Get out of the husk: spelt hulling at IREKS
Spelt grains – similar to oat, emmer, einkorn and rice – are surrounded by a protective cover that cannot be removed during threshing. In order to process spelt ideally, IREKS has its own hulling plant in which spelt – as well as green spelt – is hulled.
After threshing, the spelt comes right from the field or from our own warehouses into the hulling process. The grain is cleaned in a complex process, after which the husks are removed from the spelt grains in several hulling machines. Only then is our spelt ready for processing, e.g. in our own mill and our malthouses. We explain what the process looks like in detail below:
- Immediately after delivery, the spelt is separated from stalks, awns and other components using air separators and intake cleaners. It is then temporarily stored in silos.
- Before the actual hulling process, the grain kernels undergo another intensive cleaning process, e.g. via metal separators and destoners.
- The actual hulling process takes place by throwing the grain kernels against a fixed metal grid by means of a beater. This knocks off the husks, which are then separated from the spelt grains by an extraction system and a vibrating sieve.
- In order to remove even the last husks from the spelt, the grain kernels pass through further sifters and separating tables, which sort them by density and size using air currents or vibration.
- Only then are the spelt grains ready for further processing and transported to our production sites.
And what happens to the husks and damaged or undersized grains? They are processed into pellets directly on site and used as animal feed, for example.