Perforated Pizza Pan for bag squeezing

[abrewhal]

Hi all, abrewhal here

I am new to brewing and in a coupld weeks I will be doing my first all grain batch and I am super excited.

I saw in a couple videos people use oven racks on top of their 10 gallon for resting / squeezing out their brew bag

Unfortunately, my oven rack is super oily and dirty and I am too lazy to clean it so I figure I'd get some perforated pizza pans (which should cover the entire 10 gallon pot opening that's 14.1 inches in diameter)

Here are the choices I am thinking
Winco Winware 13 Inch X 18 Inch Aluminum Sheet Pan, (ALXP-1318P)
KitchenAid Nonstick Aluminized Steel Pizza Crisper, 14-Inch, Silver
AmazonCommercial Perforated Aluminum Pizza Crisping Pan, 16-Inch Diameter, Pack of 2

Do you think this idea would work and what are somethings that you could see go wrong?

 

[doug293cz]

You would be better off with a stainless steel colander that sits in the opening of your kettle. With a pizza pan you will have wort running over the edges and making a mess.

Brew on

 

[odie]

I have my bag in a steamer basket and let it drain that way. plus I can sparge so basically nothing left to squeeze.

I do place a pizza pan on top of the grain bed so that the sparge water spreads evenly.

 

[abrewhal]

To add to my own thread,

I did end up finding two possible substitues:
Onlyfire Stainless Steel Charcoal Ash Basket Fits for Large BGE, Kamado Joe Classic
Weber Charcoal Grate (22 inch charcoal grills) , Stainless Steel

but will end up using just a large colander I already have over a food grade bucket from home depot and drain it that way...

Thanks for all your suggestions!

 

[abrewhal]

I have my bag in a steamer basket and let it drain that way. plus I can sparge so basically nothing left to squeeze.

I do place a pizza pan on top of the grain bed so that the sparge water spreads evenly.

View attachment 813183

Which steamer basket are you using?

 

[abrewhal]

Found another good option
Fine Mesh Stainless Steel Paint Strainer Fits 5 Gallon Bucket

 

[odie]

Which steamer basket are you using?

Some generic basket. My kettle is unique (olive oil barrel) so my solution may not be your solution.

basically, you want to find a basket that is the closest or tightest fit possible. You want to minimize the gap between kettle and basket sides. The more water in the mash the better. The more water outside the mash the worse.

If you recirc during the mash this will be less of an issue, if even an issue at all.

 

[cmac62]

I don't squeeze at all, I let it drain over the kettle while it comes to a boil and figure that's dry enough. I'll sometimes pour a gal or so over the grain for a slight sparge, but full volume is the way forward for me, luckily base grain is still fairly cheep. Good luck

 

[hotbeer]

Just wash your hands and arms and give it a hug.

But only if you need the additional wort to get the volume desired. But if what you already have is a higher SG than you expected maybe you should consider water to get it down to the expected pre boil SG at your pre boil volume.

 

[odie]

I find that I have to use less grain to hit my numbers. I'm ok with that.

sparging and squeezing will pay dividends. Not huge but it does help.