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Date: 20 Jul 2006 03:42:14
From: Adam Preble
Subject: I got an automatic roller mill--am I doing this right?
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I caved and got the mill:
http://www.stpats.com/mills.htm
I couldn't tell if it's good or bad or what, and it probably doesn't
help that the stuff I've run through it isn't, well, run of the mill. I
have my corn malt, and I also have some feed wheat. I've tried both.
It couldn't handle the corn by itself, but it ate it up after I
precracked the kernels using a rolling pin. The kernels were intact but
easy shred apart when handled. I assume that is excellent, but not
something I'm used to.
I can't tell with the wheat just because they're so small to begin with.
On one hand, it looked like nothing happened. On the other hand, a
few were pulverized. I can't remember how wheat looked when I've used
it before. I guess it's right that they stay intact. I tried two
passes with it; one at the medium setting and then a retry on the lowest.
My assumption is that I'm cracking the grain fine and that the store
here might be cracking some of my malts too much. I'm uncomfortable
when the action gets stuck and what to do. I'm rotating it clockwise
(if the handle were facing me), and I just back up a little when it gets
stuck. Is that the way to go?
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Date: 20 Jul 2006 04:01:54
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: I got an automatic roller mill--am I doing this right?
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On Thu, 20 Jul 2006 03:42:14 GMT, <rockobonaparte@hotmail.com > wrote:
> I caved and got the mill:
>
> http://www.stpats.com/mills.htm
>
> I couldn't tell if it's good or bad or what, and it probably doesn't
> help that the stuff I've run through it isn't, well, run of the mill. I
> have my corn malt, and I also have some feed wheat. I've tried both.
I can't stand St Pats as a store so personally wouldn't buy anything that
they are the only supplier of, however that mill should be fine. Most
of the roller mills designed for homebrew use are pretty similar.
> I can't tell with the wheat just because they're so small to begin with.
> On one hand, it looked like nothing happened. On the other hand, a
> few were pulverized. I can't remember how wheat looked when I've used
> it before. I guess it's right that they stay intact. I tried two
> passes with it; one at the medium setting and then a retry on the lowest.
>
> My assumption is that I'm cracking the grain fine and that the store
> here might be cracking some of my malts too much.
Usually that's backwards. You want to crack them pretty fine. Most LHBSs
under crush their grains. Not crushing enough is going to give you a poor
efficiency. Basically, crush them until you start to have problems with
stuck sparges or astringency.
> I'm uncomfortable
> when the action gets stuck and what to do. I'm rotating it clockwise
> (if the handle were facing me), and I just back up a little when it gets
> stuck. Is that the way to go?
The mill shouldn't be getting stuck, especially since it doesn't sound like
you're crushing enough. IE, the wheat should definitely not come through
looking like it was still intact.
John.
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Date: 20 Jul 2006 04:18:14
From: Adam Preble
Subject: Re: I got an automatic roller mill--am I doing this right?
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John 'Shaggy' Kolesar wrote:
> I can't stand St Pats as a store so personally wouldn't buy anything that
> they are the only supplier of, however that mill should be fine. Most
> of the roller mills designed for homebrew use are pretty similar.
At the risk of going off-topic, I completely understand the problem with
St. Pats. When I was talking to them on the phone about the mill, they
said they had to get going and talk to a "customer." I wonder what I was
then. I've worked retail and all and can understand the BS stores go
through, but they were just obsessed with their big buyers.
That being said, the mill had a good price and I got a temperature
correcting refractometer for $20 while I was at it.
> Usually that's backwards. You want to crack them pretty fine. Most LHBSs
> under crush their grains. Not crushing enough is going to give you a poor
> efficiency. Basically, crush them until you start to have problems with
> stuck sparges or astringency.
OK I'm going to give this a second lap then.
> The mill shouldn't be getting stuck, especially since it doesn't sound like
> you're crushing enough. IE, the wheat should definitely not come through
> looking like it was still intact.
part of the problem is I hadn't really mounted the mill properly. I was
running this over a bucket and it liked to slip. The mill is pretty
hefty and doesn't rest on a bucket well. I think I'll try something else.
The feed what I'm using I believe is hard wheat, and it isn't malted.
Could this be a problem? As for the corn, I guess I could just
progressively work my way to finer and finer milling.
I think I'll post pictures of this next run.
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Date: 20 Jul 2006 04:48:31
From: Adam Preble
Subject: Re: I got an automatic roller mill--am I doing this right?
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Based on Shaggy's comments, I tried again. This time I started with
wheat at the most coarse setting and worked my way back. I had trouble
milling whenever I tried to take it a step too far in one pass. In the
end, this is the finest I could get:
http://rocko.completelyfreehosting.com/milled.jpg
There's some flour but it looks all right. The mill ad specifically
states it doesn't make flour, but I wanted to make sure this is perhaps
bordering on too fine. Examine the grains on the edges.
This was with hard red wheat used as feed, unmalted and unwashed. It
still has some junk in it.
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Date: 20 Jul 2006 14:18:34
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: I got an automatic roller mill--am I doing this right?
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On Thu, 20 Jul 2006 04:48:31 GMT, <rockobonaparte@hotmail.com > wrote:
> Based on Shaggy's comments, I tried again. This time I started with
> wheat at the most coarse setting and worked my way back. I had trouble
> milling whenever I tried to take it a step too far in one pass. In the
> end, this is the finest I could get:
>
> http://rocko.completelyfreehosting.com/milled.jpg
>
> There's some flour but it looks all right. The mill ad specifically
> states it doesn't make flour, but I wanted to make sure this is perhaps
> bordering on too fine. Examine the grains on the edges.
That looks pretty good to me. When you do regular barley grain, the kernels
will look like that but the husks tend to end up in larger pieces (which
is a good thing). I have no clue what home malted corn will look like
when it's been through a mill. For that one I think you'll just have to
make your best guess at how to mill it.
Here's what barley (2-row in this case, I think) looks like after I've
milled it. I do get some flour, although you can't see it from this pic.
The large pieces are not whole kernels, they are just empty husks that were
ripped off of the grain. All of the kernels are broken down into the
small granuals that you see in the pic.
http://tinyurl.com/pabwn
John.
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