Tell me about grain mills....

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I have a CK and set it with a feeler gauge. I use .035 for barley and .025 for wheat (if my grain bill contains both I mill each separately, readjusting the rollers between grains). My mill will only go down to .025; the adjustable roller is on an eccentric and turning the knob past the .025 mark starts moving the rollers apart.
 
Check out the mashmaster mini mill. All stainless, fluted rollers and in my mind the most important,both rollersb are driven thanks to them being geared together.

It is a solid unit.i am very happy with mine.
 
I am a cereal killer user. There are better mills on the market but it is a good compromise of price and quality. The rollers are good and adjustable and I feel I get a good, consistent grind.

I agree with a comment or question above that most people are happy with the mill they bought no matter what it is so maybe it is not valuable for most brewers to spend more than the minimum necessary to get a decent adjustable mill. The nicer mills probably have more durability and life to them but if a $100 cereal killer lasts twenty years I am not sure moving up to a $500 mill makes tremendous sense--at least for my brewing.

My first mill was a corona style mill. I brewed lots of good beer with it. It is not as consistent of a grind and messy but it can work if you fit a cover over the plates. I intend to restore it to use grinding unmalted grains but haven't got around to it. The corona mills were great value when they were $30 and most roller mills were closer to $150 or more. Now corona mills are expensive and you can find the cereal killer on same for sometimes as little as $10-20 more.
 
My credit cards are all .033-.035. Just in case anyone was wondering.
 
I have a CK and set it with a feeler gauge. I use .035 for barley and .025 for wheat (if my grain bill contains both I mill each separately, readjusting the rollers between grains). My mill will only go down to .025; the adjustable roller is on an eccentric and turning the knob past the .025 mark starts moving the rollers apart.

Interesting... I figured something like this would be needed, but, the few times I've watched LHBS guy mill grain for customers he just dumps it all through in the same batch. Granted I don't remember exactly what the grain bills were, but it was several grains mixed when I've seen it.

How common is this practice of adjusting for different grains... does everyone do that, or just a few?
 
Local shops don't generally readjust the mill for different grains, but might if you ask nicely. :rolleyes:

The whole point of owning a mill is to properly prepare the grains for mashing. Wheat kernels are smaller and much harder than barley; combining the grains and milling them at the same setting won't do much to the wheat (except, maybe, a flesh wound). So, when you have a mill, you can mill the wheat with a smaller gap, adjust the mill to a wider gap and mill the other grains (rye is similar to wheat, though with longer and slightly plumper kernels).

Adjusting a CK takes a minute or two (loosen two thumbscrews, turn a knob on each side of the body, check for gap and parallel, and tighten the thumbscrews). Not a big deal in the length of a brew day.
 
The price of all that was over $500. Worth it? Who knows? But I am a scientist, testing out the LODO stuff, and the only way to fairly do that is to implement all the elements of that, including a slow RPM crush yet with high capacity. It certainly is more convenient the way I have it set up, but the price is, well, pricey.

View attachment 628035 View attachment 628036

Added bonus, it's shiny and looks cool.
 
My grain mill is just a generic two roller CK knockoff from Ahmahmoneyzgone. I let my brewpub owner friend borrow it when his big commercial mill failed, and it chewed through 330lbs of grain in no time. I've used it since, and have never had a problem. Cost was about $100, and has saved me tons of time not to mention being able to set my own crush. I don't use a feeler gauge or credit card, just eyeball it and leave it. What I really like is being able to be in and out of the LHBS in 10 minutes, unless I want to sit and chat (which I usually do), instead of having to wait in line to use their mill, if it's busy.
 
Are there any other grains that you would make a special adjustment for OTHER than wheat?
(I would assume anything "flaked" would not need to go through the mill at all)?

My first uncrushed grains got here today.
 
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