PM kit from NB-grain not crushed enough?

[Pelican521]

So I just got my first partial mash kit today. It's an oatmeal stout from Northern Brewer and upon inspection, a lot of the grain doesn't look crushed enough.

When I flip the bag over there is a lot of smaller particles but here's a pic of the side that doesn't look crushed enough. Am I crazy?

What should I do?

 

[unionrdr]

I get the same thing from midwest. I do PB/PM BIAB,so a finer crush is ok. I use an old mini food processor half full of grains. Then pulse 3 times,about 2 seconds per pulse. not the best way to crush,but my effciency is good. A grain crusher would solve this problem. There are some cheap ones on amazon & ebay,corona mill is the name.

 

[webby45wr]

You can also put the grain in a bigger ziplock bag and roll it with a rolling pin a few times until you get your desired crush.

 

[Malty_Dog]

You can also put the grain in a bigger ziplock bag and roll it with a rolling pin a few times until you get your desired crush.

I'm probably going to employ this method with my 1xcrushed grains from my LHBS. They have a sign and seemingly a strict policy against "double-crushing", which flies in the face of what I read about improving BIAB efficiency.

I may be in line for a mill at some point, but its too much $$ into the hobby at the moment.

 

[Pelican521]

I hear you, there's always "something" else to buy to make things run more efficiently. I guess I'll also try to take some of the grain out and use a rolling pin on it.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah,I know. The cheapest decent one I could find was the barley crusher at midwest for $130. Has a 7lb hopper & is mounted on a base that fits a 5G bucket. The corona is about $30,but not as good as the roller types.

 

[MikeInMKE]

I had a similar problem with a crush from NB in West Allis. Now I check the crush before I walk out the door.

Anyway, I opted to try the rolling pin rather than drive an hour round trip to NB for another crush. I can now say it would have been worth the drive.

The rolling pin didn't do an adequate job of crushing the grain. Furthermore, the grains were harder than both the plastic bag they were in, and the tin foil I attempted to use instead, poking holes in both. And I wasted more than the hour it would have taken to just drive to NB and back.

I decided to use the grain, such as it was, and ended up missing my OG by two points, as well as loosing the malty character I know the recipe has.

 

[Pelican521]

crap, that's not reassuring

I think I'm just going to use as is instead of trying to crush with the rolling pin. Something tells me I'm just going to make a mess and get all pissed off...

How can I check for efficiency? Is it easy to calculate?

 

[flars]

What did NB have to say about the poor crush?

 

[BansheeRider]

I just ordered a kit from NB, hopefully it's crushed good enough.

 

[Pelican521]

How about a hammer? If I take some of the grain and put into a large ziplock bag where the grain is a thin layer and give it a few whacks?

Anyone try it?

 

[Ogri]

Not so much a hammer but a rubber mallet, with a decent amount of surface area, might do the trick.

 

[unionrdr]

The grains are harder than you think,so put the grain bag inside a tougher plastic bag. Rolling or using a mallet will cause the grains to poke holes in the plastic pretty easily.