Using a pasta maker to mill grain.

[shortyjacobs]

You haven't enough posts to put up pics yet, so I'll do it.

hrm, can't see it. But here's what it looks like:

 

[Jefathome]

Thanks... that is the one I used.

 

[Mischief_Brewing]

Argh. Nearly a year and over 300# of grain, something isn't right with my pasta mill. After putting 25 of the 31.5# of grain through it for Tuesday's brew, I started hearing a loud metal clanking noise inside. I was able to finish up the last 6# but will need to take it apart before the next brew and see what I did.

I'm looking into the crankandsteins now, just in case. I like that you can buy them bare bones and it'll fit right into the mill stand I built for the pasta roller.

 

[Mysticmead]

Argh. Nearly a year and over 300# of grain, something isn't right with my pasta mill. After putting 25 of the 31.5# of grain through it for Tuesday's brew, I started hearing a loud metal clanking noise inside. I was able to finish up the last 6# but will need to take it apart before the next brew and see what I did.

I'm looking into the crankandsteins now, just in case. I like that you can buy them bare bones and it'll fit right into the mill stand I built for the pasta roller.

300lbs of grain over a year and you can replace the mill for $15 bucks.....that's a fair trade off. I'll be finishing my mill this week and brewing this weekend.

 

[Xalwine]

I just built one of these, (still need to knurl the rods some more, but here's a valuable lesson, DON'T USE PEANUTS TO TEST A MILL! you'll end up with peanutbutter.....

 

[wilserbrewer]

I just built one of these, (still need to knurl the rods some more, but here's a valuable lesson, DON'T USE PEANUTS TO TEST A MILL! you'll end up with peanutbutter.....

might be a good way to winterize the mill w/ all that peanut oil to keep rust away...what were ya thinkin bro...

 

[Xalwine]

might be a good way to winterize the mill w/ all that peanut oil to keep rust away...what were ya thinkin bro...

I thought "I have a grain mill! What can I mill that is similar in size to grain?" I got to eager. I got through like 7 peanuts before it made a mess.

 

[Mysticmead]

I just built one of these, (still need to knurl the rods some more, but here's a valuable lesson, DON'T USE PEANUTS TO TEST A MILL! you'll end up with peanutbutter.....

Of course if you want to make peanut butter now you have a mill

 

[Mysticmead]

might be a good way to winterize the mill w/ all that peanut oil to keep rust away...what were ya thinkin bro...

Winterize? You mean you don't brew all winter long?

 

[Mysticmead]

I just ran 5.5lbs of 2 row through my mill. The crush was as good or slightly better than brewmasters crush (they have a great crush). Buying in bulk is gonna make being even cheaper now

 

[bbbrew]

Some where along the line, someone asked how to make the pasta maker fully adjustable instead of using the pre-fab mounting holes.

Here are some photos and instructions.

See some previous posts of mine at #467 and #516 for further details. I've been using my original converted pasta maker for the past year and have great success. This past session however, my efficiency was below 65% and I attribute it to not cracking the grain enough. As it was, I was trying to make my biggest beer yet at 1.100 and 70% but fell short of that. Until now, I was satisfied with the prefab settings but think it could have contributed to not fine enough and as a result my efficiency suffered.

Regards,
BB

 

[Psych]

I ran 4.25lbs of 2 row through mine yesterday, this was the first major amount crushed in it. I found I got mostly flour on anything but setting 9, the largest. Odd...wonder if my settings wheel got messed up.

Looking at it further when I go from 9 down to 4 or 5 it lessens the gap between the rollers, and at 4 they're practically touching. 1-3 seem to do nothing for me. Must have damaged something with my drill, forced them askew or something.

But, setting 9 seems to be great! Husks don't look too bad, there's some flour but not massive amounts, no whole kernels come through.

I'm now using wax paper in a roll, fanned out underneath the rollers and through the hole in my wood base so it catches ALL of the grain. Pretty cool, wonder how long it'll hold up

 

[Mysticmead]

here's a pic of my crush using the "Noodle Crusher".

Brewed my first beer using it and went from my normal 72-74% efficiency using the crush from Brewmasters Warehouse (awesome crush from them) to getting 84% efficiency. If I can hit numbers like that on my next beer then that will be perfect!

 

[smoa]

Mysticmead, how long did it take to go through 5.5lbs and what is the alargest grain bill you have ran through this thing?

 

[Mysticmead]

Mysticmead, how long did it take to go through 5.5lbs and what is the alargest grain bill you have ran through this thing?

this was my first time using the mill. it went through 5.5lbs in about 2 minutes.

