Corona Mill Knock Off

[John Sand]

I've been "milling" in a blender since I started grain brewing. It works well, and is cheap and easy to store. But the old green Waring has needed repairs a couple of times. So I bought a $10 craigslist blender as a backup. But it makes too much flour. I have resisted spending the money on a roller mill, and looked at tag sales for old Corona Mills. No luck. I just received a (presumably Chinese) Corona-style mill from Amazon, $20 delivered. I figure even if I chuck it, it only cost about the same as lunch and a beer. So I read reviews and mods, then ran some leftover grain through it. A little adjustment and it seems to give a really good crush with little flour. It seems solid, and kind of fun. I have no plans to use a drill on it. Anyone else use one?

[The_Professor]

I used a Corona type mill for a couple years. When I bought grain I had it milled, but I wanted it for when I malted my own grain. The batches were only 2.5-3.0 gallons. And you're right, it mills the grain just fine. Unfortunately I dropped the grinder part and a chunk broke off so it is out of commission. This is not terrible as I finally bought a regular grain mill a few months ago.

[bpgreen]

I used a Corona for a while, then got an attachment for a kitchen aid. I later bought a cereal killer,but since I do mostly partial mashes, that seems like overkill.

In my opinion, if it works for you, it's a good choice.

[John Sand]

How did you like the Kitchenaid attachment? I have the mixer, but not the mill.

[bpgreen]

How did you like the Kitchenaid attachment? I have the mixer, but not the mill.

I like it for relatively small amounts. I generally do partial mashes, so I usually use less than 5 lbs. When I use more than that, I use the cereal killer and a drill.

[teutonic terror]

I just started using a Corona type mill and I'm very pleased with the results so far,
although I've only done two batches with it.

It is a little finicky to set up and I use a drill to grind the grain with.
Did 10 lbs in about 15 mins this past Sunday and that's due to the small size of the hopper.
Crush I get looks almost exactly like my LHBS crush and it's saving me around $8-10
a batch by buying my own grain!

[John Sand]

I haven't timed mine yet. The hopper can hold at least a pound. I did search for mods and old articles on using it. The only thing I did was shim the cover and tighten until all the grain was crushed. I was pleased to find that the adjustment doesn't change when disassembled.

[John Sand]

I milled with this today by hand. 10# in twenty minutes. Half of that was wheat, which is harder. I stopped twice to go into the kitchen and get things (a wrench to tighten the clamp, a tupperware to catch the grain) and weighed the pilsner during the crush. I enjoyed it, and I think I'll use it this way for now.

[FrozenInTime]

How did you like the Kitchenaid attachment? I have the mixer, but not the mill.

I've used one for years. You have to constantly feed grains as the hopper is tiny. Does not matter where I set the grind, it seems to create a lot of flour. I usually sift out the flour and it gives me a good grind. My wife likes the flour I sift out, she mixes it with reg. flour as she needs, it adds a sweet taste to it. I'd love to have a regular grain mil with a large hopper, but this is what I have and will have for a while.

[John Sand]

Thanks. I'm pleased with this one. The hopper holds a couple of pounds, which is an improvement over the blender I was using.