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scottsaxman · 07-13-2012, 04:28 PM

Our mash tun is a cooler. It seems to lose about 1 degree every 10 minutes or so. If a recipe calls for mashing 60 minutes at 151, where should you start? Do you try to average, start, or end at 151? Opening the lid to add hot water to increase heat midway seems like a losing battle.

Thanks for the input!

TyTanium · 07-13-2012, 04:32 PM

Shoot for 151. If you overshoot it to say 153, then you're mashing at 153.

Here are 3 options:
1) Insulate cooler better with blankets, remove from wind, etc to minimize loss <---easiest
2) Start your mash a little thicker and add hot water throughout to maintain <---not easiest
3) Pull small decoctions periodically, heat, then return to main mash <---smells awesome

**bchurch** · 07-13-2012, 04:37 PM

I would try to stop the bleeding, so to speak. I have a cooler and maybe lose 1 degree over the coarse of the entire 60 min. Do you pre-heat your cooler? Also I found my cooler let out heat at the front handle and I needed to stuff some cloth in there to stop it. Look for steam escaping and fill those spots.

scottsaxman · 07-13-2012, 04:47 PM

Good to know - I thought the loss was probably excessive, but I haven't been able to pinpoint why. I did preheat the mash tun. What are the effects of starting at a higher temperature or ending at a lower temperature?

DPBISME · 07-13-2012, 05:07 PM

Good recommendations...

Your heats lose seems high...

My Tun has a problem when really full... It expands at the top and there not a tight seal at the top (hot water, plastic, and just the weight of the water).
I also get hot and cold spots... stirring fixes this but it also allows the temperature to drop significantly… so I think the Average temperature of the mash is more important…

Make sure you really know the temperature of your grain.
But put a gallon of boiling water in the Mash Tun 5 or 10 minutes before use, drain it, put your grain in, and start to MASH.
Cover with a blanket
Mash with a 1 to 1.5 Ratio… (OR LESS) giving you room to add BOILING water IF NEEDED

Or

Do your calculations and NOTE the actual temperature verses what you expected and use a Calculator that takes this into effect for future reference

fxdude · 07-13-2012, 05:15 PM

I'm curious about this also. From everything I've read it sounds like it's really important to hold your target temp for the entire mash. My cooler only drops 1-2 degrees over 60mins but I mashed in a Blichman recently and it dropped nearly 5 degrees. I fired it up and brought the temp to 5 degrees over my target mash temp to try and compensate. It made me wonder if it will yield close to the same results as holding the correct temp for the entire time.

TyTanium · 07-13-2012, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottsaxman

What are the effects of starting at a higher temperature or ending at a lower temperature?

Conversion happens quickly, so if you start high, you'll get a larger portion of that sugar profile than you otherwise would have. Plus, you'll be denaturing the enzymes faster, so dropping back down isn't the same as starting low.

TrubHead · 07-13-2012, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TyTanium

Conversion happens quickly, so if you start high, you'll get a larger portion of that sugar profile than you otherwise would have. Plus, you'll be denaturing the enzymes faster, so dropping back down isn't the same as starting low.

How fast does conversion occur?

TyTanium · 07-13-2012, 05:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TrubHead

How fast does conversion occur?

Fast. Haha, I don't know, I've heard as quick as 10-15 mins for the majority of it. All hearsay though, I have no data.

fxdude · 07-13-2012, 05:28 PM

Yeah, that makes sense. I've actually heard that the majority of the time you only really need to mash for 30mins but most do 60min just to be safe. I've done 40min and a 60min mash on the same recipe and hit the same numbers.