Home Distiller

So, I'll be trying my first attempt at UJSSM this weekend. Just one question.

Anyone got an idea how many (approximately) cups of cracked corn make up a pound? I know it's weight vs. Volume here, but I don't have a kitchen scale yet (on the list). I figure by now someone here had done the rough comparison. It's producer's pride, 50lb from TS.

It would save me from scooping it all out cup by cup and dividing by 50, lol.

A 1lb coffee can full is about 3.75 lbs.

Almost exactly 3 cups.

Three cups is equal to 1 lb because there is 50 pounds per bushel of cracked corn and one bushel is equivalent to 37.2367119 quarts. Thus, 50 lb/bu divided by 37.2367119 qt/bu gives us 1.342769879 lb/qt. There are 4 cups in a qt. Finally, 4 ÷ 1.342769879 = 2.9789169854 cups.

Close enough to 3 cups per pound. Of course this will very depending on moisture content of the corn and coarseness of grind.

MitchyBourbon wrote:Almost exactly 3 cups.

Three cups is equal to 1 lb because there is 50 pounds per bushel of cracked corn and one bushel is equivalent to 37.2367119 quarts. Thus, 50 lb/bu divided by 37.2367119 qt/bu gives us 1.342769879 lb/qt. There are 4 cups in a qt. Finally, 4 ÷ 1.342769879 = 2.9789169854 cups.

Close enough to 3 cups per pound. Of course this will very depending on moisture content of the corn and coarseness of grind.

oowwwwwww! my head hurts LOL

is that metric cups?

bellybuster wrote:is that metric cups?

Maybe they are 36 D cups!

As Mitchy said a lot of it depends on your mill size. I do not measure by the cup but here is a for instance.
I have a bunch of small buckets that Timberlok screws come in. They will hold 12lbs. of cracked corn from the source.
If I measure out 4 then mill to my specs 1/8th inch> I will fill 6. When you get your scale this will be a non issue.

MitchyBourbon wrote:Almost exactly 3 cups.

Three cups is equal to 1 lb because there is 50 pounds per bushel of cracked corn and one bushel is equivalent to 37.2367119 quarts. Thus, 50 lb/bu divided by 37.2367119 qt/bu gives us 1.342769879 lb/qt. There are 4 cups in a qt. Finally, 4 ÷ 1.342769879 = 2.9789169854 cups.

Close enough to 3 cups per pound. Of course this will very depending on moisture content of the corn and coarseness of grind.

If that ain't enough to make you run to WalMart for a scale, nothin' will!

tp

do you have a bathroom scale? put a bowl on it and pour corn in the bowl. its crude but it will work

Or take a dowel stick, some string, and a known 1 lb weight. Like this, except not fancy.

Throw a few inches in the bottom of your bucket and not overthink it.

Actually, 1 us bushel of corn = 56 lbs.
1 bushel = 37.25 quarts = 149 cups
149 / 56 = 2.66, so 2 3/4 cups

MitchyBourbon wrote:Almost exactly 3 cups.

Three cups is equal to 1 lb because there is 50 pounds per bushel of cracked corn and one bushel is equivalent to 37.2367119 quarts. Thus, 50 lb/bu divided by 37.2367119 qt/bu gives us 1.342769879 lb/qt. There are 4 cups in a qt. Finally, 4 ÷ 1.342769879 = 2.9789169854 cups.

Close enough to 3 cups per pound. Of course this will very depending on moisture content of the corn and coarseness of grind.

Thanks a lot! I just need to gauge what 7lbs looks like so I have an idea...appreciate the math!

jholmz wrote:do you have a bathroom scale? put a bowl on it and pour corn in the bowl. its crude but it will work

Awesome idea. I'll see if it is sensitive enough.

Deezil wrote:Throw a few inches in the bottom of your bucket and not overthink it.

Sounds like the best advice yet!

I use 1 quart jars that I put my final distillate in... They sure are terrible for pouring but... Damn cheap. Anyway, a single 1 Quart jar (Nearly 1 Liter in Canada/Britian/Austraila/NZ etc) will need to be filled three and a half times to get five pounds. I'm using a pound of sugar and a pound of cracked corn per gallon of water, slightly modified UJSM recipe. I have a calibrated bakery scale and have repeatedly checked to be certain, although, close enough is fine so long as you don't depend on your grains (corn) for sugars. If I'm slightly over or under, I don't sweat it.

I wish the mods would grant me a new screenname, I'm the self-proclaimed "Corn Meal Kid" yet I've left corn meal in the dust in favor of Cracked Corn. I suppose versatility is good though. Anyway, 3.5 one quart jars gets you five pounds, thus one 1 Quart jar gets you 0.7 Lbs. filled to the lip.

+1 deezil, bout 4 or 5 inches in the bottom of a 6 gallon bucket does just fine for me. If your an over achiever though the calculations above will work too!

zaph1 wrote:Actually, 1 us bushel of corn = 56 lbs.
1 bushel = 37.25 quarts = 149 cups
149 / 56 = 2.66, so 2 3/4 cups

Yup, corn is.56 lbs/bushel...

However "cracked corn" is 50 lbs/bushel. Fiddy pounds.

What kinda scale do y'all use ?

bellybuster......Is that metric cups? ....a definite " Boeing 707" joke.

dan_buddy wrote:What kinda scale do y'all use ?

I have an escali pro scale, 14 lb capacity. Very easy to use and very accurate.

What Deezil said......

MitchyBourbon wrote:

dan_buddy wrote:What kinda scale do y'all use ?

I have an escali pro scale, 14 lb capacity. Very easy to use and very accurate.

How long have you had them ?
Durable ?
0.1 of a oz ?
Would I order somthing like this off the net or where did you buy it to ?
Any calibration trouble ?

I have a cheap set of digital scales from Wal-mart. I think they cost around 15 to maybe 20 dollars. All I measure with them is my grain, so I don't feel they have to be all that precise. If I am off an oz. or two one way or the other isn't going to make that much of a difference.

If you have a Harbor Freight in your area they usually have good scales pretty cheap. They are accurate too!

I posted in the ujssm thread awhile back about this. It's gonna depend on your crack like stated, but should get you damn close for smaller batches. A quart jar of cracked corn filled to the lip came out to one lb. A pint jar to the bottom of the neck of ordinary white sugar is one lb.

If mama has one of those large 64 ounce measuring cups, that's 4# of sugar.

tp

I got mine at my local home brew shop. Escali has a smart scale, blue tooth version.

the 2 pound mark on my ferment buckets is 10lbs of fine cracked corn

I got a scale i would just do a comparison... of course moisture content would change the weight drastically... but be them equal a ratio whole to cracked would be an easy ratio to figure...

happy stilling

The scale I use for > 10lbs. is a Torrey. Accurate to the tenth. Stainless and reliable.

Ohaus triple beam model 700
i've had it since the 70s
453.5 grams = 1lb