Strike temperature for 10 gal rubbermaid?

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kman42

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How many degrees above the calculated strike temp do I need to go to compensate for a room temperature 10 gallon Rubbermaid cooler? I'm using 15.75 lbs of grain and Beerpal on my iPhone says to strike with 4.9 gallons of 165°F water for a 152°F mash. How many degrees do I need to add to make up for the cold cooler?

thanks,
kman
 
Here is an easy way....

Heat the water to 10F hotter than strike... (175F)

Let it preheat the cooler and cool to strike temp. (165F)

Then mash in...

Perfect.

Never guess at how much the cooler will absorb.
 
+1, I have a 10 gallon Rubbermaid MLT and this is exactly what I do. Works every time.
 
Here is an easy way....

Heat the water to 10F hotter than strike... (175F)

Let it preheat the cooler and cool to strike temp. (165F)

Then mash in...

Perfect.

Never guess at how much the cooler will absorb.

POl, I basicly agree with you, but from 175 to 165 might take a while, since my cooler loses 2F per hour.:)
 
You'll lose several degrees quickly as the cooler heats up from ambient temperature.

Then, to bleed off a few more degrees if needed, after it's warmed up, leave the lid off and stir. It doesn't take long at all to lose several degrees this way.
 
POl, I basicly agree with you, but from 175 to 165 might take a while, since my cooler loses 2F per hour.:)

Keep it open for a minute or two, close it to try and 'soak' up as much heat as possible, then open again to let off some heat. It wont take long if you stir a little bit.
 
In always heat my strike water to 12F above my strike temp. Sometimes higher, never lower. It's always easier to lose heat rather than gain it.
 
I normally fill my cooler up with hot tap water, then put that in my pot and heat up to my strike temp. While the water is heating the already heated cooler has a lid on it. Add water back into the cooler then add my grains and I'm normally within 1 degree of my mash temp.

Just my $.02

Cheers :mug:
 
Alright, I'll give it a go with the water 10 degrees warmer. I had read that it was better to add the grain first so that it heats up slowly as you add the water, but maybe that is bunk.
 
I typically go 10 degrees higher than strike temp. for my 10 gal. rubbermaid cooler like several others posted. I dump the water in and then dough in right away. (I am lazy, plus this was the advice of others to the same question in the past.) Then I check the temp. after 5 minutes and am always within a degree of the correct mash temp. After a few brews, you will figure out how your system works and will be able to hit it right on each time.
 
I'm with ottobrew on this. I use hot tap water, filled to 5 gal on the 10 gal cooler. It sits while I heat my strike water. I use Promash and have the mashtun mass set to zero for the strike temp calcs. I've been hitting my temps dead on.
 
I like to overheat my strike water to pre-heat the MLT then compensate if needed with ice, much better than having to come up with some extra hot water.
 
IMHO putting hot water in the MLT, then draining, then filling with strike water, is really wasteful. There really is no benefit, just more steps, more water.

Adding grain to water is the preferred method, we did a poll on this 6 months ago. If you read brewing books, you will read a lot of bunk.
 
IMHO putting hot water in the MLT, then draining, then filling with strike water, is really wasteful. There really is no benefit, just more steps, more water.

Adding grain to water is the preferred method, we did a poll on this 6 months ago. If you read brewing books, you will read a lot of bunk.

yep = the best way to "pre-heat" you MLT is just to strike about 10 *F higher...
 
IMHO putting hot water in the MLT, then draining, then filling with strike water, is really wasteful. There really is no benefit, just more steps, more water.

Adding grain to water is the preferred method, we did a poll on this 6 months ago. If you read brewing books, you will read a lot of bunk.

Perhaps there's a bit of confusion of my process. I put hot water into my 10 gallon cooler. I then carry that outside and pour all that water into my brew pot. At this point my cooler is hot but empty, and the lid is put on it basically reducing the thermal mass to a negligible factor. While the water is heating up in the pot, normally about 5 minutes, the cooler stays hot. Once my desired strike temp is reached it's transferred back into the cooler via a valve and some gravity, then I add my grains.

Having said all that, I have to carry my water outside regardless of the temp, so it's convenient for me. Hope this sheds some light on my previous post (if that in fact was in question). :mug:
 
I just put the MLT near (not TOO close) the burner while I heat the strike water. It's nice and toasty by the time I pour the water in. I do 10 degrees higher too.
 
Thanks everyone. I might try the tip of putting hot tap water in the cooler and then transferring it to the kettle as the strike water. Starting with hot water will save on time and propane. Some initial tests with my new turkey fryer indicate that it is pretty slow to heat up to strike from ambient temps.
 
I usually lose about 3F on my 10G rubbermaid MLT due to heat absorption on most of my recipes (18 to 24 lb grain bill ). Most of my recipes call for a 167 to 168F infusion temperature to reach ~153 F. I don't like waiting or stirring when it comes to reaching dough in temps so I usually add 3F to infusion temperature ( ~ 170 F ) and call it good after a quick temp check. It's probably good advice going a bit higher on the infusion temperature and let the MLT cool but my experience indicates adding 3F works fine for me.

Cheers
Steve
 
I use Beersmith for this. I hit my mash temp with this really well. Just make sure to check off the button by the mash profile that bases the mash temp based on equipment. I heat to one degree above the strike called for in Beersmith. I can bleed a degree easily if needed after it stabilizes. You need to enter your equipment and know the cooler and grain temp. I find that this is very accurate.
 
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