One of the most frequently asked questions is what makes the Moulin Astrié different from a millstone mill. We take stock here.
Why are we talking about an Astrié flour mill and not a flour mill with stone millstones?
The Astrié mill fits well into the category of stone millstone mill, it is therefore a specific stone millstone mill.
André and Pierre Astrié are the inventors of the famous “Moulin Astrié”, they gave their name to their discovery. That's why the mill is called that.
What is the discovery of the Astrié Brothers for the mill?
The progress they have made, compared to a classic stone wheel mill, allows perfect control of the wheel gap. We call this an micrometric adjustment of the grinding wheels.
With a Moulin Astrié, the cereal is no longer crushed between the millstones by the weight of the stone, but it is unrolled between the millstones to preserve the germ and only remove the envelope, i.e. the sound. All the nutritional benefits of the cereal are preserved.
The essential nutrients are therefore perfectly preserved in your flour.
This setting allows you tochoose the type of flour you want to obtain.
It also allows you to choose the cereal you want to unroll.
(Article All know about the Astrié mill)
A difference in the millstones
The ancient stone grinder mill often uses soft stones or grinding stones that need to be assembled, especially with steel. The Astrié mill uses granite from Sidobre (Tarn), which, once cut very precisely, is of great durability, reliability and quality.
Be vigilant!
An Astrié mill that uses a millstone without Granite du Sidobre would therefore no longer be an Astrié mill, but is indeed a mill with a classic stone millstone, be careful when searching.
And the weight of the wheels? Thanks to the work of André and Pierre Astrié on the improvement of the classic stone mill process, the size of the millstones and therefore their weight has been reduced. The complete mill that we sell weighs (mill + hopper + bolter…) approximately 200kgs.
A difference in the speed of rotation
Warning!
As you know, to preserve all the qualities of the cereal it is necessary to avoid any overheating of the seed between the millstones.
This is why the Astrié mill has a rather slow rotation of the rotating millstone. Above a certain speed, the seed is heated, oxidized and drastically loses its nutritional qualities.
This is why an Astrié mill is also different from a millstone mill: the output is lower to continually work on the quality of the flour obtained.
At Astreia, we take no risks with regard to condensation, clogging of the grooves (which would require you to disassemble the grinding wheels for the clean): with an Astrié mill, we favor grinding with high added value rather than high yield. The output of the Astrié mill that we sell at Astréïa is around 15 kilos of flour / hour for wheat milling.
What is the difference between the flour obtained via a stone mill and thanks to an Astrié mill?
The flour obtained using an Astrié mill contains all the nutritional benefits of the cereal. The wheat germ and therefore all its vitamins are perfectly preserved during the process.
The flour is therefore nutritious and digestible!
This result is impossible to obtain with cylinders as much as with other ancient stone grinders.
Indeed, with a classic stone millstone, the cereal is crushed, it is the weight of the millstone that crushes the cereal. With an Astrié mill, the seed is not crushed since you adjust the spacing of the millstones, the cereal is unrolled to keep the germ and only remove the envelope, i.e. the sound.
What is the difference in terms of work organization?
As the rotation speed of the millstones is slower, you can leave the mill running on its own while you devote yourself to your other activities. It is even possible to continuously feed the mill so that he works 24 hours a day.
At Astréïa , depending on the layout of your spaces, we advise you to ensure that the hopper is fed even in your absence.
Ask us for advice, it's our job!
That's not all! A difference in the hopper
Our grinder is equipped with a sensor that allows the immediate shutdown of the grinder when the hopper is empty.
You can store about 25 kilos of grain in the hopper.
The hopper is placed on the archure (the system that surrounds the millstones). These elements can be easily and quickly dismantled if necessary.
And the bolts in all this?
Once the cereal is unrolled, it is pushed over the ends by the rotation of the rotating millstone. It is then pushed naturally by a mouthpiece bringing it into the bolter.
It is then delicately placed in a sieve (delivered with your mill). This sieve is in permanent rotation, it deposits your flour at the bottom of the sieve and it evacuates the bran outside with each rotation.
Depending on the flour you want to obtain, opt for several sieves that can be changed in a jiffy, your flour at the bottom of the sieve will then be different.
So in the end, how does an Astrié mill work?
We wrote an article on all you need to know about from the Astrié mill
“The mill consists of a fixed lower stone millstone (it is called the dormant) and a rotating upper millstone. This one is pierced with a hole in the middle, this hole allows in particular the arrival of the seeds.
The rotation of the wheel gradually brings the grain from the center to the periphery, crushing it little by little before the surfaces, increasingly closer and softer, lead to the slipping and evacuation of the envelopes not broken. »
During the same operation, all the released substances are intimately mixed, including the germ, despite its slightly greasy and tenacious consistency.