recirculating cooler mash tun

[maltbarleyhops]

let me describe this as best as i can:
i use a 10 gallon gott cooler for a mash tun, with a 12"x1" stainless braid as a strainer. i have it curled into a loop and attached to a SS ball valve.

i recently added a 9" diameter sieve (like the kind purchsed for straining deep fryed or boiled food) made from stainless mesh. i have created a hole in the seive that the stainless braid fits through the seive so its kinda like a Domed false bottom that blocks out the larger mash mat'l while the braid is basically fluid born and just takes care of smaller particles. i have had fantastic results with this setup.

Now im thinking of adding a small submersible pump inside the dome also. then plumbing it with a rigid tube that would extend upward through the mash mat'l with some type of difuser at the top so the liquid would return to the top of the bed as a sprinkle vs a flood.

thought process behing this is to keep wort moving through the bed, washing more of the sugars out and thus getting the best wort possible and having it "filtered" continuously through the grain bed and sieve.

any and all thoughts on this...

 

[JuanMoore]

Finding a submersible pump that you don't mind putting in your mash will be the hard part. I wouldn't want the electrical cord steeping in my mash, let alone a non-sealed, non-food grade pump.

 

[Catt22]

The braid won't work very well for a RIMS setup. A full false bottom would be a much better choice. It might be difficult to locate a submersible pump that could withstand the high mash temperatures.

 

[maltbarleyhops]

so maybe a line in line out.
using the out valve currently installed plumbed to the "in" on the pump and connect the "out" to the also currently installed "sparge sprinkler".

one of the things i like about this site is the ability to think out-loud.

 

[Spartan1979]

If you run it outside the tun you are probably going to lose heat.