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Converting a "barley" mill for brewing to flour mill?

Gadjowheaty's picture
Gadjowheaty

Converting a "barley" mill for brewing to flour mill?

Hello all,

I built the mill below for use in my 2 bbl brewing system.  I no longer brew and it's just sitting in mothball.  I believe the rollers are completely ill fit for flour making, gnurled for barley crushing with fractions between fines, de-husked and crushed grain, all that can be adjusted for a desired mash profile, but I believe not suitable for flour.

The motor and wiring, etc., is strong and a good system.  Would it be possible to simply buy the - sorry for my ignorance, I don't know what it would be called - but is it possible to DIY the mill, using a motor like this, with the actual stones or wheels (again, sorry, don't even know quite what it is that's used) to be driven?  Can one buy the "grinding" components separately to make a decent mill?

Thank you.

 

Paul

headupinclouds's picture
headupinclouds

You might be able to repurpose the motor to power a mil like the grainmaker, which they sell a separate motor for.  They aren't cheap so that probably isn't quite what you have in mind.  I've been interested in those mills for bicycle-powered milling at our summer cabin.

Flour milling is quite particular, and my sense is it will be difficult to get good results from a DIY effort without a lot of work.  If that mashes well it could be useful for making bread from sprouted grains more or less as is  People use meat grinders and food processors to make dough directly from sprouted grains, and your rig would seem to work well for that purpose.

Perhaps others have different thoughts.

charbono's picture
charbono

The Grister is available without a motor.  You supply your own or select one of theirs.  However, your motor looks kind of small.

 Edit:    With the right pulleys, just about any manual mill can be motorized.  

Gadjowheaty's picture
Gadjowheaty

Thanks very much guys.  I suspect by the time all is said and done, it may be a nice DIY project but the quality wouldn't be there and I'd be dropping a lot of money, when that could go to a purpose built mill.  Great info, much appreciated.

BTW, the motor is 1.8 amps, 1/4 hp.  I'm an idiot with all things technical - definitely learn OJT for homebuilt stuff, lol. So I don't know if that would be too small anyway.  Been a great mash mill so perhaps it's best to let sleeping dogs lie.  I'll look up more on the use of sprouted grains - thanks.

barryvabeach's picture
barryvabeach

1/4 hp would be fine for most mills, assuming it is an induction motor.  

charbono's picture
charbono

1//4 hp matches the Retsel Milrite.  The Grister would be good.