Stuck BIAB recirculation

I've been doing recirculating eBIAB in a 24 qt Bayou kettle with basket for some time without issues but yesterday's brew stuck. I use a little 12V brown pump and never had to throttle down output but when the pump drew more from under basket than what drained back I tried throttling down the output and still happened. This was a big beer for a two gallon batch with 6.5 pounds of grain. Using the simple BIAB calculator for water amounts the mash in the basket with bag was thick like a standard mash. Since there is a gallon below the basket should that be added to strike water volume? Not sure what happened. The previous beer was a two gallon batch with only 3.5 pounds of grain and recirculated with no problems.

Also have my own mill and crush is consistent and use a voile bag.

I would say that you should try doing a thinner mash and add more water. I've had this problem as well with a very similar setup and have had to throttle down the pump a lot. Here are 2 more recommendations that may help. 1) Use a paint strainer bag from Home Depot, seems to let the liquid through a little better than voile bags do in my experience. 2) If using the basket along with a bag then try drilling the holes in the bottom a little bigger. I did this on the bottom of the basket and a few inches up on the sides and I believe it improves the flow. I like using the basket along with the bag because it prevents the bag from being sucked into the pump while recirculating. And also it is easier to lift out after mashing and allowing the wort to drain out of the grain.

Hope some of this helps, cheers!

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Thanks, I'm gonna try that. Also looking into going to a stainless mesh basket instead of the one that came with the kettle and ditch the bag altogether.

I know when I make bigger beers the mash is thicker than when I make ~1.060 or so beers. I'm guessing your pump pulled wort from the bottom of the kettle faster than it could circulate through from the top of the mash. The type of grain used can also cause it to drain more slowly than usual.

It was definitely a big beer but normal 2 row and Crystal malts I've used before. I probably should have thinned the mash some. It turned out fine but could recirculate so had to watch temp more closely.