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I'm making the jump to AG, most, if not all my brews will have a 10-12lb grain bill, is a 5 gal cooler tun large enough, or should i just go with the 10 gal to allow for some head space/flexibility with the amount of strike water? I have done a few searches and didn't really find anything

You'll need a 10 gallon for sure. When I first started, I used to recirculate on a piece of aluminum foil with holes, placed on top of the grain bed. That didn't work well and was always messy. I highly recommend those plastic snake-like tubes with the nozzles for recirculating. I've since moved from the cooler and am still using it on my SS mash tun.
 
I figured out my grain absorption and mlt loses. I use strike and sparge volumes that yield equal volumes. I use brew365 to calculate strike temp and heat style Easter water 4-5 degrees above that and add to a cooler preheated with hit tap water. I've been within .5 degrees of mash temp every time and held within a degree every time.
 
Check your propane tanks! Make sure you have enough propane to heat all your strike water, sparge water and wort boil...Yeah that happened...Got my mash going and started to heat my sparge water but my propane had run out. Luckily I was able to go get a replacement while the mash rested... I hope this helps someone...
 
glad I landed here...I need to get my mash/sparge process right...apparently doing it wrong all these years :(

I had never measured water in. Just filled the tun with enough to cover the grain and let it sit an hour, drain and then rinse grains with more hot water until I reached my starting boil volume...
 
Check your propane tanks! Make sure you have enough propane ...

And check your spare tanks too. Don’t just look at them and go, Ok, I know that one’s empty, but that one should be half full. Because when you are starting your boil, and you run out, and then you grab that other tank and it’s way lighter than you remember, well, running out of gas halfway through the boil is a big pain.
An hour later and a half later, with three full tanks in hand, resume operations.
 
Be sure when your tank is refilled that it is really empty. One of my tanks was almost full of water vapor! Sounds odd but when the tank was being refilled, the process stopped almost immediately. The tech put it aside and bled the tank and it hissed for over a minute. Also check the tare weight and compare it to the scale at the filling station, they should be the same. If the scale reads heavier, you have vapor in your tank.
 
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