There are different coarseness's of ground grains used as ingredients for different things. An example is corn (maize) with grinds for polenta, grits, meal and flour. Others are oats (grinding to steel cut or flour) and wheat (cracking for bulgur as well as flour), barley (bulgur and flour)With an adjustable burr you can make them but how does one judge when you are to the right point. Are there specific screens out there that you can sift them through?
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…… Grain milling result sizing
- Thread starter WiWatcher
- Start date
I found a youtube video from "Deep South Homestead" and they use a pretty big grinder with different screens on it for the different size products they want - corn meal, corn flour, etc. etc.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e2npH7B5ch0
runtime about 34 mins. He gets in to the grinding part at about 9:30.
runtime about 34 mins. He gets in to the grinding part at about 9:30.
Been researching this since I posted. The correct term in a sieve and they come in various mesh sizes based on holes/inch. A 60 mesh sieve is for cake flour, a 50 mesh is for the size we normally associate with flour, a 40 mesh is for what they call "High extraction flour" (seems to be not quite whole grain), and 20 mesh is for corn meal (though I do not know the actual grittiness. Judging from this grits would be probably around a 10, polenta maybe maybe a little larger mesh and I got to thinking that I probably do not need to sieve the cooked, dried and cracked wheat berries for bulgar. Steel cut oats would also be an unknown at this time.
Milling Particle Size
Corn
Large grits usually pass through a 1.19 mm sieve (US No. 14) and ride on a 0.59 mm sieve (US No. 28), whereas regular and small grits have particle that ride on the US No. 40.
Polenta is about 3mm so about a #6 or #7 sieve.
Corn flour is a #30.
Dent corn (field corn) is usually ground for corn meal, yellow grits and corn flour.
Flint corn (yellow or Indian) can be ground into the above, also preferred corn for Polenta.
Both dent and flint corn can be made into hominy, dried and then ground for white grits or for Masa Harina flour.
Grains
#60 mesh for cake flour (fine flour).
#50 mesh for regular flour
#40 mesh for high extraction flour (brown flour).
#30 for whole grain flour.
I don’t have a size for cracked grains but suspect a #14 (this would for Bulgur also).
Semolina flour from Durum wheat is a #40.
#30 for steel cut oats.
#50 for oat flour
Couscous (a pasta) is a #30
Others
Beans have been used for flours for thousands of years as an extender, a flavoring or one if the main ingredients. Having them in a smaller particle size or powdered form could save time and effort. I would personally stay away from the beans that have the higher natural toxin levels unless you are using them in a manner that will denature the toxins. In the research I found all you have to do is mill them, particle size your choice.
Buckwheat has also been used historically in cooking, it is actually a not a grain. #50 mesh.
Rice can also be milled into flour, white and brown, as well as many other grains and seeds.
Mesh Size Comparison Chart
| Mesh Number | Inches | Microns | Millimeters |
| 3 | 0.265 | 6730 | 6.73 |
| 4 | 0.187 | 4760 | 4.76 |
| 5 | 0.157 | 4000 | 4 |
| 6 | 0.132 | 3360 | 3.36 |
| 7 | 0.111 | 2830 | 2.83 |
| 8 | 0.0937 | 2380 | 2.38 |
| 10 | 0.0787 | 2000 | 2 |
| 12 | 0.0661 | 1680 | 1.68 |
| 14 | 0.0555 | 1410 | 1.41 |
| 16 | 0.0469 | 1190 | 1.19 |
| 18 | 0.0394 | 1000 | 1 |
| 20 | 0.0331 | 841 | 0.841 |
| 25 | 0.028 | 707 | 0.707 |
| 30 | 0.0232 | 595 | 0.595 |
| 35 | 0.0197 | 500 | 0.5 |
| 40 | 0.0165 | 400 | 0.4 |
| 45 | 0.0138 | 354 | 0.354 |
| 50 | 0.0117 | 297 | 0.297 |
| 60 | 0.0098 | 250 | 0.25 |
Corn
Large grits usually pass through a 1.19 mm sieve (US No. 14) and ride on a 0.59 mm sieve (US No. 28), whereas regular and small grits have particle that ride on the US No. 40.
Polenta is about 3mm so about a #6 or #7 sieve.
Corn flour is a #30.
Dent corn (field corn) is usually ground for corn meal, yellow grits and corn flour.
Flint corn (yellow or Indian) can be ground into the above, also preferred corn for Polenta.
Both dent and flint corn can be made into hominy, dried and then ground for white grits or for Masa Harina flour.
Grains
#60 mesh for cake flour (fine flour).
#50 mesh for regular flour
#40 mesh for high extraction flour (brown flour).
#30 for whole grain flour.
I don’t have a size for cracked grains but suspect a #14 (this would for Bulgur also).
Semolina flour from Durum wheat is a #40.
#30 for steel cut oats.
#50 for oat flour
Couscous (a pasta) is a #30
Others
Beans have been used for flours for thousands of years as an extender, a flavoring or one if the main ingredients. Having them in a smaller particle size or powdered form could save time and effort. I would personally stay away from the beans that have the higher natural toxin levels unless you are using them in a manner that will denature the toxins. In the research I found all you have to do is mill them, particle size your choice.
Buckwheat has also been used historically in cooking, it is actually a not a grain. #50 mesh.
Rice can also be milled into flour, white and brown, as well as many other grains and seeds.
Additions/corrections - Bulgur is milled and then sized to obtain coarse (>3.5 mm), pilaf (2.0–3.5 mm), medium (1.0–2.0 mm), and fine (0.5–1.0 mm) bulgur. Or (2nd source) milled into coarse to fine particles and classified by size (3.5–2.0 mm for coarse, 2.0–1.6 mm for middle, 1.6–0.5 mm for fine, and < 0.5 mm for flour).
Experimental results
I did not have any bulgur to experiment with but as noted previously it comes in various milled sizes. For myself I am going with a pass through with a #3 for the coarsest size as that is the size of the steel cut oats.
Likewise, I did not any polenta in the kitchen, but know it is of a larger particle size the corn meal and smaller than the steel cut oats so my thought is a pass through with a #10.
Bread crumbs I make myself and think a pass through on a #14 is good.
The results below are from using commercially bought products I had in the kitchen (and yes, I cleaned up the mess when I was done).
Steel cut oats pass through a #3
Grits pass through a #14
Corn meal passes through a #30
Whole grain and semolina flours pass through a #40
AP flour passes through a #60
I did not have any bulgur to experiment with but as noted previously it comes in various milled sizes. For myself I am going with a pass through with a #3 for the coarsest size as that is the size of the steel cut oats.
Likewise, I did not any polenta in the kitchen, but know it is of a larger particle size the corn meal and smaller than the steel cut oats so my thought is a pass through with a #10.
Bread crumbs I make myself and think a pass through on a #14 is good.
The results below are from using commercially bought products I had in the kitchen (and yes, I cleaned up the mess when I was done).
Steel cut oats pass through a #3
Grits pass through a #14
Corn meal passes through a #30
Whole grain and semolina flours pass through a #40
AP flour passes through a #60