Using a pasta maker to mill grain.
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bentonre
Well-Known Member
Well, I went yard saleing and bought 3 different manual food chopper / meat grinders all with nut discs or nut butter discs or bread crumber blades for a total of $3 to see if I could get a decent grind. Unfortunately I realize that the basic design of the grinders are all such to thrust the "rotor" back towards the handle and keep the cutter disc tight against the main body. Any efforts I made to space the discs to get a good grind simply allowed the rotor to go that much further toward the handle end.
So now to my question.....
I'm looking to make one of the convert pasta machine mills, but can anyone tell me if they ever failed the gears on one yet? That is my only real concern on logevity.
Thanks in avdvance for feedback.
So now to my question.....
I'm looking to make one of the convert pasta machine mills, but can anyone tell me if they ever failed the gears on one yet? That is my only real concern on logevity.
Thanks in avdvance for feedback.
I asked this very question earlier in the post, only one response indicated trouble, with many others satisfied. I think if it is used w/in its limitations it should hold together for a while?? For $15 bucks...there is a lot of value IMO. I was already very satisfied w/ my Corona style mill, but couldn't resist the temptation to play w/ a Pasta roller for the money.
On my latest batch w/ my pasta roller, the feed slowed perhaps because I had the mill ajusted slightly tighter than before. My first use of the pasta roller, I had the rollers set too wide on the first pass and ended up milling the grain twice due to some whole grains left in the grist. After my last use of the pasta roller, I additionally textured and gave the rollers a very rough marring, perhaps this will prove to be the answer??
At this point the jury is still out for me on the Pasta roller. Sure it works, but I may go back to my trusty Corona mill. I'm also not sure how the pasta roller would fare w/ a harder grain like wheat or rye.
If longevity is a concern, the Corona mill is built like a freight train and should last into the next generation.
http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-Premium-Cas...s=66:2|65:15|39:1|240:1318|301:1|293:1|294:50
rcm_rx7
Well-Known Member
I already used the drill bit method to score the rollers. I think it will work this way.
Here is my progress on my pasta maker grain mill. I started to build a cardboard template for a fiberglass hopper...but I think I may just use the cardboard. I used some really sturdy cardboard that some furniture came in. Just glued it together using wood glue. I mounted the mill on a piece of 1x6 cut to size just larger than a 5gal bucket. Underneath I glued a couple more pieces so it sits inside the diameter of the bucket. It works well. I shrouded the mill with more pieces of 1x6 and some of the sturdy cardboard on the sides. My drill works perfectly with a 3/8 flat drill bit to power the mill.
I had aspirations of building a very nice setup for this, but to be honest, that would a bit more money and time. I'm only $15 into this still so I'd say it's a great setup for the $$$$. Here are some pictures. I'm currently working on a ghetto mounting system for the hopper. I will edit in some more pictures of that later.
Here is a link to the rest of my gallery, I won't bloat the thread with a bunch of pics. grain mill - Album - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
More to come later!
Here is my progress on my pasta maker grain mill. I started to build a cardboard template for a fiberglass hopper...but I think I may just use the cardboard. I used some really sturdy cardboard that some furniture came in. Just glued it together using wood glue. I mounted the mill on a piece of 1x6 cut to size just larger than a 5gal bucket. Underneath I glued a couple more pieces so it sits inside the diameter of the bucket. It works well. I shrouded the mill with more pieces of 1x6 and some of the sturdy cardboard on the sides. My drill works perfectly with a 3/8 flat drill bit to power the mill.
I had aspirations of building a very nice setup for this, but to be honest, that would a bit more money and time. I'm only $15 into this still so I'd say it's a great setup for the $$$$. Here are some pictures. I'm currently working on a ghetto mounting system for the hopper. I will edit in some more pictures of that later.
Here is a link to the rest of my gallery, I won't bloat the thread with a bunch of pics. grain mill - Album - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
More to come later!
conpewter
Well-Known Member
Brewed for the 3rd time with the pasta crusher last night. Since I got a bad brewhouse efficiency last time (Due not only to the crush but also the large amount of wort the hops soaked up) I left the mill on the same setting and ran the grain through once. I did notice several grains that were not crushed well. I ran through a second time and got a very nice crush. I believe my issue is that I've screwed around with taking this thing apart so many times and roughing up the rollers that one end is a wider gap than the other.
