Mash in plastic bucket

Hi, I did my first partial mash a couple of weeks back that I bottled yesterday. It seemed to go quite well. I mashed 1.5Kg of grain in 12 litres of water in a 15 litre pot, then dunked the bag into as much water I could fit in a second 9 litre pot. Boiled both and topped off in my fermenting bucket with cold water. Went well, tastes awesome.

However, I would like to do see if I could do a fuller mash. I've searched around for the information and have a general idea of what I'm planning but am checking to see if anyone has any better ideas, or has done something similar.

My equipment is a 23 litre plastic fermenting bucket, a 15 litre stockpot and a 9 litre stockpot. Batch size is aiming for 18-20 litres.

Would a plastic fermenting bucket be suitable for mashing in. Say if I was to heat the water in the two pots, add to plastic bucket and BIAB in the bucket with the lid on. has anyone else tried this?

What would be the best way to sparge after this? I could transfer the wort to the stockpot, add sparge water to plastic bucket by pouring through grain in Bag and leave to sit for a bit longer.

At this moment in time I am not buying any equipment, or modifying the limited stuff I already have.

Any help would be great. Thanks.

Could also have called this thread 'Help me make the most of limited equipment.'

Plastic bucket will work fine, only problem will be making sure it stays insulated enough to maintain mash temperature. One bucket, with lots of tiny holes in the bottom, placed inside another bucket, was the recommended method by Papazain for new brewers.

Back in the day it was really the only way to do allgrain unless you mashed in your kettle.

Charlie Papazian called it Zapapap-was done in plastic buckets. That was the De Rigeur way to do cheap all grain for decades til someone decided to start mashing with a cooler and toilet parts...

Here a pic of the Zapap Lauter tun...









From here....http://wingnutsunited.wordpress.com/2009/01/09/batch-20-bombay-ipa/

I mash in a plastic bottling bucket with a stainless steel false bottom. I use blankets and towels to insulate, works great.

Great stuff thanks lads!
I think I'll be using an even more primitive version of Papazian's method - mash in plastic bucket using a grain bag. I'll try to insulate it best I can - perhaps wrap it in towels or put in the bath with some warm water.
There is no spigot so I'll siphon the wort from it into one of the stockpots.

Hows about for sparging? Is it okay just to pour sparge-temp water over the grains in the bag and re-mash them for a while? Or should I recirculate first?

Any loss of gravity points will be made up using some extract.

Next up: Tripel, wheat-IPA, saison....ah where has my life gone?

Great stuff thanks lads!
I think I'll be using an even more primitive version of Papazian's method - mash in plastic bucket using a grain bag. I'll try to insulate it best I can - perhaps wrap it in towels or put in the bath with some warm water.
There is no spigot so I'll siphon the wort from it into one of the stockpots.

Hows about for sparging? Is it okay just to pour sparge-temp water over the grains in the bag and re-mash them for a while? Or should I recirculate first?

Any loss of gravity points will be made up using some extract.

Next up: Tripel, wheat-IPA, saison....ah where has my life gone?

I think you have to "open" the bag on the rim of the bucket, normaly you would like to stir the mash every few minutes, make sure there is even heat and water between grains.
But the BIAB guys would probably know best?