using a slow cooker for mini mash for starter wort

has anyone tried this.
I have it on the go right now but I'm not sure how well it will work.

I put my pressure cooker on high with 2 Litres of water and brought it up to about 65 dec C (154F)

I milled about 470 grams (just over 1 Lb) of grain, and put it in a hop sock and dropped that into the slow cooker (still on high) and brought it up to mash temp of 64 deg C, stirring the grain inside the bag to get the temperature consistent throughout, and then lowered the slow cooker to the "keep warm" setting where I plan to monitor it and keep it for 45 minutes for conversion.
Then I can pull the hop sock out and turn it back up to high to boil briefly to sterilize the wort. Chill, pitch harvested yeast, put into a cider jug with a wand on an aquarium pump. The bubbles will stir and aerate.
1 1/2 days until brew day

Does this sound like it will work?

yes

Just have to make sure the temp does not get too high. The slow cookers often keep warm by trying to almost reach boiling and then turn off.

Yeah. If I were you I'd fill the crock pot with water and then drop in a submersible temp probe and monitor the temp swing for anhour or so. I suppose you could also just use the vessel to heart the water and then turn it off for the mash. The ceramic insert takes a long time to heat and a long time to cool.

This would "work" for a fully self-convertible grain, but if you needed to add a grain for enzymes to convert another, I think you'll run out of space fast. The other thing, the reason I say "work" in parenthesis, mashing 1lb of grain for a PM in a 5 gallon batch is going to give you a very small effect. I'd tend to gravitate toward a system that would allow you 3lbs at least, and 5lbs optimally. I'd say that mashing 3lbs in your BK would be much more effective than 1lb in a crock pot.

I think he/she's talking about making a 2L wort for a yeast starter.
Sounds like it would work if you can keep an eye on the temp.

chickypad said:

I think he/she's talking about making a 2L wort for a yeast starter.
Sounds like it would work if you can keep an eye on the temp.

Click to expand...

OH, I missed that... why would you mash a starter as opposed to simply using DME? Seems to me like a lot more work and variables than are necessary for really no return on the investment. With DME you don't have to worry about efficiency and conversion, etc. You know you'll get a nice 1.040 wort ready to go - water chemistry is inconsequential too with DME.

1. don't have any DME so even with the labour involved it was quicker than going to the homebrew shop

2. homebrew shop is closed well before 9:00pm on a thursday

3. I needed to get a starter going for a planned saturday brew day, but I have a 15 mo. old boy and am too scattered to remember to plan these thing further in advance so I needed a solution with what I had.

4. I got a chance to play with the new motorized grain mill that I recently built

5. test a concept = geek points

6. yeast propogation with a sugar profile that is closer to the wort into which they will be pitched


BTW. I did have to turn the pressure cooker off. I monitored the temperature with a digital testing thermometer (the one I use to check beer temperatures at work)
The crock lost -8F in 30 minutes. I turned the crock back onto high and brought it back up to 170F before I pulled the grain bag.
I think it worked out, but next brew I think I will reserve a couple of litres of wort in a heavy ziplock in the freezer for the next time (boil... chill... pitch)