To mash-out or not to mash-out?

[dennisw]

I'm a long time homebrewer, short time all grain brewer (2 batches). I'm confused about mashing out. What is the purpose of mashing out? It seems that when I add enough near boiling water to reach my mash out temp. I'm only left with a relatively small amount of water to fly sparge with in order to reach my pre boil volume of approx. 6.5 gal. Is it better to perform a mash out or better to have more sparge water to maximize efficiency? Thanks for your help.

Dennis

 

[jmf143]

Mashing out raises the grain bed to 170ish degrees and stops enzymatic activity. I batch sparge so I can't help with your other questions.

 

[rockfish42]

It preserves the level of dextrins already present by stopping enzymatic activity, it also makes the mash more fluid which in my system increases my efficiency quite a bit.