How to reach your arm into a 155F mash....

[olllllo]

This is good information:

At 140F it only takes 5 - 6 seconds for second degree burns to occur. The rate drops to 1sec at 158F.

 

[olllllo]

I'm deleteing all the OT stuff. Keep it on topic, please.

 

[xiang]

So do you believe that a plastic foodsaver bag filled with a marginal amount of water will instantly drop 154F of water down to a safe temperature, lets say below 130F?

 

[The Pol]

It doesnt drop the temp. of the water.

An oven glove doesnt cool the oven.

It is an insulator.

The water is an insualtor.

The thermal mass of both will take time to change.

 

[zac]

ollllllllo, im not pissing.

These are genuine concerns of mine.

 

[Whiskey]

It provides a buffer between the heat and your hand, kind of like how thermal gloves work.

 

[The Pol]

Well, FoodSaver bags are suitalbe for boiling, I am not sure if a thin trash bag will provide the strength necessary. All I KNOW is that FoodSaver bags will work.

If you get 3rd degree burns (which can happen to bare skin at these temps in about 1 second) using a trash bag, well, you do.

This guy makes a valid point about the danger involved. Good for him, looking out for others.

 

[McKBrew]

It's a good idea with inherent risks. The less risky option would be to empty the grain out and connect it that way.

In the end it's up to the person doing it to determine if it's worth the risk. Personally, after having had to empty everything out before, I'd consider this method if it happened again, knowing full well that I could placing myself at risk.

 

[zac]

I would just hook up my false bottom or wahtever before I began my mash, but what do I know, I use a stainless steel braid for filtering..

 

[Hegh]

I did it with dishwashing gloves. But instead of filling it with cool water, I would reach in with the glove for about 5 seconds, then pull it out and run it under tap water until it was cool enough to try again.

Time consuming, but it worked. Might have to try filling it with cold water next time... Hopefully there won't be a next time, though...

PS This was at the end of mashing, and was because my manifold came apart and was letting grain out with the wort, so I drained the grainy wort and then pushed the grain around wearing the rubber glove, squeezed the manifold back together, and poured the wort back in to properly filter.

So basically, if you can, wait until the mash is done and drain the liquid before reaching in there, it'll be a lot easier and safer.

 

[The Pol]

PS This was at the end of mashing, and was because my manifold came apart and was letting grain out with the wort, so I drained the grainy wort and then pushed the grain around wearing the rubber glove, squeezed the manifold back together, and poured the wort back in to properly filter.

So basically, if you can, wait until the mash is done and drain the liquid before reaching in there, it'll be a lot easier and safer.

Wasnt an option on the HERMS. The hose needs to be on from the start.

And yes, generally it makes more sense to hook it up before one pumps thier strike water over.

 

[xiang]

It doesnt drop the temp. of the water.

An oven glove doesnt cool the oven.

It is an insulator.

The water is an insualtor.

The thermal mass of both will take time to change.

And this is the the heart of my concern for you POL. As well as my concern for others who may try your method. If your Foodsaver bag fails, it only takes an instant for serious injury to occur. Is there not a better solution for your setup?

Yes I know there are risks involved with brewing, as there are risks in life. But why not try to mitigate some of those needles risks?

 

[The Pol]

And this is the the heart of my concern for you POL. As well as my concern for others who may try your method. If your Foodsaver bag fails, it only takes an instant for serious injury to occur. Is there not a better solution for your setup?

Yes I know there are risks involved with brewing, as there are risks in life. But why not try to mitigate some of those needles risks?

Yah, the solution is to hook up the hose before you start brewing. But if you read the OP, that was exactly the reason for a quick solution that would not trash my mash temp. This is not how my system operates, it is not a normal procedure.

FoodSaver bags made sense to me, because they are good to 210F plus... I mean you boil food in them. I had no concern about it withstanding 155F.

Mitigating the risk, means just looking in the MLT to hook up the hose like I normally do when I brew. But, once I had 5 gallons of Hefe mash sitting there at sacc. rest temp, my choices became more limited.

Sometimes simple mistakes call for some improv and simple solutions.

 

[The Pol]

I would just hook up my false bottom or wahtever before I began my mash, but what do I know, I use a stainless steel braid for filtering..

As stated in the OP, since everyone read that I am sure... hooking up the hose was overlooked prior to the mash-in. This is not "procedure". This is a technique to solve a problem that "can" arise.

 

[zac]

Hey Pol,
Im just messin with yuh man, more power to yuh. Sounds like another sloution to a common problem for some people.

 

[The Pol]

Hey Pol,
Im just messin with yuh man, more power to yuh. Sounds like another sloution to a common problem for some people.

Zac,

Hey, you need to use smileys or something, your sarcasm was lost. I was thinking, what the heck? Now I have to add this guy to the list of people that argue with ANYTHING I say?

Yah, it was not an ideal situation, but my mash temp never wavered and I got the HERMS running immediately. SWMBO was watching like she was going to be rushing me to the ER at any minute!

