Understanding Dough In

I've only got 3 all grain batches under my belt and I just wanted a little help understanding the volume of water I am supposed to be using on my dough in. I use promash and in the mashing section lets say for example I want a 1.5 water/grain ratio. Well based on say 11 lbs of grain that will give me a water volume of 4.13 gallons. However the total mash volume it gives me is 5.01 gallons. Does this mean I am supposed to be doing my mash with 4 gallons and then sparging with additional water to achieve 5 gallons total, or I am supposed to start the mash with the total 5 gallons?

Normally I start the mash with 5 gallons, end up with about 3 after the first run and then add an additional 3 or 4 gallons during my batch sparge to top off to 6 gallons for the boil. Anything wrong with this process?

Ok if your mashing at 1.5qts/ lb then your mashing with 16.5 quarts. That gives you mash water of 4.125 gallons mash water. Then you need to subtract your grain absorbtion amount (I use .15 gallons per pound of grain). Mash water - water lossed to absorbtion = Total runoff. total begining boil volume - total runoff = sparge water volume.

I suspect the extra is to account for the absorption of some of the water into the grain.

Ok so you're saying I should be starting with 4 gallons as opposed to what promash is telling me is the total volume. And make up for the remaining in the sparge.

Yes. Start with 4. That will give you the proper 1.5qts/lb that you want as a mash thickness. Then sparge enough to bring your pre boil volume up to 6 gallons or whatever your looking for depending on your boil off rate.

Ok...out of curiosity seeing as how i've been doing it the opposite way all this time (mashing with 5 gallons) what is the down side? I have been noticing my OG is generally lower than it should be. Could this be the reason?

With most setups, you will also loose a little liquid to dead-space in the mast tun. Brewsmith for example, most hardware profiles are .5 gallon lost to dead-space.

I however mash in a voile bag and suck every last drop out of the tun. The wort is clear and I don't have to worry about anything getting stuck while draining.

ryandlf said:

Ok...out of curiosity seeing as how i've been doing it the opposite way all this time (mashing with 5 gallons) what is the down side? I have been noticing my OG is generally lower than it should be. Could this be the reason?

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It could be, depending on your setup. Some people have luck with thicker mashes, and some prefer thinner. The idea is that you've got enzymes and sugars floating around, and they've got to meet each other. If you're too diluted the enzymes can't get to all the sugars, and if you're too thick the enzymes can't move around. If you're doing 11 lbs in 5 gal, that puts you at about 1.8, which might be a little high. Try lower (1.25-1.5 qt/lb) and see if your efficiency goes up.

ryandlf said:

. I use promash and in the mashing section lets say for example I want a 1.5 water/grain ratio. Well based on say 11 lbs of grain that will give me a water volume of 4.13 gallons. However the total mash volume it gives me is 5.01 gallons. Does this mean I am supposed to be doing my mash with 4 gallons and then sparging with additional water to achieve 5 gallons total, ?

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It means that with the total water and the total grain added, your volume in the tun will be 5.01 gallons.