Anyway I got a 78% brewhouse efficiency yesterday (porter, small amount of bittering hops). woot!
For now I'll probably continue to crush twice. I'll buy another pasta roller when I see one at the second hand store, I got one there for my wife for $4-that one is for pasta.
Anyway I got a 78% brewhouse efficiency yesterday (porter, small amount of bittering hops). woot!
For now I'll probably continue to crush twice. I'll buy another pasta roller when I see one at the second hand store, I got one there for my wife for $4-that one is for pasta.
conpewter,
I have had about the same experience w/ my pasta roller. Last batch I closed the gap a bit much and had a very slow process. For the last fraction of the grist I opened the gap one notch and the crush was not quite enough for my taste...some whole but crushed grain. In my frustration I proceeded to rough up the rollers additionally w/ a 1/4" drill bit on a high speed drill, while I spun the mill w/ my cordless. I think I finally have them full marred and roughened.
I cannot stress enough, since the rollers are such a small daimeter, they need to pretty damn rough to feed the mill. On my previous batch I did mill the grain twice and had a wonderful crush. Unfortunately, crushing twice is unnacceptable to me.
MAR THE CRAP OUT OF THE ROLLERS...THEN MAR THEM SOME MORE!!!!
Or crush twice? boo boo
Fortunately I have my trusty Corona mill waiting in the wings...never a need to crush twice w/ that bad boy! probably could crush gravel w/ that thing.
I have had about the same experience w/ my pasta roller. Last batch I closed the gap a bit much and had a very slow process. For the last fraction of the grist I opened the gap one notch and the crush was not quite enough for my taste...some whole but crushed grain. In my frustration I proceeded to rough up the rollers additionally w/ a 1/4" drill bit on a high speed drill, while I spun the mill w/ my cordless. I think I finally have them full marred and roughened.
I cannot stress enough, since the rollers are such a small daimeter, they need to pretty damn rough to feed the mill. On my previous batch I did mill the grain twice and had a wonderful crush. Unfortunately, crushing twice is unnacceptable to me.
MAR THE CRAP OUT OF THE ROLLERS...THEN MAR THEM SOME MORE!!!!
Or crush twice? boo boo
Fortunately I have my trusty Corona mill waiting in the wings...never a need to crush twice w/ that bad boy! probably could crush gravel w/ that thing.
How is the crush going for people who had their rollers knurled?
Also is anyone having any problems with knurled rollers? I asked about knurling at a machine shop, they told me that they couldn't knurl chrome plated rollers because the knurling would cause the chrome plating to flake off. I am interested in any feedback on this. Thanks.
Also is anyone having any problems with knurled rollers? I asked about knurling at a machine shop, they told me that they couldn't knurl chrome plated rollers because the knurling would cause the chrome plating to flake off. I am interested in any feedback on this. Thanks.
I have not had the rollers knurled. The pix I have seen of the knurled rollers look beautiful. However, IMO, I don't think it is worth investing much additional money into a $15 - $20 mill when the "drill bit" method does a pretty darn decent job. YMMV, just my $0.02.
MAR THE CRAP OUT OF THE ROLLERS...THEN MAR THEM SOME MORE!!!!
MAR THE CRAP OUT OF THE ROLLERS...THEN MAR THEM SOME MORE!!!!
brown_dog_us
Well-Known Member
I have run about 150 lbs through my pasta mill and it looks like it is holding up fine. Nothing has loosened up and it feeds/crushes great.
I used to feed mine through twice, but now I tighten it one setting and that crushes it more. Since I batch sparge it doesn't cause a stuck sparge, but if I went back to flysparging it probably would be a problem.
I used to feed mine through twice, but now I tighten it one setting and that crushes it more. Since I batch sparge it doesn't cause a stuck sparge, but if I went back to flysparging it probably would be a problem.
