Thoughts on this motorized mill?

[refect]

I've been contemplating adding a dedicated motor to my current mill and building a little mill station. I've also been jumping back and forth about not dealing with the hassle and purchasing one with a motor, but don't want to spend 500+ on a mill. I came across this cheapo one on Amazon. Looks like it might be ok and at a decent price.

https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Crusher-Grinding-Stainless-Homebrew/dp/B08L4S9H4F

Anyone used any of these off brand Amazon motorized mills before, or have any insight? I do 5 gallon batches so I think it could do ok. Who knows how long it would last though...

 

[MaxStout]

You might want to confirm that the mill actually comes with the attached motor shown. The description seems to suggest you need a drill. OTOH, their word "drill" could just be a bad translation. Package content farther down says it includes motor. Still, best to make sure. An off-the-shelf Chinese 2 roller mill by itself is not worth $175. But if the motor is included, it could be a good deal.

 

[RM-MN]

In the specification section of the Amazon listing it shows that the mill comes with a 40 watt gear motor. A 40 watt motor is quite small so I would expect the milling to take a long time. There is a link in the listing for another mill that is quite similar but has a 60 watt motor that might be better.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NJRJXC...&s=kitchen&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWw

Note that the mill I linked to shows a lower price but when shipping is added the total comes to the same price.

There is another listing (search for malt mill on Amazon) that has a lower price and lower shipping too that could be a saving.

https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Sta...rden&sprefix=110v+malt+mill,garden,165&sr=1-5

Finally, there is a listing on Temu that seems to be the same mill with specifications that show the RPM of the gear motor/grain mill at 75 RPM and the milling capacity at 44 pounds per hour.

 

[doug293cz]

I have a mill like this, and it works very well, although it is a little slow. The geared dual roller drive minimizes shear going thru the rollers, so the husks don't get shredded, even at tight mill gaps (I use 0.022".) The hopper construction could be more robust, but a little JBWeld on the tabs connecting the hopper sides will fix that. As noted there are several listings for similar mills at prices ranging from ~$140 to ~$180. Most of them are geared drive, but at least one is only single roller drive - avoid any that are not geared to drive both rollers.

Brew on

 

[refect]

I have a mill like this, and it works very well, although it is a little slow. The geared dual roller drive minimizes shear going thru the rollers, so the husks don't get shredded, even at tight mill gaps (I use 0.022".) The hopper construction could be more robust, but a little JBWeld on the tabs connecting the hopper sides will fix that. As noted there are several listings for similar mills at prices ranging from ~$140 to ~$180. Most of them are geared drive, but at least one is only single roller drive - avoid any that are not geared to drive both rollers.

Brew on

Thank you! I may just give this a shot for my mill station build. I've seen the temu one too, and it looks like it might have a slightly better motor. Time is not too much of a concern (As long as its not miserably slow) since I do 5 gallon batches. I don't need to crush my grains in a few minutes. I'm more looking to be able to load the hopper and walk away to get other things setup and come back to grab the grains once they are done. If it takes 15-20 mins to crush 14 - 16 lbs of grain then I'll be ok with that. Plus I feel the slightly slow speed may help not shred the husks up on the finer crushes that I do.

 

[day_trippr]

"Just using a 40w gear motor at 75 RPM gives you a crush rate of 22 pounds per min making the big grain bills fast and easy"

<cough>BS<cough>

Fair warning: No way is that mill going to grind 22 pounds of malt per minute at 75 rpm.

Cheers!

 

[refect]

"Just using a 40w gear motor at 75 RPM gives you a crush rate of 22 pounds per min making the big grain bills fast and easy"

<cough>BS<cough>

Fair warning: No way is that mill going to grind 22 pounds of malt per minute at 75 rpm.

Cheers!

Haha yeah I wouldn't believe that. I did see that it said about 44 lbs per hour, which seems a little more realistic. I'd assume about a pound per minute though. If that's the case, then I'd be ok with 15-20 min grind time since I only do 5 gallon batches and typically mill about 14 - 17 lbs of grain on average. If I was doing larger batches then i'd certainly look into something else because closer to an hour or more to mill is way too slow.

