Kitchen Aid Grain Mill

[RickS]

Has anyone ever tried to use the grain mill attachment for the Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer?

[brewark]

Yes, not recommended for brewing quantities.  You'll likely burn out your motor, & not get a good grind.  I do use it for flour, that works well.

[yso191]

Yeah, guaranteed to have great efficiency and horrible lautering.  Also you'd be in danger of extracting tannins from the husks.  Ideally one wants to just crack the malt not turn it into flour.

[RickS]

Thanks,  I was looking at it and wondering if it would be of use becasue it says that there is a setting for "cracking" the grain.  But I don't think that it will be big enough for brewing anyway.

[Maine Homebrewer]

I did some googling and got mixed reviews, though the general consensus was that a barley crusher costs about the same and does a fabulous job.

[drb1215]

I did some googling and got mixed reviews, though the general consensus was that a barley crusher costs about the same and does a fabulous job.

Costs about the same, providing you already have the Kitchen Aid mixer With a barley crusher you can use a cheap drill.  Burn the drill out and you are out $20-$30.  Burn out the Kitchen Aid and it's going to cost you a whole lot more (not to mention trying to explain to your wife where her mixer went!)

[William656]

I did some googling and got mixed reviews, though the general consensus was that a barley crusher costs about the same and does a fabulous job.

 (not to mention trying to explain to your wife where her mixer went!)

Lol. That would be me!

[haerbob3]

I would get a grain mill.  I have a barley crusher.  Most brew days 15 to 20 pounds of grain.  no issues with it to date.

[Maine Homebrewer]

I use a Corona mill. While it does the job, if I was to do it over again I'd get a crusher.

[Strut6569]

I use one for all my milling.  The trick is to take it apart and adjust the distance between the plates.  The new "minimum" setting is just right for most grain.  Your can tweak it for the grain you use.  I have not any problems with stuck lautering and my efficiency is better than when I had my local brew supply store do the grinding for me on a roller grain mill.

Cost is an issue, but we already had the mixer, so not a serious hit.  Around $50, if I remember.  I marked the original "stock" setting so if we want to make flour we can set it back to do that.

The adjusting knob is on a spline, so just slide it off, set the gap, and slide it back together so the new zero is the gap you want.  I can't remember the number but I think it was .03" to .04".  About the same as you would set a roller mill.

Works like a champ!

[Strut6569]

PS:  the motor doesn't even get warm!  Mixing bread dough is way harder on the motor than grinding grain.