Table of Contents
What is a gristmill used for?
A gristmill grinds grain into flour. The name refers to the grinding equipment as well as the building. Gristmills, powered by water wheels, have been around for many centuries, some as early as 19 BC. In the United States, they were common by the 1840s.
Whats the definition of gristmill?
: a mill for grinding grain.
What happens in a mill?
A mill is a device that breaks solid materials into smaller pieces by grinding, crushing, or cutting. Such comminution is an important unit operation in many processes. The grinding of solid materials occurs through mechanical forces that break up the structure by overcoming the interior bonding forces.
How do old mills work?
The mill and its machinery are powered by the force of gravity as water pours over the water wheel and causes it to turn. As water flowed from the millrace on to the water wheel, troughs built into the water wheel filled, and the weight of the filled troughs brought them down and caused the wheel to turn.
What is the meaning of middlings?
1 : of middle, medium, or moderate size, degree, or quality. 2 : mediocre, second-rate. 3 : of, relating to, or being a middle class.
What is a slinks?
intransitive verb. 1 : to go or move stealthily or furtively (as in fear or shame) : steal. 2 : to move in a sinuous provocative manner. transitive verb. : to give premature birth to —used especially of a domestic animal a cow that slinks her calf.
How did old flour mills work?
The paddle wheel was attached to a shaft which was, in turn, attached to the centre of the millstone called the “runner stone”. The turning force produced by the water on the paddles was transferred directly to the runner stone, causing it to grind against a stationary “bed”, a stone of a similar size and shape.
What is the kids definition of a gristmill?
Kids Definition of gristmill. : a mill for grinding grain.
What does it mean to grind grain in a gristmill?
A gristmill (also: grist mill, corn mill, flour mill, feed mill or feedmill) grinds cereal grain into flour and middlings. The term can refer to either the grinding mechanism or the building that holds it.
When did the gristmill in Boston start grinding cornmeal?
— Pamela Wright, BostonGlobe.com, 28 Aug. 2019 The Mill’’ — was carved out of a gristmill that operated throughout the 19th century, grinding cornmeal for the state’s famous pancakes. — Boston.com Real Estate, 26 July 2019
Where was the first gristmill in the world built?
Gristmills in the Islamic world were powered by both water and wind. The first wind-powered gristmills were built in the 9th and 10th centuries in what are now Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. The Egyptian town of Bilbays had a grain-processing factory that produced an estimated 300 tons of flour and grain per day.