I posted this question in the middle of another (not entirely relevant) thread and did not get an answer.
I do BIAB. Before I did my first few BIAB batches I bought Tincture of Iodine for starch conversion testing. I looked for Lugol's but could not find it (thanks to drug addicts everywhere) but it is my understanding that the main difference between the two is that Lugol's does not use alcohol for solubilty and that both should work for starch conversion testing.
I say all of this because I ran the test several times on the first few BIAB batches I did. I would take a small amount of the wort, place in onto a white plate and then put 1-2 drops of the tincture into the wort. Early in the mash it would turn black immediately but even up to 2 hours into a mash, it would still slowly turn a "light" black. I never went more than 2 hours for any of these mashes despite the absence of a "clean" starch test.
I have since stoppped testing because I found it so unhelpful. I run one hour mashes and have had great/expected efficiency, attenuation and FGs. And the beers have been good. (BTW, on my original posting yesterday I only mentioned efficiency. I woke up this morning realizing how almost irrelevant efficiency is to this discussion.)
So why would I continue to get a semi "incomplete" result with iodine testing? My only thought (aside from the possibility that I'm doing something completely wrong) is that I'm getting little bits of grain in my sample which will never completely convert to sugar. But if that is the case, wouldn't everyone fail to get a complete conversion iodine test?
Thanks in advance.
I do BIAB. Before I did my first few BIAB batches I bought Tincture of Iodine for starch conversion testing. I looked for Lugol's but could not find it (thanks to drug addicts everywhere) but it is my understanding that the main difference between the two is that Lugol's does not use alcohol for solubilty and that both should work for starch conversion testing.
I say all of this because I ran the test several times on the first few BIAB batches I did. I would take a small amount of the wort, place in onto a white plate and then put 1-2 drops of the tincture into the wort. Early in the mash it would turn black immediately but even up to 2 hours into a mash, it would still slowly turn a "light" black. I never went more than 2 hours for any of these mashes despite the absence of a "clean" starch test.
I have since stoppped testing because I found it so unhelpful. I run one hour mashes and have had great/expected efficiency, attenuation and FGs. And the beers have been good. (BTW, on my original posting yesterday I only mentioned efficiency. I woke up this morning realizing how almost irrelevant efficiency is to this discussion.)
So why would I continue to get a semi "incomplete" result with iodine testing? My only thought (aside from the possibility that I'm doing something completely wrong) is that I'm getting little bits of grain in my sample which will never completely convert to sugar. But if that is the case, wouldn't everyone fail to get a complete conversion iodine test?
Thanks in advance.