Looking to purchase a grain mill

[AJAlexander]

Hey everyone,

I'm looking to purchase a grain mill so I can bulk grain in bulk.  Ideally would like to purchase used if I can to reduce cost.  My wife actually owns a Kitchenaid Mixer, and I noticed that there is a grain mill attachment available.

Has anyone used this for grinding their grains instead of the traditional 2-roller variety with a hopper?  I"m curious as to eveyone's opinions.


(https://www.amazon.ca/KitchenAid-KGM-Grain-Mill-Attachment/dp/B003DVP1V6/ref=sr_1_2?crid=14YCZ9869VR59&keywords=kitchenaid+grain+mill+attachment&qid=1563995710&s=gateway&sprefix=kitchenaid+grain+mill%2Caps%2C161&sr=8-2)

Thanks

[BOB357]

That's pretty much for milling into flour. You don't want that. You can buy a decent roller mill, new, for around $100. If that's out of your budget, a Corona or Victoria hand crank mill will do a good job for half that. Both are cheaper than the Kitchen aid attachment.

[Oginme]

The capacity and through put of the Kitchen aid device is very limited.  You would be there for at least an hour judging by the comments and answered questions.  I second Bob357's recommendation.  A roller mill will cost about the same and do a much better job, more consistently and faster.  I have a Corona-style mill which works very well for me and is practically indestructible. It would be about a third the price of the Kitchen aid device and does a great job with a little modifications.

[dtapke]

Can get a new roller mill for $100 roughly, or a REALLY nice one for 300. Personally I'd spend the $100 if you're just getting into it.

a Corona or the kitchenaide mill is a flour mill. you can "crush" with it, but it's definitely less precise and you'll get some flour, some uncrushed grain when used at a big enough gap to crush the grain. I'd highly recommend against that.

for motorizing a mill, most people have great luck with the $50 drill from harbor freight "1/2" heavy duty corded drill" works great for me, hits about the ideal RPM. warning- its NOISY!

I'd also buy a set of feeler gauges so you can properly set and adjust the gap.

[Oginme]

a Corona or the kitchenaide mill is a flour mill. you can "crush" with it, but it's definitely less precise and you'll get some flour, some uncrushed grain when used at a big enough gap to crush the grain. I'd highly recommend against that.

A corona mill can reduce to flour but also can be set with a gap similar to roller mills.  I've used mine for 6 years without fail and get very consistent results not only in mash efficiency but also in screen retention on a #14 screen and in % of fines.  It is set up with a drill to operate and chews through 3 Kg of grain in a matter of 2 to 3 minutes.

[BOB357]

I agree with Oginme. I used a Victoria mill for a number of years and got a great crush. It takes a bit of playing around to get it set right, but once you do, you're good to go. My efficiency didn't change a bit when I started using a roller mill set to .035"

[AJAlexander]

Awesome, thanks everyone for the input.  Upon review I'll probably pass on the Kitchenaid option and look around for a proper Victoria style.

[Oginme]

Awesome, thanks everyone for the input.  Upon review I'll probably pass on the Kitchenaid option and look around for a proper Victoria style.

The victoria/corona style mills will do just fine.  They are better for BIAB crushes than for traditional mash tun systems.  If I needed to get a new mill today, I would be investing in a 3 roll mill as they have come a long way in quality and dependability since I first started looking for a mill.

[dtapke]

Interesting, I fiddled around with a corona mill for about a year when I first started brewing and never could get a consistent crush without either having a ton of flour, or a ton of uncrushed grain.

I then switched to a barley crusher 2 roller which I've used ever since. I condition my grain 3%, crush to .033" and get pretty awesome consistency. I've run at least 2-3,000 pounds through that mill and it's still doing great. I pull it apart to run a wire brush between the knurling and lubricate the bearings about every 200 lbs or so.

I do plan on upgrading to a 3 roller at some point soon, but will praise the two roller I'm using endlessly. It has really been a hell of a trooper. All I remember about the Corona mill is it was a pain in the ass lol, I really just feel if it's between spending 40-50 for a corona mill or 100 on a roller, the roller would win my opinion every time.

[Oginme]

To put this in perspective, I have made 149 brews using my present set up (soon to change) and grinding my own grain with a corona style mill (cost $30, modifications $12).  My average mash/lauter efficiency is 85.5% with a deviation of +/- 2.1% which includes EVERYTHING I have brewed and a purposeful change in grind to bring my efficiency down from 87% to 85%.

The changes to the mill are relatively minor and include rethreading the shaft, adding a spacer between the rotor and stater, and replacing the crank handle with a bolt so that I can drive it with a drill. 

[dtapke]

Oh I'm not doubting that it works! I just didn't have the same experience that you did with mine, but when I was using it there wasn't really much advice on how to alter them, I'd just loosen the screw until I wasn't getting mostly flour, it seemed the biggest issue was that the two heads weren't parallel, resulting in some portions of the mill heads coming together at say .015-.020 and some coming together at .040-.050 although I never did actually put a dial indicator or even measure the gap with a set of feeler gauges.

That said, I'll still stand by my thoughts that spending $42 (In your case) and spending $100, I'd personally spend the $100 on the roller mill. My opinion differs from yours on this it seems! I also use generally between 30-50lbs of grain per batch, I'm unsure of the difference in throughput for the corona mill vs. a 2-roller such as mine.