Mash Tun Cooler

Hello,

I am preparing to begin AG brewing and I was wondering if i can clean out an old cooler to convert to a mash tun or if i need to buy a new one. I understand that a cooler with scratches in it is bad but this one looks to be alright, only a couple smaller scratches that i can see.

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I have a few old coolers, but I think I'm gonna buy a new one. That said though, this is pre-boil, so conceivable, anything bad would be sanitized and killed during the boil...

Just wash it out & rinse it good. Then just rinse after each use.

Scratches mean nothing in a MT. No difference old or new IMO. Just about any cooler I have seen will work for batch sparging. Just be sure to preheat, and it will hold temps well enough for conversion.

Sanitation is not that important pre boil but you don't want to let it get funky.

yeah i got mine from a friend and i think the only time i took soap and water to it is when i first got it. all i do to clean it is just spray the crap out of it with a hose.

are you planning on building a manifold or using a SS braid? I found a lot of helpful information in this forum regarding my conversion.

My only regret is not spacing my manifold piping closer together, although i still can fix this. I had planned on a round cooler but they were out of stock at home depot so i decided to convert a regular cooler that someone had left at my house. Also, even with the dremel, drilling slits in my manifold has been a bit of a pain. i'm looking into other ways to cut

I had a lot of great success with my first mash tun, which was converted from an old ice chest I had laying around. There is no risk with the scratches, if any. As many already posted, mashing is pre-boil, so there's is no risk of contamination at this point in the process.