First PM, Countertop Method

I read the countertop PM article on BYO, then the followup this past issue, and decided to try this method with my end of year brew. Grain bill to follow. I was hoping to get a little insight on mashing temp. I was planning on going with 154F and split the difference between the two suggested ranges.

2 lbs Pale Malt
.5 lbs Dark Munich
.5 lbs Light Munich
.5 lbs Chocolate malt
.25 lbs biscuit malt
.25 lbs crystal malt (60 L)

EDIT: There's about 5 lbs. of extract going into this also. OG is somewhere around 1.075ish.

This is basically a "leftover brew" so I don't waste the little amount of grain I have in my basement. I'm picking up the Pale malt tomorrow. Any thoughts on adjusting the mash temp up or down or tips in general would be appreciated.

Thanks,

I tend to start a PM around 152F and keep it above 148F. My thinking is to maximize the fermentables from the mash, since extracts tend to have relatively high unfermentable levels. Most of the time, just using 2.5 gallons of water, regardless of the grain bill, is enough to achieve this range.

My last few batches have been partial mash. I have been using more grains and less extract. I am not looking at my notes, but my last few were around 5 pounds two row, 1 pound of specialty grains and 3 pounds extract. I used a grain bag and stainless steel pot in the oven for an hour. Heated water to 160'ish, added grains and stirred and temp hit 151. I then placed the pot in the oven which was preheated to 200, and then turned off. I sparged with enough 170 water to fill up my boil pot enough for a good boil.

Grains are cheaper than extract, so if I am going to do the extra effort to mash rather than extract with steeping grains I like to use more grains and save a couple bucks.