Using grits in place of flaked maize (BIAB)

[gunza]

My LHBS was out of flaked maize, but I am determined to brew this weekend! I've read here that grits are good alternative, but if they are not the 'instant' grits, you need to cook them first. Is this really necessary if I am BIAB? The cook time on the package says 5 minutes, but I would be mashing for an hour - so it seems like I am doing double work?

Maybe I am completely missing the point here. If anyone has experience doing this, please let me know! Thanks!

 

[Yooper]

Yes, cook them to gelatinize the starches.

You could do a cereal mash, but it's not necessary. Just cooking them would be fine.

 

[JDGator]

would this be the case for instant rice as well? cook as though i was going to eat it and then toss in mash??

 

[Yooper]

would this be the case for instant rice as well? cook as though i was going to eat it and then toss in mash??

No, for instant rice (Minute Rice), it's pre-cooked.

The reason for cooking adjuncts before using them is that they have a higher gelatization temperature than the mash while reach. Once they are cooked, and the starches are available, then they can go right into the mash for conversion.

 

[gunza]

Yes, cook them to gelatinize the starches.

You could do a cereal mash, but it's not necessary. Just cooking them would be fine.

WOW - that was fast. Thanks!

 

[JDGator]

alright, makes sense to me.

Thanks Yooper

 

[Skipper74]

When subbing grits for flaked maize, is it a straight up substitution? What I mean is that if the recipe calls for two pounds of flaked maize, would I use two pounds of grits?

 

[JDGator]

So i'm doing the Cream of Three Crops and subbed the flaked stuff for instant rice and regular cornmeal. Did a mini mash of the rice, cornmeal, 2lbs of 2row in 2 gallons of water. Brought it all up to 170f and removed from heat.

I then added it to my main mash. I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[JDGator]

Well i hit all my volumes and was a bit high on my fg. Hit 1.042 so i did pretty good. Looks like 75% efficency and to be honest anything over 70 is a bonus.

I hit all volumes and temps for the mash. I then squeezed the **** out of my grains. Sorry for the language. Lol. Ended a bit higher then wanted at 7.25 gallons. Gravity was 1.036 which was the target except my was high. I boiled for 15min full blast then started hop addtions.

Ended with 5 gallons spot on and fg was 1.042.

 

[gunza]

I overshot my preboil volume by about a gallon, which coincidentally enough, was about how much water I used to cook the grits prior to my mash. I am guessing I should have accounted for this in my preboil calculations. Needless to say, I added another 30 minutes to my boil prior to starting my hops additions to get back down to my target volume. I think this was ok to do? My target OG was 1.049 and I was at about 1.052... Could have been worse!

 

[Misplaced_Canuck]

No, for instant rice (Minute Rice), it's pre-cooked.

The reason for cooking adjuncts before using them is that they have a higher gelatization temperature than the mash while reach. Once they are cooked, and the starches are available, then they can go right into the mash for conversion.

Instant/quick grits don't need to be pre-cooked.

MC