 

[doug293cz]

"Just using a 40w gear motor at 75 RPM gives you a crush rate of 22 pounds per min making the big grain bills fast and easy"

<cough>BS<cough>

Fair warning: No way is that mill going to grind 22 pounds of malt per minute at 75 rpm.

Cheers!

Definitely not!

Brew on

 

[Bobby_M]

The quality variation across all the Chinese mills is astounding. I've seen a few where the shafts of the rollers are off center by like .005" on BOTH rollers. That means that depending on the happenstance relationship from minute to minute, the gap can be .020 or .030". You can see how that would be annoying.

I think motorized mills are "cool" but I'd much rather spend the entire $175 on the best possible mill assembly and turn it with a Harbor Freight paddle mixer drill. A dedicated motor on a mill station for a typical homebrewer is going to run for 5 minutes a month. Leave the dedicated motors to pro breweries and homebrew shops.

 

[VTMongoose]

I know it's arduous, but I would consider building your own mill table. I did, and I couldn't be happier with how it performs, because I am able control the exact gap (I have set mine to 0.035") and speed at which it operates (I have mine go very slowly - my grain husks are extremely well preserved and left almost completely whole this way).

I purchased a secondhand desk with wheels from Facebook Marketplace for $10 and cut a hole in the top and bolted a Crankandstein mill and hopper to the top, using a spacer cut with a jig saw. The model I would recommend is the 2SG geared one. I used an older version with non-geared rollers that works fine but sometimes is more finicky to get started.

https://www.crankandstein.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=7&products_id=12

I then also bolted one of these high torque low speed drills from Harbor Freight to the table, using Home Improvement Store nuts, bolts, and washers, so that it is spaced out such that it is exactly even with the mill and not applying any lateral forces. Ye olde school band clamp and a screwdriver keeps the variable speed trigger where I want it for hands-free operation.

https://www.harborfreight.com/75-amp-12-in-low-speed-spade-handle-drillmixer-56179.html

I would add, Spike brewing will sell you such a thing for the low, low price of only $1000 that ultimately performs the same function as this table that cost me <<<$200.

https://spikebrewing.com/products/the-spike-mill-table?var=43879022756076

 

[refect]

My thought was to use my current mill with the motor setup if the chinese one it comes with is crap. I have a decent mill already. It's not the best, but not the worst either, so I could probably swap it out if need be.

I like your build mongoose and am still contemplating the drill route. I may have to consider that. Most of the drills I was looking at were the same price or more as that amazon/ebay mill-motor combo, which is why I started to consider getting one rather than putting together something.

 

[VTMongoose]

Personally I looked into the kind of thing you linked to above. It's hard to know how good those are because the Chinese manufacturers are good at adulterating Amazon.com reviews by having negative reviews removed and fake positive ones posted.

https://www.amazon.com/PreAsion-Ele...ll+electri,garden,131&sr=1-25#customerReviews

https://www.amazon.com/GDAE10-Elect...ll+electri,garden,131&sr=1-28#customerReviews

If you dig deep enough, it seems like the mill itself in these Chinese models is trash. That is why I would go straight for a Crankandstein or equivalent established brand of mill (Monster Mill also is highly regarded). From the limited research I did, I feel like you can't beat the 2SG for the money. Yes, the gap is a pain in the butt to set, because you have to pound the bearings out, rotate them, then pound them back in, but once it's set, you literally never have to worry about it changing on you. If you want on the fly adjustability, you can pay the extra $40 for the 2DG, but in practicality for those of us doing BIAB who want a finer crush pretty much all the time, there is no need for adjustment anyway.

Basically I went through the hassle of building mine because I wanted to know exactly what I was going to get and I wanted something that would last a long time - even if I needed a new pair of rollers from Crankandstein, I'd only be out $80 (I reached out and asked) and I'd be set for another however many years.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

There is so much used equipment on MarketPlace, just watch that. A lot of people getting out of the hobby (or thought about getting in during the pandemic) and are all cleaning out their garages now. Be patient you'll see a great deal.

 

[VTMongoose]

There is so much used equipment on MarketPlace, just watch that. A lot of people getting out of the hobby (or thought about getting in during the pandemic) and are all cleaning out their garages now. Be patient you'll see a great deal.

This. That Crankandstein mill with the hopper cost me like $40 on marketplace.