first direct heat mash

I am planning on doing a Hennepin clone and I am going to use a step mash, but instead of doing it in my cooler I am going to do it in my brewpot on the stove. I have attached a SS braid and I think I am ready to go.

Any advice or tips for my first direct heat mash on a stove?

I hear wrapping some sort of insulation (padded aluminum?) around the pot would help, that way your temps won't really drop much and you don't have to worry about adjusting the heat constantly to keep your temps steady.

Is this an AG on a stove? What sort of stove do you have? Id worry about BTUs and not being able to change temps very quickly?

Pol

The Pol said:

Is this an AG on a stove? What sort of stove do you have? Id worry about BTUs and not being able to change temps very quickly?

Pol

Click to expand...

It is a relatively new electric stove. I was thinking that I would give it a try on the stove first and if that wasn't working than taking it out onto the propane stove. I just thought the kitchen stove would work better for producing a small amount of heat to keep the temperature constant.

seefresh said:

I hear wrapping some sort of insulation (padded aluminum?) around the pot would help, that way your temps won't really drop much and you don't have to worry about adjusting the heat constantly to keep your temps steady.

Click to expand...

I have some insulation that is sealed in plastic, but I figured it would probably melt if I tried to wrap it around.

Yea, wouldn't use plastic, go to lowes and ask what they would recommend, could handle the heat and all.

Something to think about: pull your mash off the heat at a few degrees below your target temp at each step and keep stirring. The temp will continue to rise as the hotter mash from the bottom gets stirred in, and you don't want to overshoot your target.

Also, if your mashing an all grain batch (5 gal or bigger) just put a lid on your kettle and throw a couple of heavy blankets over it... you won't lose more than three or four degrees in an hour... If you don't mess with it.

I do direct heat mashes only; it's a great way to go. cheers -p

If you're mashing in a 5 gallon pot you can heat it up on the stove and then throw it in a preheated oven for insulation. I did it and it worked as well as a cooler.

When you're heating your strike water, you don't need to heat it as high as you would for a cooler. The initial heat loss will be less. The first time I mashed in my converted keg I overshot the mash in by a good bit. If you're a few degrees low, it's easy to just apply some gentle heat while stirring to get it where you want.

Thanks everyone for the input.

Everything went great and I had perfect temperatures at every step. I was hoping this would bump up my efficiency, but I only got 65%. I think I know what the problem is. My pH strips suck....