 

[bull8042]

Well Pol, you sure knocked the bottom off the hornets nest with this one!
I applaud your ingenuity, as that would be something I would do. Hell, on occasion I have been known to rewire a contactor or other component "live". (As long as it is 240 or less)
I understand the dissenter's view, and agree that we should all strive to be safe. But let's face it, if I want to be really safe, I would have to stay in bed and get the wife to bring me beer from the grocery and give up homebrewing altogether.
Sorry, but there is no way to completely eliminate accidents. Plus, you really don't want to. Accidents are nature's way of eliminating stupid people from society, or so I have been led to believe. hehehe

Hey Zac, pass the popcorn. I got a feeling this is going to get interesting...

 

[The Pol]

Well Pol, you sure knocked the bottom off the hornets nest with this one!
I applaud your ingenuity, as that would be something I would do. Hell, on occasion I have been known to rewire a contactor or other component "live". (As long as it is 240 or less)
I understand the dissenter's view, and agree that we should all strive to be safe. But let's face it, if I want to be really safe, I would have to stay in bed and get the wife to bring me beer from the grocery and give up homebrewing altogether.
Sorry, but there is no way to completely eliminate accidents. Plus, you really don't want to. Accidents are nature's way of eliminating stupid people from society, or so I have been led to believe. hehehe

Hey Zac, pass the popcorn. I got a feeling this is going to get interesting...

Meh, Ollllo wont allow that...

 

[bull8042]

Meh, Ollllo wont allow that...

hehehe I like the way you typed his name. Looks like he is running one of those "doughnut spares" on the right. We can stray well off topic while he is getting that fixed!

 

[zac]

Sorry Pol.

My smiley ability is lacking severly.

in fact, I dont even know how to make one, except I am grinning right now.

 

[beerthirty]

It happened once for me. After manning up and shoving my arm down in it, I managed to fix the problem. Would I do it again? Are you fucin kidding!? I had blisters on the inside of the elbow and it taught me a life lesson, liquid is far hotter than air, and takes less time to burn you. Use you brain, use a calving glove or something equivalent to making tipping the next bottle less painful. (I think I could have gotten away with it if it was a 5G batch)

 

[fastricky]

I love the 'ghetto' solutions! And the 'life lessons' from the heat-of-the-moment (pun intended y'all - I spent the last 4 hours crafting that one!)

Both just as valuable a learning tool. :rockin:

 

[Hegh]

This brings to mind an NPR segment the other day about a guy back a century or two who, with two other guys, experimented with standing in a room that was 210*-240*. They found that they could easily bear it for upwards of 30 minutes, as long as they weren't moving and the air was dry (so sweat would cool them properly).

Shows what a difference there is between hot air and hot water. 140* liquid will do serious damage in seconds, 240* air is fine for minutes. They even brought a dog in for almost 10 and discovered that, although the dog was not happy, she survived without any ill effects just by panting.

Also, I suppose I'm confused... Is a false bottom more than just a screen that sits above the bottom of a ported vessel? What's the hose hookup for?

 

[hopsoda]

Pol, you need to write a book - 101 ways to use a Food Saver!

so pol could you make fishing waders out of food saver material?

 

[The Pol]

This brings to mind an NPR segment the other day about a guy back a century or two who, with two other guys, experimented with standing in a room that was 210*-240*. They found that they could easily bear it for upwards of 30 minutes, as long as they weren't moving and the air was dry (so sweat would cool them properly).

Shows what a difference there is between hot air and hot water. 140* liquid will do serious damage in seconds, 240* air is fine for minutes. They even brought a dog in for almost 10 and discovered that, although the dog was not happy, she survived without any ill effects just by panting.

Also, I suppose I'm confused... Is a false bottom more than just a screen that sits above the bottom of a ported vessel? What's the hose hookup for?

To get the wort from under the false bottom to the spigot. Here is what a falsie looks like, that barb needs to connect to the spigot.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/pics/fullsize/stainless-false-bottom.jpg

 

[The Pol]

so pol could you make fishing waders out of food saver material?

I say yes, some will disagree

 

[hopsoda]

sweet please post instructions :rockin:

 

[Hegh]

To get the wort from under the false bottom to the spigot. Here is what a falsie looks like, that barb needs to connect to the spigot.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/pics/fullsize/stainless-false-bottom.jpg

I've seen that picture before, but it's not actually as helpful as it may be to someone who has used one before...

Is it more than just a mesh screen? Is there a solid backing or something that the hose attaches to?

 

[The Pol]

I've seen that picture before, but it's not actually as helpful as it may be to someone who has used one before...

Is it more than just a mesh screen? Is there a solid backing or something that the hose attaches to?

It is a domed screen, the wort has to make it from under the screen, up to the spigot. The barb on the falsie is open to the space under the falsie so allow the wort to travel up and through the tube to the spigot and out of the MLT

 

[humann_brewing]

Are you still explaining what yourself POI