$5.00 False Bottom Plan

[Pratzie]

Yeah that one looks awesome and you cant beat that price. I think I paid 14 bucks for the one previously linked. Love how amazon jacks around with its prices based on page views...

Yeah when I first looked for one after finding this link the pan was $13 and change. I checked a few days later and it dropped to less then $8.

If ur patient u can def save urself a few bucks.

 

[zzARzz]

To give you an idea, I'm brewing a chocolate oatmeal stout today. Here is a picture of how much grain got through in the sparge from a 12.5# bill. It was composed of mostly particulate matter. Not too bad:

 

[FalconsBrew]

The only thing I hesitant about is how flimsy the $6 is compared to the $20 one :/ still haven't pulled the trigger.

 

[zzARzz]

Unless it's like one of those disposable foil turkey pans you use at Thanksgiving I imagine it will work fine. You can always make some brass, copper or SS "feet" for it (something similar to these, for example), say 3 or 4 around the dip tube pickup to support it and you'd still come out ahead price wise.

A few places to check out are restaurant supply stores near you or one of those kitchen gadget stores that pop up in malls. At least then you could hold it and see if it is too thin to hold up to 15# grain bills.

 

[Pratzie]

The only thing I hesitant about is how flimsy the $6 is compared to the $20 one :/ still haven't pulled the trigger.

Just keep an eye open for a price drop or maybe check a local restaurant supply store. Anything under $10 bucks and u don't have an excuse to not pull the trigger

 

[Polarbeer]

Has anyone had the problem of grain getting under the pizza pan? I had a serious stuck sparge this weekend. I had to empty the mash tun and found that my pizza pan had lifted up. Did I just stir to vigorously or what?

 

[Pratzie]

Has anyone had the problem of grain getting under the pizza pan? I had a serious stuck sparge this weekend. I had to empty the mash tun and found that my pizza pan had lifted up. Did I just stir to vigorously or what?

Check back on the first page. The aluminum ones are light and had this problem. Adding SS washers to it can help keep it weighted down.

 

[zzARzz]

Has anyone had the problem of grain getting under the pizza pan? I had a serious stuck sparge this weekend. I had to empty the mash tun and found that my pizza pan had lifted up. Did I just stir to vigorously or what?

One thing that has helped with mine is to cut the braided tubing a little long (maybe 1/4" - 1/2" longer than what you need) so that it creates a bow in the tubing (with the apex of the curve facing the cooler opening) that pushes the pan down a bit. The pan will be slightly off center, but should still make complete contact with the cooler's bottom. If it doesn't, just shave a bit off the end and refit it until it does. Afterwards, add some mash temp water that just covers the braided dip tube and leave it sealed for about an hour. Drain it and pour some cold water on it. It should retain that curved shape for future mashes.

I never had a stuck sparge, but was having more grist come out during the sparge than was ideal until I did that when I was using the 9" aluminum pan. I did the same with my 12" SS and, as you can see from the picture above, grain coming from the sparge is almost nonexistent.

The other thing that you should be careful of is not to catch the dip tube with your paddle or spoon when stirring, since you mentioned stirring vigorously. I've caught myself once or twice almost doing the same thing while mashing. If I'm trying to get to the stuff on the bottom of the grain bed, I'll stir the grain parallel to the dip tube (which you can find easily by looking at where your valve is) to avoid hitting it.

I imagine if I were to upgrade to compression fittings and a SS dip tube none of the above issues/work-arounds would be necessary, but I'm just too lazy at this point to go to the trouble, ha ha.

 

[Polarbeer]

Great thanks for the advice. I'm using high temp silicone tubing so I can mold my tubing. But I'll probably cut a longer length that way it will push the pan to the edge of the cooler.

 

[Sbarnard80]

I was using a CPVC solution with slots cut into it with my bandsaw but had some nasty stuck sparges in the last several brews. I vowed I was done with it. Looked online and decided to gamble with a cheap colander from amazon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0096C9220/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

You can see in the pictures that I just cut a hole in the side of the colander with my dremel and fit my CPVC solution underneath. Sort of a back-up to the colander, but after pulling it out, I don't think any grains actually got past the colander to the CPVC - but doesn't hurt to have the back-up in there so will probably just keep using it.

It worked fantastic. A little higher dome than some other solutions, but that doesn't affect the dead space, just recirculate as usual. Was able to easily stir the mash around it. Fits snuggly into my 10gallon HD cooler so overall am very very happy with my $11 purchase. And no drilling needed which was a bonus.

 

[bobbym496]

Sbarnard how did that work out for you?

Thanks for any input I really like the idea...

 

[mousehunter]

Thanks for the idea. 366 7/64" holes with a $1 bit (and a bit of cutting oil), angle grinder (with sanding/carving disk) to smooth the back side. Used a $11 (12.75" ) pan over the $8 (13.5") pan because it's lip looked better for the side mounted pickup tube.

It has been mentioned before, but if I do it again I would mount a sacrificial backing to the pan. The burrs from previous holes caused the pan to stand off the floating backing, increasing the burrs. The longer burrs also cause the holes to dent a little.

I used a greenlee 13/16" punch for the pickup hole. It is a little over-sized for the barbed 90 elbow fitting (used a "True Bulkhead" fitting from brewhardware), but the extra room helps to make the bottom removable and I expect a silicone washer will keep any grain out