I'm afraid I know the answer

[alepale101]

Our oven's lowest setting is 170*F. Is that just too hot for steeping specialty grain? How about a partial mash of a pound or two of a base malt? It would sure save some thermometer watching if that temperature wouldn't ruin the beer.

 

[bottlebomber]

Just preheat the oven, put the kettle(or whatever) in, and after 5 minutes turn the oven off and don't open the door. Im assuming your attaining your mash temp on the stovetop, and are using the oven to keep the temp consistent

 

[BradleyBrew]

why the oven is my biggest question?

 

[Jakemo]

I partial mash using the oven as well. The pot itself won't hold heat nearly well enough to PM in it alone, and surrounding it with air that is warm enough to sustain the mash temp is a pretty easy way to get around that problem if u don't want to build a mash tun.

 

[BradleyBrew]

there is no building a mash tun... go get a $20 5 gallon igloo water cooler and a $2 5 gallon paint strainer bag. If you really want to get into PM brewing it will pay for itself in about 3 or 4 beers vs. buying more extract. Just my .2 cents. I would not mess with guesstimate the oven temperature.

 

[Jakemo]

Haven't seen a 5gal cooler for that cheap anywhere but now I'm gonna look

 

[BradleyBrew]

Sorry maybe 20ish...
there are some deals around... most retailers start to close out coolers this time of year in Ohio... I need to go look for a 10 gallon lol

 

[Revvy]

People have been mashing in the oven for decades, long before anyone modified a cooler. IIRC Papazian and palmer both discuss it in their books. Use a digital thermomenter with a probe and a long wire, and keep turning on and off the heat as needed.

That's the old school way.

From the googles. (hint hint)
http://www.howtobrew.com/section3/chapter16-1.html
http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index.php?page=first-mash
http://www.humpsbrewing.bluegosling.com/2008/06/08/all-grain-1/
(with the cool picture)

And from our own search

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/archive/index.php/t-59598.html

 

[tangofoxtrot308]

Home depot has orange igloos 5gl / 10gl $20 / $40. Spend $50 and make a mash tun?

 

[BradleyBrew]

I never want to post after Revvy lol... I did not make any mods to my cooler.. I just have a funnel and I attach some 1/2" tubing to it when I drain the cooler... I don't argue with the vets... if he says you can mash in the oven.. then oven mash away.

 

[Jakemo]

I never want to post after Revvy lol... I did not make any mods to my cooler.. I just have a funnel and I attach some 1/2" tubing to it when I drain the cooler... I don't argue with the vets... if he says you can mash in the oven.. then oven mash away.

Hahaha +1 to that!!!

Home depot has orange igloos 5gl / 10gl $20 / $40. Spend $50 and make a mash tun?

Yeah, I found those as soon as I searched. I think the 5gal would be just fine, and Home Depot should have the paint strainer bags for like $3-$5.

According to Green Bay Rackers, you can mash 11# of grain at 1.5 qt/lb before you fill 5 gallons of space. But if you want to go all-grain and do big brews, then yeah, the 10 gallon would be your bet.
http://www.rackers.org/calcs.shtml

 

[alepale101]

The cooler will work for me. I just wanted to try a partial mash and DME. I had "twang" in my last batch using LME, even with a late addition. Still, I wish the oven would go down to 150* Thanks for all the good information. I love this forum-not as much as beer, but--

 

[MrNic]

I've found that if I keep the oven set at 170* for the whole mash, the temperature is stable for the entire 60 minutes.

 

[LandoLincoln]

Haven't seen a 5gal cooler for that cheap anywhere but now I'm gonna look

I picked one up from Gander Mountain for $25 a month ago. Since summer is pretty much over they might even be cheaper now. Pretty sure I saw one at Home Depot for about $18.

 

[alepale101]

I am going partial mash in a cooler and DME. No LME, and aerate with oxygen. Here's hoping for better beer!