Cereal Killer Review
The Cereal Killer is a precision grain killing machine. With a hopper capacity of seven pounds you can tear through grain fairly quickly. You can either use the included handle or a drill at low speed to crush your grain.
The wooden base is shipped attached the wrong direction so it fits in the box. Simply disconnect the base and attach with the opposite side. The base appears to be some type of layered plywood and is sturdy enough to be carried with. My bases hole did have some slight separation of wood pieces at the middle hole but didn’t compromise strength. The base has little pegs for holding it perfectly in a five gallon bucket. Avoid picking it up by the hopper as the sheet metal is a bit thin and can easily bend.
The Cereal Killer has an adjustable set of steel rollers for setting the gap. The preset gap mine came with was fine when doing a double crush but worked better with some adjusting. The roller adjusting knobs do have measurements but get a feeler gauge for better accuracy. A feeler gauge is great for setting the gap and only costs a few bucks at the hardware store. Make sure to clean it off as it will have machining oil on it. A credit card works fine in a pinch. Mine is set at .032 inches according to my feeler gauge. It’s a fine crush of the grain hulls without pulverizing them into flour.
The metal quality is overall pretty nice. The housing for the rollers is really solid. The stainless steel rollers are strong and have no play at all. I’ve put lots of grain through them and with no change in crush strength. The included metal handle secures tightly for rolling.
The Cereal Killer can either be manually or drill operated. The manual handle attaches with an easy to remove screw. Manual grinding is a bit of a workout but really only takes a few minutes. Buy a cheap corded drill if you need to go through a lot of grain. It crushes grains effortlessly at low speeds but make sure to keep the speed low as you could damage the rollers. Always make sure to secure your wooden base on a bucket before crushing or you could end up with a mess like I did the first crush. One warning is to not crush corn as the rollers aren’t made for it.
The best way if you are going the drill route is to buy a cheap corded drill and metal straps. You don’t want a dirty drill around your grain and it really helps if it’s secured. Use bolts and nuts to secure the straps so you don’t get poked.
This is my first grain mill so of course it is my favorite. I really do look closely at build quality and the lack of play in the rollers with the overall materials makes me happy. A big batch might require a few refills of the hopper but you should be able to put thousands of pounds of grain through this with no issues. I bought it for the great price but really do love the build quality. I suggest you get a dedicated grain bucket with a gamma seal lid so you can crush before brew day while keeping freshness.
PROS:
- Cheap
- Solid Construction
- Wood base pegs fit perfectly into a five gallon bucket
- Easily adjustable crush size
CONS:
- Hopper will need to be refilled on big batches
Verdict: The Cereal Killer is a dependable grain mill on the cheaper end. Hopper space is a bit small but the rollers should last forever.
