busting my decoction cherry (renamed thread)

[Baron von BeeGee]

Generally speaking, it varies. With this particular recipe I'd boil for ~15 minutes.

It would probably help to see the mash graph; I'll try and get that hosted and linked. The pull time for the decoction is what tells the story: 70 minutes should account for pulling the decoction, raising the temperature slowly to 158F, holding for ~15m, then slowly raising to boiling and boiling for 15-20m, and then reincorporating it to the mash. It's probably a conservative figure and I imagine I did it all in closer to an hour or less.

 

[the_bird]

Before I do this again, I need to figure out something other than the Banjo Cooker for doing the decoction. There was no slow rise to 158 - I blew threw temps quickly, too quickly I'm sure. I either need to REALLY throttle the thing down (not sure if that's possible) or maybe try stovetop boiling, if I've got enough BTUs there. Oh, well, learning experience.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

I can turn my fryer down pretty low and let it come up slowly while stirring. You probably got a good deal of carryover heat even after you turned the heat off, and I've noticed that if I hit the target temp (say 158) I sometimes need to remove the pot from the cooker since the stand itself can continue adding heat even after the flame is off.

Also, the center of my pot where the flame is concentrated can be 20+ degrees hotter than the outer edges if I don't stir well.