temp consistency?

[r8rphan]

Planning to do my first brew day with the new system this weekend.. Several process changes from the old system....

eBIAB without recirculation (for the first brew or two, gonna keep it simple), and I'm wondering if there is much difference in temperature from the wort under the false bottom where the temp probe and 5500w heater element are (4 gallons of wort underneath), and the several inches of wort above the grain bed.....

*) Since I am not recirculating, and the heater element and temp probe are underneath the entire grain bill, will I still have consistent temperature throughout the mash, or do I need to adjust it up some?

*) Should I stick a return tube down the side of the grain and recirculate the wort underneath to keep temp consistent? Or would that do anything? or is temp consistency even an issue?

 

[jeffmeh]

If you aren't going to recirculate, you may want to consider just bringing it up to mash temp (measured after a good stir), turning off the heat, and throwing some blankets or other insulation over the kettle. It will be very hard to maintain consistent temps with the element firing, given stratification, without recirculation.

 

[augiedoggy]

^ I second this... if your trying to keep costs down you can recirculate witrh a 12-24v food grade dc pump like the P38 series with are under $20 shipped... power supplys are less than $5 to operate it.. Ive been using them for almost 4 years now with no problems.