Stone, disc and hammer milling of bulgur

The effects on the milling quality of bulgur were compared using stone, disc and hammer mills. For each milling system bulgur particles were examined for appearance, surface structure, dimensions (max., min., mean, standard deviations and coefficient of variance), particle size distribution, bulk density and 1000 particle weight. Smooth and regular shaped bulgur particles were obtained using the abrasive stone and disc mills. Stone milled bulgur particles, were not split or glassy, but were opaque. Hammer milling significantly affected the appearance and surface characteristics of the bulgur particles and gave the lowest minimum dimensions and the highest deviation and variance in dimensions. The milling yields for hammer (98.3%) and stone (97.4%) mills were higher than for the disc mill (96.5%). Each mill gave a different distribution between coarse, medium and fine fractions. The highest yield of the coarse fraction (83.1%) was obtained using the stone mill. The results indicate that due to loss of quality, hammer milling is not suitable for bulgur preparation.