Hot Rod vs. Heat Stick vs. Sous Vide for strike water

[Earl_Grey]

In a continual effort to shorten the brew day I would like to have the strike water ready to go straight into mashing in the morning. Off the shelf would be the most preferred method but I can do some DIY things as well.

The sous vide method seems to be the easiest however I cant tell if you can have them come on as a delay function say 8 hours into the future, give it 2 hours to heat water up and its done. The hot rod looks really interesting but with that solution I would feel more comfortable controlling by heat rather than temp. I already have a RIMS setup so using the PID for this wouldnt be a problem. Finally the plug in heat stick seems like a viable solution as well.

How do you have your strike water ready in the morning?

 

[Br3w4u]

I get up early and stare at a pot of water on a gas burner for about 30 min......I am thinking of getting the hot rod as my next purchase but I also wonder if a heat stick that costs half as much would be just as good.

 

[evsol]

I have used a variety of methods including a heat stick (which was the easiest to control with a timer), however, I have found that recently using a Sous Vide circulating heater seems to work best for me. I turn it on when I let the dogs out for the last night run and it is perfectly at temp come 6:30 in the morning for me to drop my grains in and start mashing (I mash in a cooler with a HERMS circulation). I hit my strike temp right on and my mash temp right now...I can then be done before noon including cleanup. But whatever works for you as I did the heat stick thing for several years, but find the Sous Vide seems to get the temp for the entire MIAB ready to go best.

 

[popsicleian]

I haven't tried the others, but I've been very happy with using my sous vide to get strike water ready. If you're going to leave it on for several hours, such as overnight, I would recommend covering the kettle in saran wrap or foil to prevent evaporation.

 

[Br3w4u]

I have used a variety of methods including a heat stick (which was the easiest to control with a timer), however, I have found that recently using a Sous Vide circulating heater seems to work best for me. I turn it on when I let the dogs out for the last night run and it is perfectly at temp come 6:30 in the morning for me to drop my grains in and start mashing (I mash in a cooler with a HERMS circulation). I hit my strike temp right on and my mash temp right now...I can then be done before noon including cleanup. But whatever works for you as I did the heat stick thing for several years, but find the Sous Vide seems to get the temp for the entire MIAB ready to go best.

When you use the sous vide do you heat your mash and sparge water all together or are you just heating enough water to mash in?

 

[ChefRex]

I've been using Joule to heat my strike water, set it up the night before, I will usually wake sometime before I want to get up, grab phone and start.
Water is where I want it when I get up.
Brewday is usually cleaned up before noon.

Love it!

 

[TexasWine]

Easiest solution is to just use your RIMS to heat your water. Why wouldn't you go that route?

 

[ChefRex]

Easiest solution is to just use your RIMS to heat your water. Why wouldn't you go that route?

In my case, I have a sous vide heater and I brew propane and it saves on refills.
Rolling over and starting heating is a plus too.

 

[NeoBrew]

In my case, I have a sous vide heater and I brew propane and it saves on refills.
Rolling over and starting heating is a plus too.

I think the question was why not just put a timer on your RIMS system to heat the water? Or do you have some kind of propane fired RIMS system?

 

[TexasWine]

In my case, I have a sous vide heater and I brew propane and it saves on refills.
Rolling over and starting heating is a plus too.

My question was for the OP and the original question they posed.

 

[NeoBrew]

My question was for the OP and the original question they posed.

Got it, my bad.

 

[evsol]

When you use the sous vide do you heat your mash and sparge water all together or are you just heating enough water to mash in?

I am a MIAB brewer (I mash full volume in a cooler), so it is usually 7-8 gallons at a time.