Abstract: A method of recovering corn coarse fiber by flotation, which features the use of a hydrocyclone, or other separating machinery, in which the specific gravity of the slurry contained therein has been increased to approximately 12-14 Baumé so that the corn coarse fiber is of a lighter density than the remainder of the slurry. Therefore, the corn coarse fiber can be separated from the remainder of the slurry because it floats to the top of the slurry. If the present pericarp recovery process is added to a modified dry-grind ethanol production line, a high value co-product (the pericarp) is added to the other co-products and the end-product of ethanol, which can all be sold, and the economic efficiency of the plant is increased.

Abstract: A grain hardness tester which includes a rotating plate equipped with a plurality of openings arranged in a circle around the plate periphery, a grain feeder adapted to dispense grains singly and sequentially into the openings, the plate being equipped with a peripheral slot communicating with the openings, a disc positioned in the slot and adapted to engage the grains sequentially and a load cell and microprocessor operably associated with the disc for reporting the force of encounter of the disc with a grain kernel.