◆《From outsourcing rice milling to
self-milling》
After
harvest, farming families in the country usually kept some rough
rice/paddy for home consumption and gave the rest to their
relatives. When they wish to consume rice, the rice grains were
transported to rice milling factories for milling. Later, family
types of rice millers were available. They were relatively cheap and
convenient. Therefore, many farming families purchased them to mill
rice at home. Although the rice milled using this small machine was
relatively inferior in quality, it was acceptable for family
consumption. Besides, self-milling was more money-saving.
◆《Milling process-interview
with Parent-Teacher Association Head Chang Jing-Ke》
Rice mills we normally see in the country are assembled machines
that are relatively lower in price. The machine we saw at the
association head’s home is also the assembled type. It is about an
adult’s height. It differs from rice mills in rice milling factories
in the sense that family type of rice mill does not have dehusking/dehulling
and rice refining equipments. They are simpler in structure with
only a motor, rice miller, and distributor.
The association head meals rice not only for his own consumption, he
also gives it to his sister who runs a breakfast store. She uses the
milled rice as raw material for rice milk. [Brown rice] Although he
had no plans to mill rice at the time, he milled one pack of rice
for the purpose of our study. We would like to extend our gratitude
for his kindness. The rice milling process is described below:
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|
Pour in
rough rice/paddy |
Control
tightness and flow volume |
First, the association head opened the packaged rough rice/paddy and
pours into the funnel above the rice mill. He then placed a large
washbasin at the exit to load the milled rice. When everything was
ready, he switched on the power and the rough rice/paddy in the
funnel started dropping. Soon, the rice fell from the machine
opening, passed through the distributor made of wire. It then fell
into the washbasin. We looked at it for a moment and discovered both
brown rice and rough rice/paddy in the wash basin. When rough
rice/paddy dropping was almost complete, the association head used
scoop to place the rice in the washbasin back in the funnel. The
rice is milled again. This time, the rice that came out was almost
entirely brown rice. There was hardly any rough rice/paddy. This
process was repeated once more. This time, the rice was mostly
milled rice/polished rice. By then, the rice milling was completed
and the entire process took less than an hour. It was really fast.
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|
Second
milling into brown rice |
By
third milling, rice becomes white |
|
|
Rough rice/paddy turned
into
milled rice/polished
rice |
Fine bran, chaff and
milled
rice/polished rice |
During rice milling, the association head constantly turned the
handle at the rice mill opening. He said the handle was used to
control the degree of milling. At first, it had to be loosened to
remove the hull. The second time around, it had to be tightened to
remove the coat and obtain milled rice/polished rice. He also said
that it should not be too tight or the rice would be broken which
would affect the taste.
At the beginning of rice milling, the hulls milled ejected from the
large opening in the front. The association head covered it with a
piece of cloth, so, the hulls fell under the cloth. During second
rice milling, the rice bran increased in quantity. He said he raised
chickens at home and rice bran was ideal chicken feed. As for the
chaff, it could be used as chicks’ “bed.”
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|
Chaff
used as chics'“bed” |
Rice milling demonstrated
by association head |
◆《Rice refining machines
used by Japanese families》
When we searched data on Google, we realized that after entering
“rice refining machine”, a lot of data in Japanese came out. We
clicked them and found that there are mini refining machines in
Japan. Although we did not understand Japanese, we basically got an
idea from looking at pictures. [Refer
to this page,
this page, and
this page.] This type of family
rice refining machine is an electronic appliance that measures about
the same size as a rice cooker. There are many kinds of them. This
machine allows consumers to purchase rough rice/paddy directly. When
they wish to consume rice, all they have to do is mill they amount
of rice they need. This way, new rice can be consumed at each meal.
Rice refining machines also come with buttons to control rice
quantity and rice milling degree. [this
webpage] Consumers may decide whether they want to
consume Point Rice〔in Japanese meaning brown rice〕or milled
rice/polished rice. It is simply amazing. Also, there is also this
automatic rice refining machine. [this
webpage] It is similar to vending machines on road sides
now. All you have to do is place rough rice/paddy inside and insert
coins to start milling. If these two types of rice refining machines
are introduced to Taiwan, we may not only see packaged rice at
supermarkets or rice stores, we may even see “packaged rice
husks/hulls!”
※ Illustrations are
unavailable to readers as they are intellectual properties. This
section will be super linked to websites. Each linking will lead to
new windows. With the exception of the last super link, other
linkages will be directed to websites in Japan.
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