Mash - Water to grain or grain to water?

Can you all help me understand which you do and why?

I had watched an instructional video online about All Grain brewing, specifically on the mash. His procedure involved heating the water to the desired strike temperature, warming the mash tun with said water, and then adding the grain to it. Before I attempted my first All Grain brew, I consulted the how to brew bible by John Palmer, (Physical Version, not the online one) and I was surprised he suggested adding the grain first, and then the water. Page 201, Step 3. Mash In - "You want to add the water to the grain, not the other way around.". So I went with his method On my first All Grain attempt. It was a long day with stuck sparge and all the fun stuff. None the less I was able to get the wort out and it has been happily fermenting for two weeks now.

However this left me a bit perplexed, so I got online to do some research, and actually as I was looking at the version of the same book online I was shocked to see he was contradicting what I had previously read in the same copy of his physical book, Potentially different editions? The hunt for answers continues. In fact reading the wiki on this site about the process also suggests adding the grain to the water, and not the other way around.

So I humbly seek out your answers, Which method do you prefer, and why. What are some of the negatives and positives of your process?

I understand the process of adding grain to water prevents the formation of dough balls, but am interested in hearing some other reasons.

Thanks in advance!

I initially warm my cooler with hot water. After about 15 minutes, I slowly add my strike water. While the strike is flowing into my cooler, I slowly pour in my grain. After about 1/2 of my grain is added, I begin mixing. I then add the last 1/2 of my grain and mix again. I copied that method from someone here on HBT and it has always worked for me. Can't tell you the technical reasoning behind it though. I've read Palmers book and rarely follow his methods for all grain.

I heat up the mash water, add to mash tun then add grains. This way the mash tun is nice and hot and I can always hit my temps perfect. That simple....

I do water first and then stir in grain, I find that this reduces doughballs.Fewer doughballs=better efficiency!

Always add dry to wet....

As I can remember, it depends on gelatinization temperature and strike water temperature.
If you dough in below gelatinization temperature you can add water to grains since there is lower risk of creating dough balls, but since most of us mash at or above gelatinization temperature where dough balls are likely to form we want to minimize it and slowly add grain to mash and mix it well.

I've always done grain to water for no reason other than that's how I started doing it. I guess I do it for preheating of the tun purposes. diS's explanation is convincing, though. Kyle

I've always added grain to water simply because there is less chance of dough balls. I would think if you had all of your dry grain in the bottom of your mash tun and you were using a cpvc or copper manifold that it would be difficult to keep the grain on the very bottom from doughing up and clogging the manifold resulting in a stuck mash.

I heat my water above strike temp and add to the mash tun. Wait for it to cool down to strike temp then add grain. That way I know the cooler is pre-heated. Give it a good stir to ensure it's mixed well, close the lid and set the timer.

This works for me: I mash in a kettle on the stove. Dough in at 120. If I want clove flavor, let it rest 20-40 minutes. Direct heat to mash temps. Lauter first run, then batch sparge.

I do the same as many others have said.

Heat water above strike temp.
Dump the water into the Mash Tun to heat it up.
Once the water is down to strike temp I start pouring in the grain.

Depending on the amount of grain and the amount of adjuncts (corn & rice in particular), I will sometimes put in about half the grain in, stir well, then add the other half and stir it very well to get rid of any dough-balls.

In my non-brewing life activities this is like making powdered hot chocolate. If you add the hot milk first and then the powder it easily mixes together with maybe one or two tiny clumps. Any time I have put the powder in the mug and then poured the hot milk on top I have problems getting rid of big clumps (doughballs).

I guess this is why I have always added strike water first.

My technique may be due to not having my setup dialed in perfectly, but I always add water to grain so I can monitor the temperature constantly. I've had wildly different temp swings in summer vs winter, so I use the amount of strike water I add to stabilize my mash temps.

If you pour hot water into the grain, you have to worry about loss of heat during transfer. If you put hot water (above strike temp) into your tun first and let it cool a few degrees by stirring, you are assured of having a relatively consistent temperature throughout the mash and you can easily hit your rest temperature.

edit: After reading through this, I'm pretty surprised at how many other people do it grain to water like me. Most videos I've watched about brewing shows the traditional HLT pouring hot water into a mash tun full of grain.

I had been doing water to grain recently, but I think this thread has convinced me to switch to grain-to-water. I like the idea of overheating the water then letting it cool before adding the grain - I'll have to give that a shot on the next brew day.