Watch how munji becomes the rice in your bag!
Rice milling
How rice is made
From munji (paddy) to clean, polished rice in the bag: every step in our rice mill, with a short video.
7 steps from munji to rice
What happens to munji at the mill, from the truck to the rice bag.
The milling process
7 steps in the rice mill
-
Receive and test
Each load is weighed on the weighbridge. A sample is checked for moisture (13–14% mills best), variety, empty grains and dirt.
-
Clean
Shaking sieves and air remove straw, dust and weed seeds; a destoner takes out stones and mud balls.
-
Husk
Two rubber rollers peel off the husk, leaving brown rice. Air blows the light husk away; unhusked grains go round again.
-
Whiten and polish
The brown bran layer is gently rubbed off, then a fine water mist polishes the rice so it shines.
-
Grade
Sieves and length graders separate whole grains from broken pieces, so each grade is sold on its own.
-
Colour sort
Cameras check every grain; air jets knock out yellow, chalky, black or damaged grains and any stone left.
-
Weigh and pack
The clean rice is weighed into labelled Owlvix Rice bags and stored on pallets until it is sent out.
-
Sella (parboiled) rice
For sella, the munji is first soaked, steamed and dried, then husked and polished. The grain turns golden and breaks less.
From 100 kg of munji you get about
Of this, usually 50–60 kg is whole rice; the rest is broken.
Burnt as fuel for the mill's dryers and boilers.
Sold for rice bran oil and animal feed.
Dry, well-stored munji with few cracked grains gives more whole rice, and a better price.
Brown, white and sella rice
The same munji can become different rice, depending on where the mill stops and how it starts.
Only the husk is off; the brown bran layer is still on. Nutty taste, cooks slower, keeps for a shorter time.
The bran is rubbed off and the grain polished. Cooks faster, looks bright and keeps longer. Most basmati is sold like this.
The munji is parboiled before husking. Golden or creamy grain that is harder, breaks less and stays separate when cooked.
Questions about rice milling
How is munji milled into rice?
At the mill munji is weighed and tested, cleaned of straw, dust and stones, husked between rubber rollers to brown rice, whitened and polished to remove the bran, graded into whole and broken, colour-sorted by cameras, and then weighed and packed.
How much rice do you get from 100 kg of munji?
About 65–70 kg of rice, of which usually 50–60 kg is whole rice and the rest broken. The other 20 kg or so is husk and 8–10 kg is bran. Dry, well-stored munji with few cracked grains gives more whole rice.
What is the difference between brown rice and white rice?
Brown rice has only the husk removed, so the brown bran layer is still on the grain. White rice has the bran rubbed off and is polished, so it cooks faster and keeps longer.
What is sella rice?
Sella (parboiled) rice is made from munji that is soaked, steamed and dried before husking. The grain turns golden or creamy, gets harder, breaks less in the mill and stays separate when cooked.
What happens to the husk and bran?
Nothing is wasted: the husk is burnt as fuel for the mill's dryers and boilers, and the bran is sold for rice bran oil and animal feed.
Have munji to sell, or need rice?
We buy dry, clean munji at a fair mill price, and sell our milled rice wholesale.