Sparge Temperature

I am doing mini-mashes on the stove. My last brew I got a 60 percent efficiency roughly. I'm ok with this becuase it is consistant. However, I just read that for the sparge you need to keep the grains at 170F to 165 F for around 10 minutes on the stove.

My question, what temp should my strike water begin at to reach 170F? Currently, I have just been heating my water to 175F, and sparging. But I know the temp does not hold that high do to the grains starting at a lower temp. I am thinking this effects my efficiency.

Hi there, there are many tools out there to help. A couple of which are:

http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

http://www.brewheads.com/batch.php

Good luck.
And, yes, you are correct---you need a higher temperature of liquid because of the grains/mash affecting temperature.