I have a keggle that I MASH in it work great except it has a lot of surface area, and obviously looses a lot of temp through the keg walls.
Soooo…
I’m looking for an easy (read cheap) insulating fabric/ technique to help with maintain a good MASH temp. Right now I use a water heater blanket that is strapped on to the keg, it works decently, but I’m looking for an upgrade, preferably something that fits closer to the walls.
Any thoughts are, as always, appreciated! Pictures even more so!
The aluminum-foiled bubble wrap insulation works great on a keggle - cut it long enough to provide two layers when wrapped and then duct-tape it.
I have a 8 gallon kettle with a false bottom I use for the mash. I did to mine what Shadetree said with the bubble wrap insulation. But I also found wet suit material. I cut it to size and had straps sewn on to hold it in place. Bad thing with these materials is when you do a step mash, and use a burner to bring up the mash temperature you have to remove the insulation because it doesn’t like heat and will melt. I guess you can use hot water added to the mash to bring up the temperature without removing the insulation. Other than that it held my mash temperatures solid for a 90 minute mash. I also insulated the on top of the kettle too.
I had thought about wet suit material. I don’t direct fire my mash, so as long as the material can stand 160 max, then I should be good. Where can I find this bubble wrap?
It’s called Reflectix and I have bought it at Home Depot. I think it was by all the other insulation; shortest is came in was a 20’ roll.
awesomesauce
I found the wet suit material at JoAnn fabrics. I was looking on line for the material. You will find what you want there. But my wife and Iwas at the fabric shop and I asked if they happen to have any. They did. The reflectix (thanks to that guy, Ididn’t know what it was called) is real nice to work with. I used both materials sandwiched together on my kettle during my last mash. I am well pleased how it held temperature. I can actually kick back and relax for 90 minutes during the mash.
I use an old mattress pad - its two inch thick foam with a fabric case around it and easily wraps around my mash tun to keep temps nice and even. It has worked great for me, I had one laying around, so I’m not sure what they would cost if you had to buy one.
It’s called Reflectix and I have bought it at Home Depot. I think it was by all the other insulation; shortest is came in was a 20’ roll.[/quote]
I bought some at Ace. I taped mine with HVAC tape and direct fire. The owner of my LHBS uses velcro so he can remove it while heating.
I use the bubble wrap that Shadetree mentioned. I use a bungie cord to hold it in place. I also place a clean, folded bath towel over the lid and around the edges. I don’t heat my keggle either. I add boiling water if I want to raise the temp or mash out. The towel also works as a pot holder for the boiling water pot. These are old towels that my wife does not want anymore.
I like the velcro idea. I use reflectix on my HLT and its no problem since I heat with a bucket heater. sometimes I need supplemental heat though from a burner and have to be careful not to melt the stuff.
