Mash vs. sparge water volumes

[Craigvu]

Denny, or anyone else who cares to comment:
I was reading dennybrew.com's description on batch sparging and saw something I didn't understand. He says "The main concept we’re going to be working with is that for the best efficiency, the runoff volumes from your mash and batch sparge should be equal." This is the only place I've seen this recommendation. In general why do you want to have mash and sparge volumes be equal? I use BeerAlchemy and it has always recommended smaller volumes of strike water for the mash than for sparging. I've made 4 AG batches with varying successes in efficiency, and am just trying to get my process down a bit. Thanks.

 

[mojotele]

I don't think he's saying what you're saying. Read the rest of that paragraph:

In order to do that, it’s sometimes necessary to infuse your mash with extra water before thefirst runoff. Here’s how it works...

So he's saying that, yes, the strike volume will be smaller. But he then recommends essentially doing a mash out.