Mash Thickness Question

Yup, I'm back with more newb questions.

I've been having trouble with appropriate mash thicknesses for infusion mashes that involve more than one step. I wanted to do a protein rest on the dunkelweizen I made recently, so I decided to mash in with 11 quarts of water to make it a 1 qt/lb ration (.5q dead space + 10.5 quarts for 10.5 lbs of grain). My next infusion step according to ProMash was 8 quarts of boiling water to get me up to 158. By my calculations, that puts me at a ratio of 1.9 qts/lb. This seems really high to me.

Do most people just go with the high ratio? Or can a protein rest be done with less than 1 qt/lb mash thickness?

You are correct that the 1.9 is pretty high for most beers. You can do a protein rest with .75 qt/lb if you want.

You've nailed exactly why it's so difficult to do step mashes with an MLT that's made from a cooler. Usually step mashes are done with direct-fired MLTs or RIMS/HERMS systems, so the heat can be added without affecting the water/grain ratio.

Someone on these forums has a steam-infusion system that I plan on building someday. I hope he'll post here, the link to his system is in his signature. Can't remember who it is though.

easy Steam infusion

I made one out of an old 4 gallon pressure cooker, it works great, even when you screw up and miss your temps

There are at least a half-dozen that have posted steam systems. (BTW, they work GREAT in coolers!)

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=23127

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=27070

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=28360

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=36649

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=37480

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=37572

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=25974

I use steam. My system isn't exactly the simplest you'll find, though. Link is in the signature.

I usually mash in around 1.25 to 1.5 quarts per pound.