10" stainless steel strainer

Hi all,

Does anyone know how many pounds of steeping grains a 10" stainless steel strainer will hold? I have the kind with the wooden handle, like the one Midwest sells for $12.99.

I use mine to strain out steeping grains as I pour into my brew kettle. The batches I've made up to this point have only called for one pound of grains but now I'm looking at batches that call for 2.25 - 2.5 lbs. I would like to use the strainer only and not also a strainer bag, provided the grains don't overflow into the brew kettle. I think the strainer will hold up to 2.5 lbs but I'd like confirmation from someone who knows from experience.

Thanks!
Jason

No.. I just finished my first batch with 1# Crystal and it would easily fill that basket. What I did was to rinse the grains while they were in the mesh sack in the boiling kettle as it was rising in temp yesterday. I hit it as the temp in the kettle was the same as my 1.5 gals of steeping water.. so, just pulled the bag.. let it drain and carried it to my boiling kettle and dipped it for a few minutes.. lifting up and down.. a lot of color came out. The temp was only at 156* when I finished. I"d guess I got it all.. ... Now on to making some doggy biscuits.

So, I called the LHBS I bought my strainer from and they said it could hold up to 3 lbs, if I fill it to the tippy top. It should be able to do 2-2.5 lbs comfortably, which rocks because I can do the Irish Red from MoreBeer or Fat Tire clone from Adventures in Homebrewing without changing my equipment.

Just wanted to post back in case anyone else ever wonders about this.

boy.. must be a different strainer..

Am I reading this right? You're putting the grains right into the pot to steep then straining them when pouring into another pot? If I'm reading right all I can say is why are you doing this the difficult way? I put my grains into a fine mesh straining bag like those sold on NorthernBrewer and Midwest. This one exactly:

http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/small-fine-straining-bag-10-x-23.html

I steep in my main brew kettle so when I'm done I simply remove the bag with grains, fill my brew kettle to the level I'm going to start the boil and that's it. No straining, no dumping the proto-wort into another kettle etc. Less cleanup too.

Also, with the stainless steel strainer remember the absorbed water will add a lot of weight so it won't hold 3lbs of grain weight, not at all. I have that very strainer as that is what I use to strain when going from kettle to fermenter (to remove the hop pellet sludge) and it's works great but it is a flimsy strainer that can't hold a lot of weight from the handle.

If I'm reading you wrong and misunderstanding then I apologize.


Rev.

Rev, you're not reading me wrong. That's exactly what I do. It's worked fine so far with 1 lb recipes, but I have been a little apprehensive about trying it with more grains so I appreciate your feedback. Maybe I'll go to home depot and pick up a paint strainer bag and trying it your way for one of these bigger recipes.

Thanks again!
Jason