Hi, I'm a new brewer. I want to do my first batch all-grain and preferably with steam mashing, since I really love the idea of it. I found a 23-qt pressure cooker for cheap, so I'll have plenty of heat storage at my fingertips.
I've tried to be a good study and read everything thoroughly, but I want to be sure about a couple things:
1) I've heard that, when you get started, you should purge the air and chlorine out by boiling without the weight on for a while. How long should you do this?
2) When you're done stepping the mash and want to stop, I'm worried about wort flowing back into the manifold. What conditions, exactly, create the backflow and how do I stop it?
3) How much does the steam end up thinning the mash in practice? Theoretically, I can do the specific/latent heat calculations and get a best-case scenario, but that assumes perfect efficiency.
Thanks in advance for responses; I'm really excited about trying this out!
I've tried to be a good study and read everything thoroughly, but I want to be sure about a couple things:
1) I've heard that, when you get started, you should purge the air and chlorine out by boiling without the weight on for a while. How long should you do this?
2) When you're done stepping the mash and want to stop, I'm worried about wort flowing back into the manifold. What conditions, exactly, create the backflow and how do I stop it?
3) How much does the steam end up thinning the mash in practice? Theoretically, I can do the specific/latent heat calculations and get a best-case scenario, but that assumes perfect efficiency.
Thanks in advance for responses; I'm really excited about trying this out!
