Adding Steam to Mash Tun

[Sir Sudster]

I have been having some difficulties in hitting my step mash temperatures. Most of the time I am under
my target. I tried a burner under my mash tun which
is a 15.5 SS keg wrapped in duct insulation and suffered some scorching. I decided to add a steam injection system to my mash tun . I did some research and found you can use a pressure cooker,
3/8" copper tubing and a valve. It explained that one should leave all safety features of the cooker in place. The one I bought was used but looked in good shape. It has the 5,10,15 pressure weight on top. Does anyone here have a steam injection configuration? Any thoughts or comments will be well received.

-DBA

 

[vtfan99]

You may have already seen this article, but I was doing some browsing of my own and came across this article in Brewing Techniques. I have no experience, but thought the resource might be useful.

 

[DyerNeedOfBeer]

Darn you vtfan... This article is awesome IMO. Just more equipment for me to spend money on! Darn you again... but thanks for the link

 

[Justin Chomel]

DBA,

Have you made any progress on this? I am interestedin hearing your thoughts. I have had some difficulty with mash temps, mainly because any heating from the bottom is trapped for a bit under the false bottom, and I end up overheating the main mash, as my temp guage is above the false bottom. I have a work around by using my pump to recirculate the mash to even out the heat during warm up, but a steam setup may be better.

Thanks,
-JC

P.S. I am in Austin as well, so if you would like to brew together sometime let me know.

 

[Sir Sudster]

Justin, I just put my brewery in the gallery. You can look there and see just how simple steam injection is. I have used it in two brew sessions. Since I brew 10 gal batches I should have bought a larger pressure cooker. The one I bought was four quarts. It still works but raises the temps slowly. It seems that when I pulse the steam it works a little faster. What I mean is I let the 15# weight on top start to jiggle. That's when I know I have max pressure. I then open the valve and it really starts bubbling. It's much better now because I can strike at lower temps and then raise it with steam without scorching. The second brew session I did a 4 step temp mash. I had to heat and recirculate to hit 168F for mash out because it was taking to long . It was also very hot that day..about 92 in the shade .

 

[Justin Chomel]

Great pics, looks like a wonderful setup!

 

[rcgert]

I have been using steam injection for over a year now and have found it to be an excellent method for mashing and heating hot liquor tank. I took a pressure cooker and drilled a hole in the top of it and anchored a ball valve system with two valves to the lid so that I can regulate steam from it. I have flared fittings with teflon tubing that is housed in braided stainless steel. I connect the flexible tubing with flared fittings to an elbow then on to copper tubing that has a straight piece that goes straight down into the mash tun and hot liquor tank which connect to a "t" that is also a flared fitting that connects to a hoop made out of copper tubing with small holes drilled into the hoop every inch or so. I can actually touch the stainless steel teflon tubing which means there is efficiency of transferring heat. I need to upload some pics for ya'll to see, but this system is an upgrade from a friend of mine who has won three gold medals at nationals. Especially has worked to hit specific temps and not scortch wort. Have a gooder.

 

[rcgert]

What is the best way to upload pics to this site?

 

[El Pistolero]

What is the best way to upload pics to this site?

You have to upgrade your account to be able to post pics to the gallery.