AG BIAB question

Hey all,

Did my first AG BIAB yesterday...was a little messy, but overall things went well and I have active fermentation going on right now.

I used the aluminum strainer basket that came with the turkey fryer kit to put the nylon bag and the grains in for the BIAB process. It made it a lot easier (I expect) when removing the grains than pulling on the bag only.

I do have a question for the BIAB experts about using the strainer basket though. The brew pot is 8.75 gallons and the strainer basket, based on my math, has a 5.5 gallon capacity. The strainer basket was pretty jammed full of grain, not overly easy to stir, and my grain bill was only 10-1/2 pounds.
Will that size difference between my pot and basket affect my efficiency?
My target OG was 1.055 and I only got 1.046. I was wondering if the smaller size of the strainer basket preventing the grains from fully mixing with the water during the mash would effect efficiency or have any other detrimental effects.

I did notice that the temp of the grain bed was bang on at 152 F but the surrounding water (there's about an 1-1/2" gap between the bast and the pot) was higher at 165-170F.

I hope this all made sense, thanks for any replies!

Nick

It sounds as though your basket may be a bit small. You should be able to stir easily with only 10.5 pounds in the basket. As a comparison I brewed a batch yesterday using my 10g kettle and steel basket that had 16-pounds of grain an it was very easy to stir.

One thing you can try is BIAB without the steel basket. Just use a round cookie sheet or something to keep the bag from scorching on the bottom of your kettle.