Partial Mash in Oven Question

[drewski459]

I'm planning on attempting my second partial mash sometime in the next week. On the first attempt I had some trouble holding the temp on the stovetop - I'm guessing my pot must be too thin. After doing some reading I saw that many people resolve this by sticking the pot in the oven for an hour.

My question is - what temperature do I set it at? The lowest setting is 170. Some posts have said to turn the heat off when I put the pot in and the residual heat will keep it warm. Others say that they leave it at 170 and one post (that I can't seem to find anymore) said that he sets it at 200 to keep the mash in the 150's. Anyone have an opinion on this?

 

[david_42]

Well, you've covered three opinions. I'd opt for 170F and shutoff.

 

[BuzzCraft]

You're going to have to experiment..I'd suggest you preheat your oven to 170F for starters. Turn off the oven and put your pot in there. I'll often keep a thermometer in there to keep tabs on it. As long as you're in the 150F range (which your 170F preheated oven will quickly drop to) you're absolutely fine. Since the heat is radiant, you don't have to worry about turning the oven on and off occasionally to keep the temp in the 140-160F range...it won't affect your mash.

Once you figure it out for your oven, you won't need to keep tabs on it. Mash temps will change VERY slowly if your oven is heated as described above.

 

[drewski459]

Thanks guys. I think I'll get an oven thermometer to put on the rack so I can monitor the temp without opening the oven. I'm guessing the mash won't fluctuate in temp very quickly, so as long as I start at the right temp and keep the oven warm enough, I should be good. Like you said, I guess it will just take some trial and error.

 

[brown_dog_us]

I preheat the oven to 200.

Turn off oven.

Slide the pot in with a lid on top.

Close door.

Come back in 1 hour.


I have left a thermometer in the mash to check and the temp never moves more than a degree in either direction. Why 200? My oven has "warm" and then 200, and I don't know how warm warm is. Anyway, Once you open the door and let some heat out the inside will be around 150. I know you are thinking, but what if.... Don't think. Relax. Don't worry etc. It will make great beer.

 

[Sedge]

The oven thermometer is something I think everyone should have anyway. I don't think I've ever seen an oven holding the temp the display says it is. My oven floats around 15-20 degrees lower than the implied temperature, which made my few partial mashes turn out just fine at the lowest setting of 170.

brown dog us's method will work great as well. 200 degrees is a curiously useful temperature for keeping food warm and moist as well. Works great for stacks of pancakes before serving.

 

[jjones17]

Agreeing completeley with some of the posts here, 200F works perfectly for me I usually do not lose a single degree F. I turn it off as soon as the pot goes in, and I have the thinnest crapiest pot you can imagine.

Works awesome.

 

[ChshreCat]

I set mine on warm. Not sure what warm is, but it's above 160.

There's no need to keep the oven at your mash temp. Think of it this way... If you get your mash to 150, it's going to slowly lose heat sitting in a room temperature kitchen. If it's sitting in a 100 degree oven, it's going to lose heat much more slowly. It's not going to go right down to 100 degrees. Same if the oven is above your mash temp. It's going to take time to get warmer, and by then the oven will have cooled down some anyway since you turn it off when you put your pot in.

+1 on the oven thermometer. If you're worried, just turn the oven on until the thermometer hits about 5 or 10 above your mash temp and shut it off.

 

[BribieG]

Rather than use an oven, have you thought of using an insulated picnic type container with a water bath, and mash your grain in a big lidded kitchen container? Probably kit you already have on hand. If you do the water bath a few degrees hotter than the mash it's not actually going to heat up the mash, just double insulate it - sort of like a gravity well . You should get zero temp. drop over an hour.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Rather than use an oven, have you thought of using an insulated picnic type container with a water bath, and mash your grain in a big lidded kitchen container? Probably kit you already have on hand. If you do the water bath a few degrees hotter than the mash it's not actually going to heat up the mash, just double insulate it - sort of like a gravity well . You should get zero temp. drop over an hour.

Good idea but....with the oven all you need to do is turn it on and open the door. I like simple.

 

[ChshreCat]

But keep your eyes open for a 5 gallon beverage cooler on sale. 5 minutes to swap out the spigot for a ball valve, drop a paint strainer bag into it and you have a perfect partial mash mashtun! That's what I use now instead of the pot in the oven method.

 

[drewski459]

Thanks for all of the great feedback everyone. I'll definitely keep my eyes open for a 5 gallon cooler.