71 replies to this topic

[pudi.dk]

BrightStar, on Jul 10 2008, 02:31 PM, said:

I've found mustard seeds are hopeless - they swell up when dampened causing cracked stars. Is the millet any better?

What color/size were those cores?
I have got some bigger yellow ones and some smaller blac ones.

[digger]

BrightStar, on Jul 10 2008, 02:31 PM, said:

husked or de-husked? Where did you find it?

I've found mustard seeds are hopeless - they swell up when dampened causing cracked stars. Is the millet any better?

Sorry DE husked. They do not swell up and remain rock hard. I got a 2Kg bag from a pet store for about �1, which should last forever

[BrightStar]

pudi.dk, on Jul 10 2008, 02:37 PM, said:

What color/size were those cores?

The mustard seed I have is yellow, about 2mm diameter and almost spherical. It also gets very sticky when damp and just glues itself to the roller. As I said, hopeless!

Re pet store millet, I've only found it on the high street mixed with other larger seeds as 'budgie mix' so far. I guess I'll keep looking...

[digger]

BrightStar, on Jul 10 2008, 03:21 PM, said:

Re pet store millet, I've only found it on the high street mixed with other larger seeds as 'budgie mix' so far. I guess I'll keep looking...

I think my misses got from one of pet superstore places. I can always bring you a bag to the next meet if you have no luck finding it.

[portfire]

BrightStar, on Jul 10 2008, 03:21 PM, said:

Re pet store millet, I've only found it on the high street mixed with other larger seeds as 'budgie mix' so far. I guess I'll keep looking...

Cough..Tesco..Cough. I got 2 bags of millet seeds, and IIRC 500g per bag..LOADS of them, and the first stars I rolled with them were Chrys#6, although most were different sizes...Rolling skill, don't bother trying with charcoal based comps first

[Shake]

portfire, on Jul 10 2008, 06:04 PM, said:

Cough..Tesco..Cough. I got 2 bags of millet seeds, and IIRC 500g per bag..LOADS of them, and the first stars I rolled with them were Chrys#6, although most were different sizes...Rolling skill, don't bother trying with charcoal based comps first

I usually use black peppercorns as the cores to my rolled stars. The cheaper the better, as they are smaller, around 3mm and 1 kg cost about $8 Cdn..thats a lot of cores!

[digger]

Shake, on Jul 21 2008, 11:41 AM, said:

I usually use black peppercorns as the cores to my rolled stars. The cheaper the better, as they are smaller, around 3mm and 1 kg cost about $8 Cdn..thats a lot of cores!

I understand that is still cheap, but Millet is only about �1 kg ($2 cdn). The cores are rock hard and in the 2mm size range so I can't agree that pepper is smaller.

Edited by digger, 21 July 2008 - 10:47 AM.

[Mortartube]

I still go with Tapioca. It works for me and is easily available at many supermarkets.

[digger]

Mortartube, on Jul 21 2008, 11:51 AM, said:

I still go with Tapioca. It works for me and is easily available at many supermarkets.

I have to agree that using whats easily available goes along way as any bag of cores goes a very very very very very long way when compared to composition costs.

[Bonny]

Shake, on Jul 21 2008, 11:41 AM, said:

I usually use black peppercorns as the cores to my rolled stars. The cheaper the better, as they are smaller, around 3mm and 1 kg cost about $8 Cdn..thats a lot of cores!

I have used black pepper too and it works great. I think the cores were a bit large, but definitely easy to roll and the stars seem to be fairly consistant in size.I have also used quinoa(?) seeds. The only problem I had was when starting to roll them, they are so small and light they were carried around in the tire and would frequently fall out until they picked up enough comp to stay down. The small seeds also produced stars of all sizes, needing to be frequently seperated.
Another thing I did with quinoa was underestimate how may cores I was making... I now have loads of shimizu B-70....

[BrightStar]

portfire, on Jul 10 2008, 10:04 PM, said:

Cough..Tesco..Cough.

Doh!

After failing at two more pet stores I just discovered that humans eat millet as well... Holland and Barret do USA sourced stuff around 1.5mm diameter - all nice and uniform and clean at �1.20 for 500g.

Apparently you have to boil it vigorously for 30mins before its edible - can't say I'm keen to try...

Edited by BrightStar, 26 July 2008 - 08:31 PM.

[dr thrust]

ahh, go on try a bit and report back your findings on taste and texture