Testing out new toys on a Corn Mash

[bilgriss]

My significant other gave me a hammer mill for the holidays, one like this only red: https://www.desertcart.us/products/594942300

I must say other than being noisy and slow, it grinds corn into a relatively fine meal with very little effort. As the bin is sealed, it also is very usable indoors without creating a lot of dust.

Additionally, since I have been at the same job for over a decade, my company recently sent me a stock thank you message with a link to a gift service, where I could acknowledge my long employment by selecting from a list of impersonal luggage or kitchen items. I chose a nice Vitamix Immersion Blender. It's the kind of thing that's several grades better and more expensive than what I would normally buy for myself, but I have to say it is really nice and heavy duty. https://www.vitamix.com/us/en_us/shop/5 ... on-blender

This morning, I put them both to work, and wanted to make a couple observations on the results of the initial mash process. These two things together have made some things easier.

First, this is a finer meal than I've worked with in the past, and unsurprisingly, when I mixed it into my mash vessel filled with water which had been boiling, it resulted in a monster clump. I broke it up and did some mixing, added high temp enzymes, and prepared for some lengthy stirring. In the past I would have used a paint stirrer on the drill, which works pretty well (we're all familiar with Pinto's easy corn mash video). Today I pulled out the Vitamix, and went to it. What a good surprise! This thing is powerful, and since it's totally designed to be used in a pot to blend things, it doesn't splash or make a mess. I cranked it up to high, and the corn lumps completely were taken care of in maybe 90 seconds or so. I added another dash of high temp enzymes, and used it to stir things up for another minute. The whole thing is like liquid and there's basically no cleanup. Nothing revolutionary and no real process changes, but I was impressed enough with how little work I put in as compared to normal, and felt compelled to share. The rest of my mash process will be unchanged downstream. Add malts when it drops below 150F, and so on.

DISCLAIMER: I do relatively small, 10 gallon mashes, so if you do an all-at-once mash in Brute trash can or barrel, this won't cut it. But for the many of us who do three or four smaller mashes and strip each before combining into a spirit run, I'm pretty happy with the results of a couple new toys. YMMV

[shadylane]

New toys and tools are fun.
Especial after having done the job before with crappy tools.

[scubatech]

Amen brother. Did a 3 gallon batch of CROW this week to test out my new laundry spinner. Got tired of losing volume to the grains soaking it up and I'm all about efficiency in my processes. Did 3 gallons + 1 quart (for evaporation due to open fermenter). Some people had complained about the spinners wobbling because they only put grains in. So I used a paint stirrer to get the grain solids suspended in the mash and poured the whole thing in the spinner. Cinched the BIAB bag and waited for some of the liquid to drain into another bucket. Then I turned it on at 50% ( had it attached to my SCR) and slowly brought it up to full speed. If it started to wobble, I would just back off a little. I'd say it was a success. Cold crashing for a few days to see how much custard I get. So new toys always have the ability to make our hobby so much better.

[Bradster68]

Not sure if it makes a huge difference (as I don't use a cornmeal or anything as fine as that anymore). I have a modified roller Mill and I run crack corn through that twice and boil the piss out of it. But now as per Shady's advice I add my high temperature enzyme before I add my corn. Bring my temp up then add the corn and it seems to make a huge difference for me instead of waiting and adding the enzyme after the corn. JMO.

[bilgriss]

High temp enzymes make it much easier for sure.

For me, the cooking feels like more work than dealing with cornmeal. I think everyone dials eventually into whatever process feels like some combination of least effort and highest yield, depending on space, time and available equipment. I also have a nice 3 roller mill, but generally use it just for grains with a husk that I want to leave intact.

[subbrew]

High temp enzymes make it much easier for sure.

For me, the cooking feels like more work than dealing with cornmeal. I think everyone dials eventually into whatever process feels like some combination of least effort and highest yield, depending on space, time and available equipment. I also have a nice 3 roller mill, but generally use it just for grains with a husk that I want to leave intact.

I know for brewing beer we always talk about not tearing up the husk to avoid leaching bitter flavors. But is it really a concern with a whiskey? I have been putting my barley through a roller mill but I am wondering if I can just put it all through the burr mill? Has anyone done any testing on any effects of barley hulls being ground up?

[scubatech]

I grind to a fine/course cornmeal grind for best efficiency and no bitterness comes over from tannins like with brewing beer. Downside is separating liquid from grain, hence the spinner.