Congrats on going big with the 5g batches. If I ever get to that point i'll defiantly do what you did and check craigslist and forums for local people getting rid of equipment to save money. My problem is I don't have room for large fermenters and wouldn't know what to do with 5g worth of bottles. My house is only around 750 sq ft so I don't have much extra room in the air conditioning.
There is always someone getting out of brewing or going bigger. It's also common to find turkey fryer apparatus used for less than $40, including a big enough pot -- that you will have to clean very well.
Yep.
I used a 14qt stainless pot i bought at BigLots for $13 and a 5 gallon paint strainer bag i bought at Lowes in a 2-pack for like $2.
Also, a digital probe thermometer, which is much faster to read the temperature of the mash than the glass one BBS ships.
I used a 90 minute mash, with temperatures fluctuating between 150 and 160. All of the water that was ever going to be in the beer at once.
When the mash is done, turn up the heat. When it hits 170, lift out the bag, tie it off, and put it in a colander balanced over the wort.
The boil is done as usual.
It took some tinkering to get the equipment and mash programmed into brewtarget but generally the total amount of water to start with is about 6.5 quarts.
Now that i have a 10 gallon insulated mash tun, I just pour in water at the temperature recommended by brewtarget based on the recipe and equipment, pour in the grain, stir a bit, lid up, and walk away to go prepare for the next steps for an hour. Beats the heck out of worrying a pot on the stove for an hour and a half.