Learning my New Komo Grain Mill Settings
Hi need some help i just got the Komo Grain mill. Trying to get used to the settings and how it works. l can not start on fine setting have to start on medium then go to fine otherwise it bogs down and have to shut it off? What i did was turn hopper funnel to finest setting turned Komo on empty the grinding wheels were touching backed off 1 click.Then marked spot on Komo body with tape as a reference point. Turned power on it worked with no sound of wheels hitting then turned off . Then put about 4 oz of red grain berries turn on power and it jammed so i turned funnel counter clockwise to 12 o'clock (in the middle of the settings) it started grinding so i turned clockwise to fine mark was good. Is it normal to start on coarse then go to fine? The instructions that came with the komo are not detailed ?
You don't fill the hopper of a grain mill and then turn it on. You ALWAYS do it the other way around. Mill stones turning first, then put in the grain.
The stones should never be touching on any setting imo. If yours are, then back it off until they are not touching. 1 click back usually does the trick.
So, in light of what you did, my advice is to re-mark the hopper without any grains at the point there is no noise from the stones. Then with the mill still turning, put some grain through and I suspect it will mill just fine. You only get jams when you put grain in before the mill is turning or if you put wet ingredients into the mill.
ATB
EP
I recently acquired a Komo and know the problem. My solution is just what you describe: Fill the hopper with my measured amount of (frozen) grain and turn on the mill with the pointer midway between fine and coarse. As soon as possible, I gently rotate the hopper over to my marked set point which, like yours, is one click above stones touching each other. I don't lose sleep (or crumb quality) over having those first few grains come out cracked and not powdered. Maybe consider them the trace signature of fresh-milled grains in your loaves ;-).
Happy milling!
Tom
"Fill the hopper with my measured amount of (frozen) grain and turn on the mill"
No. Turn mill on first, then put grain in. This is grain milling 101.
http://blog.bakerybits.co.uk/docs/komo/Komo-manual.pdf
"3 Switch on the mill.
4 Adjust the grind setting.
5 Pour grain into the hopper to begin milling.
Readjust the grind setting as required to produce
flour at the desired texture."
ELPanadero Thanks, i Was under the impression could do milling either way . Thanks For your input & picture of manual blew right passed that Quick Gide Daaaa.
Well spotted El P!
Perhaps I should have read the prerequisites before I registered for Grain Milling 201. Now that you mention it, I do recall using this method in my first explorations of the mill, but have found it isn't necessary to load the hopper after starting it as long as the setting isn't too fein at the start.
Thanks for the reminder, El P.
Tom
I set the dial to the finest setting (that is important otherwise it will jam), measure, fill the hopper, and turn it on. I have been doing it like this on my Komo mill for 10 years. I don't know why you have to do it in two steps. Maybe they have a new manual. Since I have been doing this for a long time I know exactly where the wheels are not touching.
If I am going after cracked grains then I start the mill first and then add the grains Hope this helps.
I own and use 2 KoMo mills and use them daily.
With one, my PK, I have to turn the mill on first and then add the grain when milling on the finest setting otherwise it jams.
My second mill is the larger Fidibus model with a more powerful motor. I can add the grain to the hopper and then turn it on and it works fine on any setting without jamming.
So it depends on what Komo model you have. (Size of Motor unit has) As i have the Medium Classic Model and have to start first.
Good point, Tony. Komo seems to provide the same generic manual for multiple mills that they sell, some more powerful than others (compare Janet's two models and our XL > the Classic). Komo safely covers all relevant models by providing lowest common denominator instructions in that manual; that is, guidelines necessary for the weaker models for which that manual is provided but (empirically) excessively cautious for XL and above. Pleasant Hill (on their updated website) specs the "Milling rate for bread flour texture" of our XL at 12 oz/min, whereas the Classic is spec'd at 8-9 oz/min. Likely the weaker motors of the Classic and others need the jump start whereas my and Janet's experience with the stronger motors suggests it isn't always necessary.
Tom
I've been setting my Fidibus 21 to a few notches to the right of fine, so about midway between medium and fine, and my Reinhart ABED yeast whole wheat loaves at 80% hydration have been coming out great. Do people go finer than that for breads?
The index Dot on My KoMo to mark grain increments is just glued on and is not accurate ! On My Komo med Classic my stone hits 5 notches from finest on the body so i have to move 1 notch to coarse to grind on finest . So i removed the dot and where i was when i was at my finest setting and re-glued the dot on funnel at finest on body . The people at Komo should screw the funnel to where grinding wheels touch a then glue index dot on accordingly on finest mark ? So my point is unless my index dot is the only one off the mark everyone has to gauge their own settings after wheels touch. Hope i explained this right !!
Wow, that's weird. Thanks! That's so helpful. I wonder why they make it like that. I went with a much finer setting this time after first grinding it on the coarsest. Temperature of the flour was 110F after the second grinding. I guess I should've let it cool off in between.
the grain in the freezer before milling will help lower the temperature of the resultant flour
I recently purchased the "21" model and I was wondering can any type of wheat berry be used with it ? Also, what would be the most coarse setting you would use for making bread ?
Also, for hard berries would you first run it thru at a coarse setting and then run it a 2nd time at fine or just do it once at the fine setting ?
I have the Komo classic, and don't see a need to run berries through more than once.
Yes , you can run any wheat berry through the Komo, or any other stone mill. You should not run any oily nuts or berries, like flax seeds. I checked online and the the Komo manual says you should press a grain with the back of a spoon - if it cracks, you can mill it, if it squishes, it is too moist or oily to run through the mill.
So for my first time milling fresh flour I used a hard white wheat berry to use in Cook's Illustrated Almost No Knead Brioche recipe that I make every week and it didn't rise much (using the same instant yeast I've always used) and it didn't rise much - do you need to add some vital wheat gluten to fresh flour ?