Newbie question on Grinding

[ZekeG4]

I'm just getting into homebrewing and am getting terrible efficiency in my mash. The main reason I think is because of my crappy grinds. What I wanted to know, is a good way to grind. I don't have a mill, and it's going to be really hard to find a decent mill soon over here (Chile).

I have two questions. One, what would be a good cheap way to do grind. And two, more important, does anyone have a picture of what a correct grind is supposed to look like? (Maybe a before and after?) Just so I know what it should look like.

Thanks for any help you guys can give!

[bub]

You should be able to find a wheat or grain grinder for home use that you can use... Your grind shoud be as fine as you can get it without destroying the husks and making flour. So more of a good solid crush.
BUB

[DannyW]

You should be able to find a Corona style corn grinder there pretty easily. It is a plate grinder rather than a roller mill, but many people make fine beer with them.

[Lufah]

Here is a great place to start...

http://www.howtobrew.com/intro.html

http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter17-1.html



Travis

[Lufah]

Also here are a couple shots of my corona mill. I just set it over a bucket and put a paper bag over the grinder. Its not pretty, but it was cheap. I took the hand crank off and hook a drill to it for power. You may be able to find one of these around.



Travis

[ZekeG4]

Thanks! Yep, I had checked out John Palmer's page (between the online book, and Papazian's "Joy of Homebrew" I have a lot of info). My dad is going to the U.S. in October and I'm gonna ask him to buy my a mill (unless I can get one earlier). Is the corona mill good? I mean because everywhere you read that you want to crack the grain and not actually grind it.

About the picture, I had seen that one, but I can't tell just how much to grind.

[Lufah]

I just went through my pics and can't find a good one of my crush. I'll try to get one next time I brew.

The corona is good for the price IMHO. The problem with it is that it tears the husks. I would rather have a roller mill, but they are costly. The corona cost me $10 instead of ~$150.

You can get a crack instead of a grind out of the corona by setting the plates pretty far apart.

Travis

[ZekeG4]

Cool. Let me see if I can find one here (I should be able to). Thanks for the info.