Cold steeping dark grains

I've determined that my tap water is no good for mashing dark grains. I'm going to try cold steeping the dark grains. So here's what I'm thinking...the original recipe calls for this grain bill:

8 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)
1.5 lb White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt 60L
0.75 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
0.50 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)

So instead, I will do this dark grain increase:

1.25 lb Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
1 lb Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)

And steep the 2.25# of dark grains in 1 gallon of water for about 36 hours hours. Then after I mash, start boiling that 1 gallon and add it to the rest of my boil kettle.

If anybody has any cold steeping experiences...I'd like to hear, thanks!

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trying to learn this technique myself

I've heard that the book "Brew Strong" has some good info on cold steeping - you might see if you can get your hands on a copy to see if the thoughts in there align with what you're trying to do.

TTB-J said:

I've heard that the book "Brew Strong" has some good info on cold steeping - you might see if you can get your hands on a copy to see if the thoughts in there align with what you're trying to do.

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Thanks for the suggestion. My gameplan is to cold steep the dark grains for flavor and color, without worrying about getting fermentables at all.

I'll get the fermentables from my non-dark grains (about 8+ pounds) and maybe even add a little extra DME.