Recipe says to sparge after steeping

[omien]

A recipe book I recently bought says to steep grains in a gallon of water then sparge with another gallon. These are extract recipes for a half boil (which is the only experience I have). I'm guessing I'm supposed to rinse the grains after steeping, just not sure if there is a proper technique.

 

[Calder]

It is basically a rinse of the grains in some fresh water to extract a little more of the flavor and sugar. Probably not getting much from it unless you are steeping a lot of grains.

 

[BigFloyd]

Sparging the steeping grains (with 165*F water) is a good practice.

A gallon of sparge water, however, is an awful lot. For the amount of grains you're probably steeping in an extract batch, a quart or so will pretty much do the job of rinsing the goodness out of the bag and into your kettle.

 

[Trox]

Sparging the steeping grains (with 165*F water) is a good practice.

A gallon of sparge water, however, is an awful lot. For the amount of grains you're probably steeping in an extract batch, a quart or so will pretty much do the job of rinsing the goodness out of the bag and into your kettle.

Probably the reason why they say to "sparge" with a gallon is they figure your going to be adding more than that anyways after steeping (you usually only steep in 1 1/2 - 2 gals) so might as well us the water your going to be adding to rinse off the grains while your at it.

 

[omien]

Thanks guys! I guess being a newbie I was intimidated by the lingo.

 

[unionrdr]

Whether steeping or partial mashing,since I have a 5G kettle I steep/mash 5-6lbs of grains in 2 gallons of water & sparge with 1.5 gallons for boil volume of 3.5 gallons. Although I mash mostly,it'd work just as well with steeping.