Water Question on First All Grain Batch

I'm preparing for my 1st all grain batch. I use ProMash for my recipes. No problems there. I know what my losses will be along the way. I'll use a .2 gal/# of grain absorption rate as a starter until I have enough data for my system.

My question is in regards to calculating the water needed for my mash and sparge (fly) to end up with my final 10 gallon batch. I'm using the ProMash water needed calculator which is pretty straight forward. I have looked at other calculators and they are all pretty similar. Everything I've read so far says to use 1 to 2 qts per pound of grain for the mash. I was planning on starting with 1.5 qts. Here's where I'm having trouble. Palmer says to use one and a half times as much sparge water as mash water and I think he recommends 2 qts per pound for the mash. If I use even a 1 to 1 ratio (mash water to sparge water), let alone the 1 to 1.5 ratio that Palmer recommends, I will end up with way too much after boil and shrinkage factored in. The only way I can make the numbers work is to either (1) Keep my 1.5 qts/pound and reduce the sparge water to less than the mash water or (2) Lower the qts/pound of water for the mash.

I could use a little help here, because I must be missing something.

Thanks, David

This may not be a total help to you but it's what I do and it works. As always, YMMV.

I mash in at roughly 1.2qt/lb and go with that. I'll get wort from that mash. I don't calculate any volume for sparge water just usually more than I need. I get it to temperature and then after the hour rest or so for the mash I start to lauter. Once I'm lautering then I'm just sparging with the water at temp so that the grain bed is constantly rinsed. I stop lautering when I get to the desired volume in the boil kettle.

You can calculate your volume of sparge water and then add some just to be sure you get everything in to the boil kettle. But this way you really don't have to worry about miscalculations--You'll have enough.