I also am working on increasing my Brewhouse Efficiency. I’m currently getting about 65% for target 1.050 (pre-boil) Specific Gravities. I read a post here a couple weeks ago about the efficiency boost some homebrewers got from using the BarleyCrusher. Up 'til now I have been ordering my grain milled. Under closer inspection, after mashing this weekend, I noticed a large percentage of the barley grains were whole. I could litteraly squeeze the unconverted starch out of the husk. I still have about 25lbs of this milled barley left. I have ordered my BarleyCrusher.
Can I Re-Mill the barley without further concequence?
What is the recomended setting for the rollers on the BarleyCrusher for best efficiency?
Some brewers run their grain through twice. For the BC try the factory gap first. I’m always adjusting mine because not all malt is the same plus humidity also plays a role. Lately I’ve been closer the the factory 0.036" and the efficiency is just fine. What one wants to aim for is consistency not necessarily the highest efficiency. But that’s my own opinion. Other’s may differ.
I thought my BC was factory .039, but I’ve never measured it. I’m thinking of moving it down to .035 and seeing what happens. I played with the idea of running through twice but laziness took over and that idea went away.
You can definitely re-mill but use a larger gap then the factory setting or you might find yourself with a stuck mash.
FYI Most homebrew shops that will sell you a bag of crushed grain do not grind it themselves. We can buy it that way. I don’t do it in my shop just because I know I just grind it myself and don’t want to buy two bags of things when I can just have one bag.
In our shop we use a 0.040 setting for our Crankandstein 3d. The Crankandsteins are the best mills in my opinion and I have used almost all of them. The BS is a fine mill but the Cranks are definitely worth the extra money and the owner is extremely good about the mills and will replace/ help you fix any problem.