Anyone finding that grain sometimes slips backwards between the roller and the horizontal metal piece? Not a whole lot, just a small handful per pound, but it's a little annoying. I'm thinking I'll stick some weather stripping on to the metal piece to keep it from happening.
conpewter
Well-Known Member
Well my pasta roller gave up the ghost last week. It broke in some way so the rollers are now 1/4" apart and the adjustment knob doesn't do anything anymore. I'm not sure what part broke, I was using a Dewalt screw-gun to drive it so it wasn't a speed issue. I need to do a post-mortom on it to see what screwed up. I'll probably buy another but for now I'm back to my chest of drawers mill
On the other hand I could get this pasta machine and convert it
On the other hand I could get this pasta machine and convert it
ytsejam
Well-Known Member
OK, I am back.
I got a really kick ass knurl from a fellow machinist friend.
Mounted it down and did the 3/8 spade bit driver and it works great.
Here's my temp. hopper setup:
I got a really kick ass knurl from a fellow machinist friend.
Mounted it down and did the 3/8 spade bit driver and it works great.
Here's my temp. hopper setup:
Digitizer101
Active Member
Thank you, thank you, thank you
I just recieved a link to this thread on Friday and read the entire thread right away. Every all grain home brewer should read this thread.
I ran out to Micheals Friday night and bought my pasta mill and got to work taking it apart.
I finished the rollers and the hopper by Saturday morning and was crushing grain on Sunday for a Memorial day brew.
Here is a look at my finished product well that is until next weekend when I plan on adding a base.
And from the inside of the hopper.
And a look at my rollers after I took my saw-zaw to them.
You guys are amazing I just love DIY projects, and I save $100.00 final cost for this baby $16.09 compared to the one I was bidding on at ebay.
JSP malt mill grain mill homebrew - eBay (item 180358655099 end time May-25-09 10:09:51 PDT)
That one went for $102.50 plus shipping.
I just recieved a link to this thread on Friday and read the entire thread right away. Every all grain home brewer should read this thread.
I ran out to Micheals Friday night and bought my pasta mill and got to work taking it apart.
I finished the rollers and the hopper by Saturday morning and was crushing grain on Sunday for a Memorial day brew.
Here is a look at my finished product well that is until next weekend when I plan on adding a base.
And from the inside of the hopper.
And a look at my rollers after I took my saw-zaw to them.
You guys are amazing I just love DIY projects, and I save $100.00 final cost for this baby $16.09 compared to the one I was bidding on at ebay.
JSP malt mill grain mill homebrew - eBay (item 180358655099 end time May-25-09 10:09:51 PDT)
That one went for $102.50 plus shipping.
Pickngrin
Well-Known Member
Nice job, Digitizer.
What did you use to cover the top of the mill?
What did you use to cover the top of the mill?
blackwaterbrewer
Well-Known Member
here is my grain mill. my question is, do i need a samller opening from the hopper to the pasta mill? i have only grinded a pound so far and it worked fine, but it did seem kind of fast. my wife has the memory card reader so i cant take a top wiew picture, but the opening on the bottom of the hopper is the same sized as the opening at the top of the pasta mill.
this picture may help
this picture may help
KevinP
Well-Known Member
Autopsy report?
Well my pasta roller gave up the ghost last week. It broke in some way so the rollers are now 1/4" apart and the adjustment knob doesn't do anything anymore. I'm not sure what part broke, I was using a Dewalt screw-gun to drive it so it wasn't a speed issue. I need to do a post-mortom on it to see what screwed up. I'll probably buy another but for now I'm back to my chest of drawers mill
On the other hand I could get this pasta machine and convert it
Digitizer101
Active Member
Pickngrin,
I fashioned a piece of sheet metal. I was trying to match Misellus back on page 23 of this thread.
Thanks for the idea Misellus.
Misellus picture that inspired me.
I still hope to buy another as a backup and build a much larger hopper and base for it.
If you are not spilling grain, I would say your opening is not too big. A large opening will keep the mill well supplied, this is a good thing IMO. Even a small opening in the hopper will feed the mill.
blackwaterbrewer
Well-Known Member
thanks, wilserbrewer!
PintOfBitter
Well-Known Member
hmm well I've made 2 batches with my pasta roller mill now, and will be shopping for a barleycrusher. The crush is nice, but I can't get a workable mill rate out of it. hrrmph.
