- Milling is the process wherein the rice grain is transformed into a form suitable for human consumption, therefore, has to be done with utmost care to prevent breakage of the kernel and improve the recovery.
- Brown rice is milled further to create a more visually appealing white rice.
- After harvesting and drying, the paddy is subjected to the primary milling operation which includes de-husking as well as the removal of bran layers (polishing) before it is consumed. In this process the rice which is obtained after milling is called raw rice.
- An other process through which rice is obtained after milling is called "Parboiling Rice." Nearly 60% of the total rice produced in India is subjected to parboiling.
- Rice milling losses may be qualitative or quantitative in nature. Quantitative or physical losses are manifested by low milling recovery while low head rice recovery or high percentage of broken kernel reflects the qualitative loss in rice grains.
Traditional Method
Before the advent of mechanical milling, hand-pounding traditional method of rice milling was in practice. In fact, hand-pounding rice has got more nutritive value as compared to machine milling rice. In hand-pounding, a variety of implements is used such as :
- Mortor and Pestle
- Dhenki
- Hand Stone (Chakki)
With the introduction of mechanized mills, hand-pounding method has steadily decreased because it could not compete with machine mills. The conventional mills in use can be categorized into three main types :
- Huller mills
- Sheller-Huller mills
- Sheller-Cone Polisher mills.
