cooler for mash tun

I see a lot of people using coolers for mlt/hlt and was thinking of making one myself but I was wondering is it safe (to drink) putting 170 degree water into a plastic vessel or will that heat extract some of the chemicals out of the plastic ?

 

At the temps we're using, most people will agree that cooler plastic is fine. Just don't boil in it.

 

I use a RubberMaid cooler and I'm still alive.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/rubbermaid-says-no-203227/

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f11/rubbermaid-cooler-materials-id-solved-204344/

 

It's perfectly safe, you have nothing to worry about. If it wasn't safe you wouldn't have said "I see a lot of people using them".

 

^^
What he said...

 

Cool deafsmith in the link you posted it said don't go above 120 or it might start to melt but don't you want to mash around 152 and add the water around 160-165 to get to that desired temp with all the grains . I also seen somebody using pvc instead of stainless tubing,copper tubing , braided ss hose or cpvc and I know if you use a pvc in the bottom of the mash tun it should be cpvc because pvc is not safe to drink from but this dude didn't know that so that's why I was checking on the cooler. Thanks for the info CHEERS

 

According to Northern Brewer, the interiors of the Igloo coolers are made of polypropylene. The MSDS for that type of plastic indicated that it is stable to 480 degrees. I found the MSDS for HDPE and it's melting point is 276.8F. Definitely lower, but still considerably higher than what people would ever use in mashing. So perhaps this does indicate that the issue is more one of safety from burns rather than safety from leaching.

Also this is from one of our members-

He also did some experiments which he posted in THIS thread.

Basically we know that we're safe AT LEAST putting 180 degree water in there....

Since most of us put in 170 degree water in there, or even if we do add more, like step mashing, we're still keeping the internal temps usually withing the safety range.

And anyway, millions of gallons of beer have been brewed this way over the last decade or so that this has become an accepted method of brewing, and since I already have man-boobs, I ain't gonna worry about it. I'm more worried about a zombipocolypse occuring in the next 3 months or so than about supposed leaching, which no one can actually prove does happen, but plenty of information shows it is unlikely to happen anyway.

 

I'm pretty sure that's just RubberMaid's lawyer speaking in CYA mode - just in case anyone got burned from the hot water. I've had water up to 185ºF in my Igloo HLT and up to at least 170ºF in my RubberMaid MLT and haven't been able to detect any off flavors or chemical odors or damage to the linings. I feel pretty comfortable relying on the info in the second thread I posted and what Revvy posted.

 

+1,000,000

And did you know that the senior technical advisor for the National Propane Gas Association, had no idea that people made beer in propane turkey fryers until he was interviewed on Basic Brewing?

And pretty much spoke the party line of propane usage, which most of us pretty much ignore anyway.

Propane Safety and Tips on Basic Brewing Podcast.

And iirc neither did the makers of said Turkey Fryers know how we've coopted their product for our hobby. And said something similar.

Did you ever read the warning labels on a bottle of starsan? And did you also know that the required labelling about contact time is longer than it actually is, that it kills much faster than that but 5-star is required to have that info, but if you listen to the podcast here, he goes into the more effective way to use it. And talks about the FDA rules.

It's called "cover your a$$." And it's usually done by lawyers. Warning labels, usage "policies" are often written with oversight by lawyers to cover their a$$e$, or is it a$$et$? People are essentially stupid...and Lawyers are smart enough to cover their clients ass with warnings.....like warning on cruise controls in campers, not to engage them, and get up and go to the bathroom...or other fun things like these...The Darwin Awards.

Also Has anyone EVER called a customer service number, and EVER got anything that was more than a canned answer? You don't get much out of the box thinking when calling a 1-800 number, especially if you're going to be connected to someone in India. They are going to read whatever they've been told to read, say whatever they've been told to say.

And NOT DARE to ever think beyond that.

Bottom line, we've been using them for quite awhile now. And some folks choose not to and mash in kettles....So it's ultimately up to you.

 

Damn that was one hell of a answer. Lol. I'm gonna go for it and build one this weekend. Thanks for putting that question to bed for me that had to be one of the most in depth answers I have seen
CHEERS

 

Besides, the third eye comes in handy.