How many of you guys are getting away with using a elevated strike temp to compensate for cooler absorbtion?
The first thing I did was put 3 gallons of boiling water into my rectangular cooler and let it sit for a while. This really deformed the cooler in some spots so I'm thinking it is a bad long term solution.
Even after the preheat, adding 12 qts of 166dF water to 10lbs of 70dF grain brought my temp to a stable 143 when I was shooting for a 154dF mash (these instructions were per brewsmith). What the hell went wrong? My cooler is a bit large, I'd say the headspace was equal to the grain + water space so it was half full. Does this effect it?
Should I just try striking at like 195 without the preheat next time just to see where I stand? Maybe I'll go with 1qt/lb at first and leave that last .25 qt/lb for temp adjustment.
The first thing I did was put 3 gallons of boiling water into my rectangular cooler and let it sit for a while. This really deformed the cooler in some spots so I'm thinking it is a bad long term solution.
Even after the preheat, adding 12 qts of 166dF water to 10lbs of 70dF grain brought my temp to a stable 143 when I was shooting for a 154dF mash (these instructions were per brewsmith). What the hell went wrong? My cooler is a bit large, I'd say the headspace was equal to the grain + water space so it was half full. Does this effect it?
Should I just try striking at like 195 without the preheat next time just to see where I stand? Maybe I'll go with 1qt/lb at first and leave that last .25 qt/lb for temp adjustment.