The small rollers of these pasta rollers, IMO, really need to be rough, mar, mar and mar some more or the grain will not be sucked through the mill. Or I have also found that a double pass an a slightly wider roller spacing will yield good results.
Or you can always try the other red headed step child...see link in sig.
I highly suspect that others will soon follow in your footsteps for a variety of reasons.
Pickngrin
Well-Known Member
Ah, OK, thanks. I'll either try that or fashion something out of wood.
TerapinChef
Well-Known Member
I'm breaking it in today. Pictures will ensue, I promise.
Digitizer101
Active Member
Well the first attempt looked nice but it just didn't cut it or should I say CRUSH IT!
So back to the drawing board
Problem 1 It just didn't pull the grain through.
Problem 2 I needed a base
Problem 3 Two pounds of grain took too long
Problem 4 Everyone else was using wood and it really looked cool.
Solution remove sheet metal top and small hopper build something cool out of wood and groove the rollers a lot more.
And here are the revised rollers with horizontal grooves
And the results were much better
I think the most important part here was the additional grooves in the rollers I just used a grinder to add the grooves every 1/4 of an inch or so.
I have to also give a huge shout-out to a fellow brewer "Ben" when I showed him my first design he was excited but when the grain just didn't move he pulled out some wood and his trusty table saw and went to work as you can see from the pictures he came up with something pretty impressive.
So back to the drawing board
Problem 1 It just didn't pull the grain through.
Problem 2 I needed a base
Problem 3 Two pounds of grain took too long
Problem 4 Everyone else was using wood and it really looked cool.
Solution remove sheet metal top and small hopper build something cool out of wood and groove the rollers a lot more.
And here are the revised rollers with horizontal grooves
And the results were much better
I think the most important part here was the additional grooves in the rollers I just used a grinder to add the grooves every 1/4 of an inch or so.
I have to also give a huge shout-out to a fellow brewer "Ben" when I showed him my first design he was excited but when the grain just didn't move he pulled out some wood and his trusty table saw and went to work as you can see from the pictures he came up with something pretty impressive.
brown_dog_us
Well-Known Member
You are right Digitizer. You need to really rough up the rollers to get it to pull through fast.
I haven't seen a thread from anyone who has over done the marring. If someone has let us know where the limit is.
I haven't seen a thread from anyone who has over done the marring. If someone has let us know where the limit is.
thanks again Iroc for everything!!
I made my hopper out of a sheet of heating duct. I started by making a cardboard template then traced it onto the the metal allowing me only 1 seam to deal with. I them used self taping sheet metal screws and screwed it right to the mill. Just another idea; let me know if you have any questions.
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/3438/dsc03068t.jpg
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/7749/dsc03069j.jpg
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/1303/dsc03071j.jpg
I made my hopper out of a sheet of heating duct. I started by making a cardboard template then traced it onto the the metal allowing me only 1 seam to deal with. I them used self taping sheet metal screws and screwed it right to the mill. Just another idea; let me know if you have any questions.
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/3438/dsc03068t.jpg
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/7749/dsc03069j.jpg
http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/1303/dsc03071j.jpg
TerapinChef
Well-Known Member
Here's what I've got.
After one run, I feel like I'll be recommending it to the mini-mashers out there, and those who make a lot of smaller 5G or 3G batches. Medium gravity, 5G brew was a lot of grain for this to take. It worked out much better when I moved it up from 5 to 6. I chose to go through once on 6 then again on 5 to mill the grain a bit finer. Great efficiency, 85% compared to my usual 70. No problems with a stuck sparge (straight old school fly sparging here)
One note as you design your hoppers/mounting assemblies. Make sure there are no gaps between your hopper and your rollers. Big mistake on my part. I figured the rollers would be pulling the grain through about as quick as it was trickling out of the water bottle. Boy was I wrong. I had grain all over the place, and ended up shoving some cardboard shims into the small gap I left.
