sarsnik

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As a quick disclaimer, this isn't a troll question :P

I ordered mineral wool to make a insulated keggle. I was originally going to use aluminum flashing to wrap around the wool to hold it in place.

I saw this picture and decided it would be cool to wrap the wool with wood instead:



I know people use wood for their brew rigs, so would it be possible to fire this tun (gently), or would the wood burn out?

SuburbanBrewer

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I wouldn't risk it. It's an awesome look, but if you have a HERMS coil, you won't need to fire up your mash tun.

Dan

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That's a super sweet mash tun! Great work on it. But I don't think I would use it in the current configuration with flame. You could build a metal lip around the base maybe to deflect the heat. I would imagine would work. It's not like it's the boil kettle or HLT that are exposed to heat for significant amount of time. I wouldn't want to try it without the heat shield lip.

bbrim

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You could add a RIMS system. They work nicely.

sarsnik

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Its not my mash tun - yet! Just an image I found on google.

I'm going to build it if I get the tentative go ahead here. I can't imagine that the wood would spontaneously combust, but would just start charring at the worst.

Edit: Just found this chart for ignition temps. Oak holds up to 800F or so, which is actually comparable to the mineral wool. http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/fuels-ignition-temperatures-d_171.html

sarsnik

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Well yeah I could - but I don't like RIMS tubes and even if I did I don't have the money for one. I'd do HERMS if I upgraded. So direct firing is my only option as of now.

SuburbanBrewer

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Wood that chars, might start burning...lol.
Maybe get a 10 gallon igloo cooler and wrap that in wood until you can upgrade to a HERMS coil? No need to heat a cooler. Should hold for an hour, mine might lose 1 degree.

Couchy

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Just a bit concerned for you. What sort of mineral wool are you going to use? Some (all?) of this stuff is akin to asbestos. Very nasty stuff if the dust fibres are inhaled - carcinogenic.

An alternative (not sure on the hazards) might be vermiculite. It is a clay mineral used in gardening. You'd need a few inches of it. Its very light. They use it in developing countries to insulate the chimney in 'Rocket Stoves' - highly energy efficient, smokeless cookers that use only a few twigs to cook a family meal.

crazyseany

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OT: i like the pump shield too

ArcticBear

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of course it wouldn't spontaneously combust...but you do know that wood is flammable right? So when exposed to direct flames it will light on fire. Somewhere I read that a lot of ancient (and not so ancient) people's used wood as a way to create fire. You know....In the days before gas or electricity.....


I guess if you were really hell bent on this idea you could soak the bottom of it prior to heating in an attempt to not let the damp would catch on fire but then you'd worry about warping your pretty mash tun....I'd say only wrap it in wood if you were heating with some other method than fire...