Idea for heated mash tun...

Bulin's Milker Bucket Brews

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
Established Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2019
Messages
1,511
Reaction score
4,861
Points
113
Location
Wisconsin
I see no reason it wouldn't work, I worry I would melt my mash tun since it's plastic but I can't see why it wouldn't work.
 
Mine is made out of a 304 Stainless kettle with reflective insulation added, SHOULD be ok with the heat that the pad can produce.


I see no reason it wouldn't work, I worry I would melt my mash tun since it's plastic but I can't see why it wouldn't work.
 
Should work well. The silicone pad will spread the heat out and prevent hot spots.
 
OK, OK...I read this the other day and was in the same place as @Hawkbox with an Igloo type cooler and not SST.

Yeah, that pad should do well with an even heat to the entire bottom and not as concentrated as a burner or a heat coil. What's in the bottom of the tun for drainage? False bottom or a wire bazooka type set up? Another consideration might be your sensor placement......thinking something that would indicate the developing wort tempature rather than the mash...or should it be the other way around? I wouldn't imagine that scorching shouldn't be an issue using this method as well as at your typical mash temps. Seems this would be more "gentle".
 
I don't see any risk of scorching, but I can see it being hard to maintain any kind of even temperature throughout. I can see it needing a lot more stirring.
 
Been thinking about going to a recirculated mash and adding a heating element to allow step mashes without adding water. Found an 800w silicone heating pad on ebay. Any reason I couldn't mount this between the Celotex insulation and the bottom of the mash tun? Should be able to regulate temps with an inkbird.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/BI-V2-5-3D-Printer-HeatBed-KEENOVO-Round-Silicone-Heater-Pad-Dia-320mm-800W-120V/271897095620?_trkparms=aid=1110006&algo=HOMESPLICE.SIM&ao=1&asc=225074&meid=6b59dc2ef7d84c8aac310c628174a146&pid=100005&rk=2&rkt=12&mehot=pf&sd=271456257412&itm=271897095620&pmt=1&noa=0&pg=2047675&algv=SimplAMLv5PairwiseWebWithDarwoV3BBEV2b&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Should help stabilize temp but not sure if that would be enough to step mash with. Don't you do 10gal batches? By insulating all including lines it may be ok. Maybe one of these engineers on here could pop out some btu and heat transfer #s for the 800w.:rolleyes:
 
I don't see any risk of scorching, but I can see it being hard to maintain any kind of even temperature throughout. I can see it needing a lot more stirring.
I concur with this, but I would think that it could help hold mash temperature if it was being controlled by an inkbird. You want to stir the mash anyway, right?
 
800 Watts will be enough to maintain or increase temperature. The bigger concern will be heat distribution. Hence, stirring or recirculation of some type. The location of the inkbird probe is also important, you want to measure mash temperature and not something else.

Data point: my 500 watt element in the Brewzilla 35 easily maintains temperature but struggles when step mashing. I have to use the 1900 watt element to step mash in a reasonable timeframe.
 
The plan is to do a recirculating mash, have a Mark II pump dedicated to the mash tun already. I'll be drilling 2 holes in the lid of the tun for recirculating mash and to try to get the temp probe in the center of the mash. The biggest gain I'm looking for is more consistent mash temps and to be able to recirculate without losing temp or adding a RIMS tube(one more place for gunk to get stuck in and one more place to clean). Want to be able to make adjustments without adding water. Probably won't be able to do a traditional step mash, but I would think that an 800 watt element would allow me to ramp up temps over a reasonable amount of time.
 
Last edited:
The plan is to do a recirculating mash, have a Mark II pump dedicated to the mash tun already. I'll be drilling 2 holes in the lid of the tun for recirculating mash and to try to get the temp probe in the center of the mash
That'll work! Will you stir a time or three too?
 
Probably will need to to keep the grain bed from channeling...Unless I rig up something for that too.. ;)
There is a product called Loc-Line that is real easy to work with,just food for thought...
Screenshot_20210102-174523_Chrome.jpg
 
Rice hulls help against channeling. As does a stir or three...

800 watts will maintain whatever temperature you want. After you try it, if it's too much heat you can also move it a little bit away from the bottom, or add a big diode to cut its energy output in half.
 
I used a 1000 watt hot plate for the same purpose. It worked very well to hold temp very steady but raising temp was very slow. Take that into consideration. I developed a system for adding boiling water to raise temp and then holding with the hot plate. That made step times tolerable.
 

Back
Top