Grain Mill Recommendations?

[cdburg]

If you've taken it apart and cleaned it, also check that your stationary roller is free spinning when you re-assemble. Because the bushings are off center in the second roller, if they aren't adjusted correctly it can cause it to bind. This is the main reason that so many of the mills have a stationary roller, so that you can adjust the gap setting. You can play with the knobs to get the gap where you want it, poke the roller with your screwdriver to make sure it spins before tightening the set screws. Of course, if you've already sent it back, nevermind...

Thanks for the tip! As you guessed, it's in the mail. Good stuff to know though!

[EagleDude]

Does anyone have recommendations for grain mills, other than the Barley Crusher?

I've had it with the passive roller not turning on my Barley Crusher, no matter how many times I take it apart and clean it. I'm trying to work with the Barley Crusher company to get it sorted out, but I've heard of others having the same issue. I'm thinking it might just be a flaw in the product, so it may be time to buy a replacement. Any recommendations?

On the last brew day ... I had it also with my barley crusher, so I adjusted the gap a bit larger and everything started working again. My previous setting was as fine as I could get it without tearing up the husks too much (~84% efficiency on extraction), so I decided to try the other extreme with the gap as open as possible just cracking the grains into several pieces (as Jamil recommends on Brew Strong). Ended up with ~65% efficiency, but the grain mill worked like a champ and the passive roller wasn't a problem. With the low efficiency, I'll tighten the gap as far as possible with out having the passive roller issue and hopefully pull efficiency back up into the mid-70's at least.

[spiderwrangler]

You really want to check your offsets on the floating roller. If they aren't the same on each side, the ends of the roller can bind up with the frame. IF you have it all the way out, you should be able to adjust it in evenly.