 

[snow145532]

I had mine set at 4 and it took about 45 minutes to go through 4.5lbs. moved the setting larger (i think 3) and it took about 15 minutes to go through another 5.5lbs. crush still looked good and overall i hit around 75% eff on my 1st batch with it

 

[gingerdawg]

How long it takes to mill grain is going to depend on how good of a job you did knurling your rollers. Early on, the rollers wern't rough enough and it took a long time to mill a 12# grain bill. Later, after going aftyer the rollers again, the 12# grain bill took less than 10min.

 

[bbbrew]

You will find that different grain will process differently. They definately vary in size from a standard Pale Brewer malt to a more plump Winter grain. So I second the comment on the condition of the roller to help pull the grain in and push it though. All the more reason to take 20 minutes and make it infinately adjustable for varying sizes of ingredients.
Good luck,
BB

 

[smoa]

Are the rollers thick enough material to put a true knurl on them? Are they hardened? I work in a machine shop and could probably knurl them, but I am doing 20lbs batches. Should I waste my time on a mill this small?

 

[Catt22]

Are the rollers thick enough material to put a true knurl on them? Are they hardened? I work in a machine shop and could probably knurl them, but I am doing 20lbs batches. Should I waste my time on a mill this small?

Not really. They are thin and hollow IIRC. Plated brass I think. No, don't waste your time on it. Just my opinion, nothing more. I would get the bare bones Monster Mill and go from there. The MM's are not very expensive at all.

 

[McCheese352]

Are the rollers thick enough material to put a true knurl on them? Are they hardened? I work in a machine shop and could probably knurl them, but I am doing 20lbs batches. Should I waste my time on a mill this small?

The rollers are thick enough to be knurled, a few of the guys have had them turned, including myself. Mine worked really well through a bunch of PM batches, but really didnt cut it when i stepped up to 100% AG. I have since retired it and went to a Crankandstein, which has been working really great and producing what i would consider a superior crush. IMO I would go straight to a purpose built mill for what your doing.

 

[Digitizer101]

I saw this at the store yesterday and all I could think of was new idea for grain mill.

only $28.00 at Harbor Freight

Roller dimensions: 1-1/4" diameter x 7-1/2" W

 

[Revvy]

I saw this at the store yesterday and all I could think of was new idea for grain mill.

only $28.00 at Harbor Freight

Roller dimensions: 1-1/4" diameter x 7-1/2" W

Yeah...there's about a dozen threads about this product, but no one ever actually tries it...

 

[Chrisl77]

I finally got around to taking a pic of my pasta grain mill with a makeshift hopper.

 

[MazdaMatt]

Can anybody comment on motor horsepower and RPM required to push grain through a pasta-mill? I'd love to hear a comment from people about their own motor HP and how well it fairs, especially if someone has failed to turn it with an under powerered motor so we can get an idea of the threshold.

I have some gearheaded DC motors here at work, but they are pretty small - nothing like the furnace fan motor sized ones I've seen in a couple pics.

 

[Angry Turtle Brewing]

So, did anyone else have a hard time getting the base off of the pasta maker? The screws holding it together seem to just spin without coming out.

EDIT - Got it. A little pressure on the vertical stands with a pair of pliers did the trick.

EDIT AGAIN - Just realized I could have removed the outer plates.

 

[tch1980]

My pasta roller broke last night. got around 40 lbs through it. the rollers just started wobbling and the gap was tight at one end and big on the other. Definetly got my money out of it though. Thanks to this thread, it's time to move on to a new one.

 

[MazdaMatt]

Can anybody comment on motor horsepower and RPM required to push grain through a pasta-mill? I'd love to hear a comment from people about their own motor HP and how well it fairs, especially if someone has failed to turn it with an under powerered motor so we can get an idea of the threshold.

I have some gearheaded DC motors here at work, but they are pretty small - nothing like the furnace fan motor sized ones I've seen in a couple pics.

Quoting to restate the question. Anybody?

 

[Psych]

Update for my pasta maker mill, I've now run 80lbs of grain through it (79.8, technically) and am noticing my efficiency is creeping downwards slowly. I peaked around 80% and have only changed mashing techniques that would increase efficiency, yet I'm now consistently around 65-70%.

I think my mill needs yet another go with the drill bit to score the rollers again. I redid it a few months back after my first couple batches were slow to pull through and it made a huge difference (80% efficiency was there), was much faster (30 minutes to grind up 10lbs grain) but that's changing now and I can't seem to get the crush where I want it.

I think I'm going to call it a day on my pasta roller mill and move onto a Barley Crusher, I spent about $40 or so on the pasta maker and drill bit to drive it so I feel it was money well spent on a hobby I wasn't sure I'd hold onto for this long. Now I know how good all grain brewing is, so it's worth it.

 

[Mysticmead]

I'm in the same boat. In order to get my crush where I want it, I have to run the grain through on one setting then again one setting tighter. So I got a barley crusher.