After one run, I feel like I'll be recommending it to the mini-mashers out there, and those who make a lot of smaller 5G or 3G batches. Medium gravity, 5G brew was a lot of grain for this to take. It worked out much better when I moved it up from 5 to 6. I chose to go through once on 6 then again on 5 to mill the grain a bit finer. Great efficiency, 85% compared to my usual 70. No problems with a stuck sparge (straight old school fly sparging here)
One note as you design your hoppers/mounting assemblies. Make sure there are no gaps between your hopper and your rollers. Big mistake on my part. I figured the rollers would be pulling the grain through about as quick as it was trickling out of the water bottle. Boy was I wrong. I had grain all over the place, and ended up shoving some cardboard shims into the small gap I left.
I've brewed 5 batches using my pasta mill, very happy with the efficiency, hitting 75 or above when the LHBS is more like 60. Only problem is how long it takes, I double-crush everything and the two higher gravity beers I did this week took about an hour, hour and a half between them just to crush the grain, and that's with the power drill. I have the feeling it'll be a lot faster once I eventually buy a real grain mill + motor, but I gotta say, for $15 (not counting the money I save being able to buy bulk grain now) I'm still damn happy with this.
I've done three batches with mine so far, and while I want to rough it up a bit more, it's been taking me about as long as my mash water takes to get up to temperature to grind 11 pounds of grain. That seems to work out pretty well for me. Efficiencies 77%-82% or so. I'm using it on 5. I might try running it through on 6 and then 5 to see if it is much faster.
rcm_rx7
Well-Known Member
Brewed my first batch with my crushed grain today. My efficiency was lower than expected but still not bad. It was my first all grain so I will work out the kinks! It took forever to grind the first 3lbs, and ran my cordless drill dead. I finally opened the gap more and and it all went through, with a crap crush. So I had to take off my hopper and score the rollers more... whoever said it earlier was not kidding, they need to be scored alot!
So after all that I put on another 4lbs and pulled it through great. I think next time I'm going to run it through twice but the crush turned out ok. Overall I'm very happy, and I won't be purchasing a barley crusher or any other commercial grain mill. This thing is an awesome value and was fun to build and left me with a great sense of satisfaction!
So after all that I put on another 4lbs and pulled it through great. I think next time I'm going to run it through twice but the crush turned out ok. Overall I'm very happy, and I won't be purchasing a barley crusher or any other commercial grain mill. This thing is an awesome value and was fun to build and left me with a great sense of satisfaction!
smellysell
Well-Known Member
Just killed mine trying to crush some raw wheat.
Good think I have a Schmidling on the way.
Good think I have a Schmidling on the way.
Ouch. That'll do it. Wheat ain't no joke.
KevinP
Well-Known Member
Thats at least two that have died in this thread....
Yes, but at 25,000 views of this thread...how many are running fine??
Some failures could certainly be attributed to the operator. My cordless drill died one night, and I spun the pasta maker w/ a reg. high speed drill, I knew I was above red line for the pasta mill, but ...the mill survived??
You gotta use these inexpensive things w/in their limitations.
smellysell
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I was definitely abusing mine when I broker it.
rcm_rx7
Well-Known Member
Well I just ran another 18.5lbs through mine today. The only thing that died was my cordless drill battery (on my second one already). So I went to find the cheapest drill possible, in the middle of my grain bill of course. Got a cheapie $20 drill at Schucks Auto Supply that spins a minimum of 2000rpm! WAY TOO FAST.
But it chewed through all the grain, and the mill held up fine. I kept stopping to see if it was falling apart or getting hot. It held up fine. For $14 I will buy a new one when this thing dies. I will not buy a commercial mill, this works too well.
But it chewed through all the grain, and the mill held up fine. I kept stopping to see if it was falling apart or getting hot. It held up fine. For $14 I will buy a new one when this thing dies. I will not buy a commercial mill, this works too well.
I used mine exactly once to crush 5 lbs of wheat and 6 lbs of 2-row barley. The wheat was more difficult but nothing the cheapo pasta machine couldn't handle. I cranked out all of it by hand in about 30 min and it went fine. No big deal. I'm curious about the failure mode of the broken machines. I took mine apart and it seems pretty simple inside.
Well, if you ever run one w/ a high speed drill, you'll have your answer, somewhere over 1,000 RPM's, maybe 2000??, the pasta mill sounds like it is about to fly apart. Not a pretty sound at all, screaming w/ a little intermittant clicking...very bad!
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