My mash tun pot koozie usually dropped about 5-6* before it was done. If my temp starts a bit higher such as 157* but then drops to 151* does than mean my end result is no different than had I used a good mash tun and kept the temp at ~152* the whole time? Or does it give me a combination of shorter and longer chain sugars?
I saved a piece of styrofoam and cut it out to the shape of my pot lid and found that it held the temp quite well, and so mid way when I check I had to add a bit of cool water to get it down closer to what I was intending. Seeing that it was held around 157* for 35 mins but finished the last 35 mins at about 152* what am I looking at having created?
Did the cooler temp break those longer chain sugars into shorter ones with the cooler temp?
With a range of about 6 degrees over the course of the mash, it’s safe to assume that you’ll get results consistent with the average over the course of the whole mash. So if it started at 157 F and fell to 151 F, it’s as if you mashed for over an hour at a steady 154 F. Pretty close anyway. If you’d heated the mash a little warmer than that, then the beta amylase enzymes might have been destroyed and a longer mash might not do much for you at that point. But for just 30-some minutes, I don’t think the beta amylase would be totally destroyed, so you’ll get some better attenuation (fermentability) from your wort from the lower temp, or kind of like you mashed at 154 F the whole time.
They say almost everything that happens in the mash takes place in the first 15 min. so you would think the conversion would be like the beginning temp. No one ever did explain who “they” are though I wouldn’t be too concerned about that temp range as it is all in the range you would want but almost at both ends.
I am surprised by that much drop. My MT is a 25 gallon kettle with no insulation and unless it is a very cold day it does not drop that much.
I will move this to the all grain forum and leave a shadow in general BTW.
I had been wanting to upgrade to a water cooler and watched a video on the build to see what was involved. All stainless parts were used, and I checked both Lowe’s and Home Depot and found no stainless pipe connections, and so I had been wondering how I could suspend my BIAB bag inside so as to negate the need for those parts. But seeing how well my pot koozie works now I’m not sure I care so much as this time as it’s holding nicely.
I had figured my great temp loss was both due to the lack of lid insulation (folded quilt) and the air pockets were the foam didn’t expand into, along with the last inch or so of the pot being open as well. It seems obvious now that just better insulating the lid did the trick.
I used to keep my pot on the stove, and after reaching my desired temp reducing the heat, but it was always a burden trying to keep the temp within range, and at one point I was enthralled in a UFC fight online for too long and ended up with a temp of 180* which left me with a sickly sweet stout I had to dump. That’s what prompted me to build my pot koozie.
Had I not have left the burner on low my temp would drop rather quickly.
Mixed martial arts fights certainly can be quite distracting!
The only fittings I seem to find are either PVC, galvanized, and the black stuff meant for natural gas pipe fittings. This keeps leading me back to what I can do to suspend a BIAB bag inside of a cooler…
I’ve found I actually get better performance with those parts than with a fancy valve system. That’s what I use on all 3 of my coolers. And have for 17 years and 472 batches.
This^^^^. I do the same indoors and sometimes don’t even lose a degree. Put the BK inside a sleeping bag and pile some blankets on top. The nice thing is you can set a timer and go do something else.
You must be opening your pot or something. During the warm weather here in ct I don’t even insulate my pot and only lose 2 or 3 degrees and your in Texas.
I wouldn’t be too concerned about that temp range as it is all in the range you would want but almost at both ends.
