burning bags

[keahunter]

Hello...just going to take the leap into biab and am setting up my system. Having not done this before, but reading a bunch, I have a question about the kettle/pot. I was thinking about getting a strainer basket to line the pot with, also read about false bottoms all so the bags don't burn. Is that something I should be concerned with or do you think that it's not really needed? Thanks for your opinions.

 

[Foosier]

You have to do something wrong to burn your bag. That "something" is usually turning on the flame super high and letting your bag sit sanwhiched between the grain and the bottom of the pot. Doing this can lead to scorching. This is not what you should do though. All you have to do is stir the mash while heating to avoid scorching. As long as the mash is being stirred, the bag can not sit in contact with the bottom of the pot and the heat can not build up to the point the bag will scorch since the liquid is movign and transporting the heat away from the bottom. The temp has to be higher than boiling to scorch the bag. This can't happen if the mash is circulating.

So do you need a false bottom or a strainer? In my opinion, no. I have done many BIAB batrches with no scorching whatsoever because I stir if I am heating my bag.

 

[keahunter]

Great, thanks for your feedback. I appreciate it. So I put the bag in after reaching the strike temp and just make sure I stir while heating for the mashout and I should be fine. Thanks again!

 

[MaxStout]

I do mine the same way as Foosier described. If I need to bump up the mash temp, I apply gentle heat and stir-stir-stir. The stirring prevents heat buildup and also distributes the heat evenly so that I can get a more accurate temp measurement. I rarely have to heat more than about 1 minute to get to the temp I want.

 

[keahunter]

Thanks Max...looking forward to making my first AG

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I usually place a stainless steel petal style steamer in the bottomof the kettle, but not to keep from scorching the bag, it's to keep the bag from getting caught between the dip tube and the bottom of the kettle.

http://www.target.com/p/chefmate-st.../A-12756517#prodSlot=medium_1_20&term=steamer

 

[Black Island Brewer]

Like most here, I have had no problems with scorching my bag, but I asked the exact same question. I have a THICK walled aluminum pot, and a ring burner, so when I do a temp change (made an imperial wheat recently that needed a protein rest) I apply gentle heat and stir constantly, which is good not only to protect your bag, but to get uniform heating of your mash, and prevent hot spots that would denature your enzymes.

The thin, full-volume mash of BIAB makes the stirring easy, and I have found that using a commercial potato masher as a stirring spoon helps move the mash in an up and down rather than a round and round motion. With the imperial wheat, however, because of the lack of husks, I had to use a spoon, because the wheat just wanted to sink to the bottom and compact.

Have fun with your first BIAB!

 

[mkyl428]

I also don't put anything in the bottom of the kettle & just stir when applying heat. However I also use cheap bungee cords to keep the bag off the bottom of the pot.

 

[FuriousE]

I have never scorched the bag inside of the pot... However, I have had the portion of the bad that has been outside of the pot get scorched. I didn't have the burner set low enough, and the flames (which I couldn't see) went up the side of the pot and burned a small portion of the bag. Now I'm careful to make sure this doesn't happen again!

 

[MaxStout]

One other thing...when bumping up the mash temp, turn off the burner when you are a few degrees shy of your target temp, and keep stirring. There will still be some heat moving inward, and the temp will continue to rise a bit. I once overshot my mash temp by a few degrees because I kept the burner going until I hit my reading, and it crept upward. No biggie in that case, except my FG was a little high.

 

[kevreh]

Haha I burned a bag recently, but this was a 3.5 gallon batch in my electric kettle. :smack:

 

[RM-MN]

Great, thanks for your feedback. I appreciate it. So I put the bag in after reaching the strike temp and just make sure I stir while heating for the mashout and I should be fine. Thanks again!

Lets make it even easier to avoid burning a hole in the bag. Skip heating. Mill your grains fine and your mash will be done in much less than an hour so you won't lose much heat. Then skip mashout. It isn't needed for BIAB. When you complete the mash, pull the bag of grains out and turn on the heat. If you sparge you'll still have your wort at mashout temperatures on the way to a boil in a matter of a few minutes.

The only time you need to do a mashout is when fly sparging. Not for BIAB, not for batch sparging. Just for fly sparging.

 

[djt17]

After dough in; insulate your kettle. I only lose 1 - 2° over 60 min, no heat required. Like RM, I don't do a mash-out.

 

[TexasWine]

I'll third this series of comments. You don't have to worry about burning your bag if you insulate well so you don't need to bump up the temp.

 

[MerlinWerks]

Hmmm, I thought this was going to be about a new brewing festival...

Sorry, just trying to kill my keg of Fire Rock PA clone so I can put EW's RyePA on tap tomorrow night

 

[pdxal]

I solved my problem with scorching the grain bag by putting a wire cooling rack in the pot underneath the bag and haven't had any problems with direct heating the mash since.

 

[oljimmy]

Just wanted to add a data point here: I've done two BIABs now with medium gas-heat applied directly to the kettle during mash. I lifted the bag partially out on the first batch for fear of scorching. The second batch I just stirred and left the bag in. Not only was there zero scorching on the second batch (medium heat, low-quality bag) my efficiency jumped 8 points, presumably because of all the stirring. Scorching should be a non-issue because you ought to be stirring the wort during heating anyway.

Insulation with a sleeping bag did not work for me. I still had to reheat four times during a 60-minute mash. Since stirring ups efficiency and you need 60 minutes anyway, I say skip the insulation and just heat and stir.

 

[RM-MN]

Just wanted to add a data point here: I've done two BIABs now with medium gas-heat applied directly to the kettle during mash. I lifted the bag partially out on the first batch for fear of scorching. The second batch I just stirred and left the bag in. Not only was there zero scorching on the second batch (medium heat, low-quality bag) my efficiency jumped 8 points, presumably because of all the stirring. Scorching should be a non-issue because you ought to be stirring the wort during heating anyway.

Insulation with a sleeping bag did not work for me. I still had to reheat four times during a 60-minute mash. Since stirring ups efficiency and you need 60 minutes anyway, I say skip the insulation and just heat and stir.

I question that need for 60 minutes. I've been doing as well with 20 as I was with 60. A 20 minute mash does require a very fine milling but along with that fine milling comes great efficiency.

 

[oljimmy]

I question that need for 60 minutes. I've been doing as well with 20 as I was with 60. A 20 minute mash does require a very fine milling but along with that fine milling comes great efficiency.

That's probably true, I was just talking to people who are already doing a 60-minute. If you're doing a 20-minute, so much the better, even less heating and stirring for you. My main point is that scorching a bag requires a pretty major screwup (i.e. leaving the bag in and walking away from the heat for 5 minutes with no stirring).