Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain

Post by **Truckinbutch** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 8:19 pm

Anybody tried it ? I got a plastic barrel cement mixer and a motor speed control on hand . Think this might work instead of building a job specific drier ? I am jumping in to AG and looking toward malting as much as 100# at a time broken into small portions during the malting phase and then drying in quantity once the sprouting is done .

NZChris · Post by **NZChris** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 9:07 pm

I used our clothes dryer. It worked really well and I didn't have to spend any money, so I was happy. It spit out bits of corn for a couple of years, but Her Indoors got over it.

Post by **skow69** » Mon Jul 27, 2015 10:08 pm

You'll need a controllable heat source for it, TB.

NZChris · Post by **NZChris** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 1:01 am

Maybe point a fan heater into it. Rewire the elements to series if the lowest setting is too hot, or use your still controller.

Steep-n-Rocky · Post by **Steep-n-Rocky** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 4:34 am

There are some good videos on YouTube about malting in barrels, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC2HqcQR6PQ" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow. I think this specific one could be sized up for more capacity.

Post by **jedneck** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 3:48 pm

If it dont work for malting and drying, i bet it would be tits for sprout removal

Post by **Kegg_jam** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 4:28 pm

I been thinking about something like that for sprout removal. Right now just dumping back and forth between two buckets with a fan blowing.

Post by **Truckinbutch** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 4:49 pm

Had an epiphany today . Goin to town to buy a hundred pounds of whole corn I looked at the comveince store complex 3 miles from the house . They got a laundrymat . Do my drying down there ? Sounds like that would keep SOH off my ass .

Post by **S-Cackalacky** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 4:56 am

Coupla quarters oughta do it.

Post by **Brutal** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 8:45 am

You could put it in the sun and aim one of these at it:
https://youtu.be/5rYr1Yrqwrk

NZChris · Post by **NZChris** » Wed Jul 29, 2015 1:07 pm

My tumble dryer does a great job of sprout removal. It's just that some of them get trapped somewhere and continue to come out for a couple of years

The noise is horrendous when it's full of corn.

A dryer with only electrical faults would be ideal if you did this a lot. Rip the electronics out of it and replace it with what you need.
If you think it's too hot, use the same type of controller for the heating element that you use on a still element.
Have a timer, or use a temperature controller to shut it down. The timer died decades ago on mine and I have replaced it with a latched relay and the same type of temperature controller I use for the fermenters, using the outgoing air temperature to shut it down. It's not a perfect system. Something like an Arduino comparing air temps in and out would be better.

NcGunny · Post by **NcGunny** » Thu Jul 30, 2015 6:44 am

I have used the clothes dryer and it works good. I went as far as to stop at a laundry mat and check out the dryers...they all smelled like clothes softener. Check out the first Youtube vid..he has a part 2 where he uses a Ronco Rottiseirre oven to toast his malt. Man that guy is MacGuyver 2.0.

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Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain

Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain

Re: Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain

Re: Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain

Re: Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain

Re: Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain

Re: Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain

Re: Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain

Re: Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain

Re: Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain

Re: Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain

Re: Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain

Re: Small batch cement mixer for drying malted grain