SS Basket: Mesh or Perforated?

[ebstauffer]

Subject about says it all. I'm having Chad at arborfab.com put together a basket for my 142 quart Bayou Classic pot. Originally I specced #400 mesh but as I questioned the strength of mesh he recommended perforated stainless. I intend to crush fine to help with efficiency but I can see some problems with that and perforated stainless.

Any thoughts/advice on this matter?

 

[Hobanon]

If strength and durability are your main concerns, go perforated and use a grain bag inside the basket. Best of both worlds. Actually better because cleaning will be a breeze.

 

[Tombsy]

I am making a SS mesh basket from my Bayou Classic 44 basket. Will this mesh work or should I go finer? I get confused with all the sizes. $75 for 5 sq. ft.

Mesh - 40 x 40
Diameter - 0.010"
Opening - 0.0150"

I do plan to eventually have a recirculating system.

Thanks

 

[GQT]

Longevity-wise perf looks more promising. Might be also less dependent on holes' diameter as (as someone mentioned above) if the holes are too big you can always put a bag inside.
I'm in exactly the same situation of having to choose (will finalize my choice aftr 3-week holiday) and perf's chance looks way fatter.

 

[bondra76]

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0gPgWFC-wU[/ame]

 

[ebstauffer]

The conundrum of course is efficiency -- if I go with mesh I can mill tighter and hopefully get a few points in efficiency. However, as others in the BIAB forum have pointed out you can experience recirc overflow issues. Then there is the strength / durability issue. I can see any argument where mesh comes out the winner.

 

[TexasWine]

The conundrum of course is efficiency -- if I go with mesh I can mill tighter and hopefully get a few points in efficiency.

I'd recommend doing some reading on this topic. Milling finer will allow faster conversion, but given enough time there should be no difference between the efficiencies of a fine and course crush.

Stuck recirculation, on the other hand, is a very valid point.

 

[ebstauffer]

I'd recommend doing some reading on this topic. Milling finer will allow faster conversion, but given enough time there should be no difference between the efficiencies of a fine and course crush.

Done! That leads me to believe that anyone who is BIAB(asket) should be:

1. Using a standard gap setting rather than a narrower setting when milling grain and
2. Have their basket manufactured from perforated stainless rather than stainless mesh.

A note on faster conversion.. even in my picnic cooler tun (Coleman 70) I often pass the starch test at 30 minutes. Shrug.

 

[TexasWine]

Done! That leads me to believe that anyone who is BIAB(asket) should be:

1. Using a standard gap setting rather than a narrower setting when milling grain and
2. Have their basket manufactured from perforated stainless rather than stainless mesh.

A note on faster conversion.. even in my picnic cooler tun (Coleman 70) I often pass the starch test at 30 minutes. Shrug.

I'm a 30 minute mash kind of guy. One time on the recommendation of some HBT folks and after reading an article on the matter, I loosened my mill up from 0.025 to 0.050. I kept the 30 minute mash and missed my efficiency target by 8%.

So I've gone back to my normal mill setting to save time. I don't think I'd use perforated for that fine of a crush. There's still stuff that even slips by the bag at 0.025.

 

[ebstauffer]

There's still stuff that even slips by the bag at 0.025.

That comes as a bit of a surprise to me! I have a 300 mesh hop basket from UtahBioD and pellet matter does get through (although not much). Clearly perforated wont work with .025. My 2 roller monster is set at factory default of .045 which gets me efficiency in low 80s. I normally condition the grain which i feel (more anecdotal than anything) cuts back on the flour. Looks like a perf basket isnt the way to go.

 

[TexasWine]

That comes as a bit of a surprise to me! I have a 300 mesh hop basket from UtahBioD and pellet matter does get through (although not much). Clearly perforated wont work with .025. My 2 roller monster is set at factory default of .045 which gets me efficiency in low 80s. I normally condition the grain which i feel (more anecdotal than anything) cuts back on the flour. Looks like a perf basket isnt the way to go.

I should clarify. Flour gets through, but not hop matter.

 

[newnick]

I'd just use the stock basket with a bag and the money saved could be spent on a batch of beer or two. I do this and recirculate and it works pretty good. If experimenting is required try different bag material.

 

[brew-in]

From my research, I would either go with:
1) bag with a stock strainer basket
or
2) a 300 micron filter basket (this could also be used as a hop filter basket in boil)..

 

[bondra76]

I've thought about going with a 200 or even 100 micron basket. What's the downside of having smaller micron? Just price?

 

[ebstauffer]

I've thought about going with a 200 or even 100 micron basket. What's the downside of having smaller micron? Just price?

If you're not recirculating probably nothing. However, with a 200 micro mesh & recirculation it seems you'd need to choke back your chugger to a mere trickle!