Any season, growing a crop is a major investment, and knowing how to care for that investment, and when to harvest it is key to its overall success. Particularly for rice, wheat, or barley, when a grain is harvested, the hard outer husks must be removed in order for the grain to be usable. It is also important to remove this outer shell on a sample-size level in order to check the overall quality of the grain when harvesting the crop, and again after harvest, during its transporting and storage processes.
Especially when growing crops like barley, rice, and wheat, it is difficult to measure product composition or defects before removing this outer husk, which is where the Pearlest grain polisher comes in.
Why Pearling?
With “cereal crops” like rice, wheat, and barley, the hard outer hull is inedible, and must be removed before use, or proper inspection. The seeds - the part of the plant that we use and eat, are made up of two parts: the grain kernel and the outer husk, which have to be removed in
a two-part process:
- Threshing, or the loosening of the hull
- Winnowing, or the removing of the hull
Some grains have a paper-like hull, which means that there is very little work to do to separate the outer hull. Even just tossing the grain in the air allows the wind to blow the outer chaff away from the grain. However, with sturdier husks like that of rice, wheat, and barley, this process is a more thorough one.
Before grain is pearled, the outer shell can be removed with a husker to get a better understanding of the grain’s moisture level. Huskers are available in both electric and manual versions, like the electric TR250 Advanced Automatic Rice Husker, and the hand operated TR130 Rice Husker, both of which loosely remove the outer shell of a small sample of grain to ensure that an accurate read of the moisture levels is taken with a moisture meter, or even a Riceter. This lets us know that they grain is ready for pearling, and ready for harvest.
Pearling is an abrasive process that pounds away at the outer hull. Grain processed in this way may not be considered a truly ”whole” grain, but on a micro-level, when using mere tablespoons of grain to test the inner layers of the grain, pearling is the quickest and easiest process to be able to inspect the grain for damage.
Quality Control
Using a grain polisher like Kett’s Pearlest Grain Polisher strips away the outer layers, readying the grain for inspection. This is important in order to measure moisture content and to check for damage. For example, removing the outer hull of a grain of rice allows you to more accurately gauge its density.
The density of rice is a direct result of its moisture content, which can tell you whether or not the rice crop is ready for harvest. The importance of harvesting a rice crop at the correct time not only ensures a better quality crop, but also the best selling price for the crop as well. Using a grain polisher before checking the density or moisture content means your moisture readings will be as accurate as possible.
Also, there is a lot of damage that grains can incur during the harvesting, threshing, and storage processes. Heat, insects, and moisture, along with physical damage during the harvesting and handling process can harm too high a percentage of kernels for the grain to be sold at its highest quality. Using a grain polisher can help check for total grain quality, helping you manage your harvesting, handling, and storage techniques.
How can you check for grain quality after pearling? There are ways to check both moisture and composition of rice once your sample has been pearled, giving you information to help you improve the way you grow, harvest, transport, and store grain, which is another way that Kett can help:
The PQ520 Single Grain Moisture Meter and the KB30 In-Line Near Infrared Moisture Meter both give a quick, precise snapshot of a sample of rice after it has been pearled. Using the electrical capacitance, a sample of 300 grains of rice can be checked for moisture levels in a mere two minutes using the PQ520.
With NIR technology, the KB30 can provide you with a reading of moisture levels in a solid stream of rice, refreshing itself and taking new moisture level readings every 0.2 seconds for results you can trust.
Once your grain has been pearled and checked for moisture, you can get even more information by checking the composition of the grain. Using the AN820 Advanced Rice Composition Analyzer and the KJT270 Infrared Composition Meter allows you to fully and accurately understand the quality of rice:
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The AN820 evaluates and measures even the densest of grain to provide you with an overall quality assessment, or QEV, so you can get a scientific reading to help analyze the overall taste of the grain.
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The KJT270 uses NIR technology to give you incredibly detailed information about the quality of the grain, including moisture and fat/oil levels, protein, film thickness, coat weight, carbon content, and more. You have a perfect understanding of the content of your rice, thanks to the near-infrared capabilities of the KJT270, once your grain has been properly pearled.
Inspection of Glutinous and Non-Glutinous Rice
Rice comes in many forms, but for commercial and culinary purposes, they can be broken down into two categories: glutinous and non-glutinous rice. This term has nothing to do with whether or not rice contains gluten, but rather with how sticky, or glue-like the rice is. We eat both glutinous and non-glutinous rice, but they frequently have different purposes. Glutinous rice is sticky, and is more commonly used in sweet or dessert recipes, and non-glutinous varieties are used more frequently in staple foods.
Using a Pearlest grain polisher is a great way to inspect the rice in order to determine whether glutinous and non-glutinous rice has been intermixed - by removing the outer shell and getting a better look at the grain itself. Intermixing glutinous and non-glutinous rice can compromise the integrity of the crop and lower its value, so checking the rice with a grin polisher ensures that you do not end up with intermingled types of rice.
Easy to Use and Transport
One of the best reasons to use the Pearlest grain polisher? Transporting and using the grain polisher is a breeze, making it as simple as possible for you to check the quality of your crop no matter where you are. The grain polisher is not only lightweight, but also very compact in size, and it battery operated for convenient use out in the field or where grain is stored.
Also? Using the Pearler grain polisher is a fairly quick process. It takes only about thirty seconds to polish brown rice and wheat, and only a minute to polish barley. Rather than taking a larger sample of your crop back for polishing and inspection, using the Pearler grain polisher affords you the ease of checking a small sample anywhere you go; it’s definitely a major time saver.
With our Total Care Package, you have the freedom to find the perfect instruments for your operation, so there’s no risk in seeing how the grain polisher can help you achieve the most accurate readings, though we think you’ll find the polisher to be a great investment for the best grain harvesting and storage possible.
Have more questions about how you can use the Pearlest Grain Polisher, or looking for advice on how the grain polisher can best help you? Contact us today.