around. It works but takes quite a wile to crush grain but it does work, but Im thinking to buy a proper mill to make it easier, if you have one laying around its worth using, if not might be easier just to buy a proper mill


Drink more coffee and do stupid things faster

 

[day_trippr]

I'm curious too - hopefully someone who's tried it sees this and weighs in...

Look down at the bottom of the page for threads to chase...

Cheers!

 

[Just-a-sip]

I have a slightly modded version of the pasta mill. I took mine apart and had a machinist friend knurl the rollers just like a traditional mill. Ive been brewing all grain for about a year now with about 2 (some more some less) brews a month so lets say roughly 24 batches at an average of 12 lbs per batch so lets say ive run just under 300lbs of grain through my pasta mill with a drill... and this beast will easily last me another year or 2 with no issues.

if you have a machine shop around willing to do a quick job i highly recommend it.

 

[JohnSand]

I (and a few others) just use a blender. You don't get tannins, (myth) and I BIAB, so no stuck mashes. Grinding my grain takes only as long as heating my strike water on an SP10. The blender is a '70s model bought at a yard sale for $5. But after about 25 batches, it got finicky. So I bought another on ebay for $2.99, but shipping was $10! Now I'm almost $20 in for a couple of hundred pounds of grain. If you do use a blender, only grind a cup at a time, but each cup only requires about 5 seconds.

 

[Just-a-sip]

I (and a few others) just use a blender. You don't get tannins, (myth) and I BIAB, so no stuck mashes. Grinding my grain takes only as long as heating my strike water on an SP10. The blender is a '70s model bought at a yard sale for $5. But after about 25 batches, it got finicky. So I bought another on ebay for $2.99, but shipping was $10! Now I'm almost $20 in for a couple of hundred pounds of grain. If you do use a blender, only grind a cup at a time, but each cup only requires about 5 seconds.

Holy crap a cup at a time... I do 12 lbs at a time in my hopper. But with you 5 seconds per cup x roughlt 100 cups you telling me you grind with a blender in about 8 minutes...thats almost faster then my mill chews. I think your exadurating just a touch.

 

[JohnSand]

I readily admit that I haven't timed it, nor measured the amount I add. I just use a scoop, and put in enough so it doesn't fly around, but does all grind up. I use "chop". I don't know what the rpms are, but it's high. I put my strike water on before weighing and grinding the grain. I'm done before the water is too hot. Is it 8 minutes? Maybe. Maybe 12? But it's cheap, easy, efficient, easy to store the blender, and it doesn't slow my brewing.

 

[barleywhore69]

Yeah I figured the stress from crushing grains will wear it much faster than its intended use. I plan to pull the rollers and take an angle grinder to them to form some striations that will pull the grain through. I've seen YouTube videos of some builds but no how to's. This is a screenshot of one mill to get an idea of the mounting. I do not own this photo. View attachment 236190

Heh, that's my grain mill. I made a bit to run it with my drill but it shakes the crap out of it and seems like it won't last long if I keep that up. I have been using the hand crank and it takes about 2-3 minutes per pound. I just watch something on TV while I get some exercise grinding. I used a variety of drill bits, running in reverse, to rough up the rollers. I think the crush is pretty good. I have never checked my efficiency but my beers are good. The local LHBS is 2 miles away and they have an amazing mill that is extremely fast but sometimes I just don't feel like leaving the house or wasting gas when I can just do it by hand.

 

[barleywhore69]

Here is what the rollers look like. I think if I'm gentle with it, it should last a long time.

 

[day_trippr]

The drill-bit "knurling" is impressive.
If you had the patience to do that, you already know you can refresh the rollers if they start losing grip - something you can't practically do with store-bought mills...

Cheers!

 

[barleywhore69]

I suppose I could refresh the rollers if I needed to. I'm more concerned with the slot where you insert the crank handle being stripped out from using a drill to run the thing. I used a large flathead screwdriver tip that I sawed off to about 2" long, chucked into a drill, to run many pounds of grain through the "mill" quickly. After a while I noticed that the metal of the screwdriver bit was stronger than the pasta roller crank slot and it was chewing it up inside. I think if I was willing to hacksaw the actual hand crank into a drill bit form, it would be better. The screwdriver bit doesn't fit perfectly, even with a bunch of tape wrapped around it. If I rigged something to hold the drill in the perfect position, it would be better still. I've noticed that the entire unit flexes a little as I crank away from myself vs coming back toward myself. The gap widens very slightly on the crank side. I think a drill powering it would minimize that flexing though.

 

[day_trippr]

If the mill has been fully and irrevocably committed to your brewing needs, perhaps you could have a fitting welded to the mill that would better mate up with your drill...

Cheers!