Steeping grains question

Why do the recipes recommend starting with cold water in your brew pot and slowly bringing them up to steeping temperature for the specialty grains? Is hot tap water to hot to start with? Ken

It's one of those "different strokes for different brewers" things. Really it is whatever works for you. I usually use hot water myself. The point is to let it steep for at least 1/2 hour and to not exceed 170 degrees or else you will extract tannins...

The instructions for recipes are usually written in terms of the author's brewing style/preference. if they were a hot tap water steeper, then the recipe would probably reflect that.

Some people even cold steep overnight.